Mick Sweeney, CEO of PineBridge Investments in Ireland, joins the show to talk about what triggered his early interest in the financial markets, the nascent opportunity to transform the fund management industry in Ireland, the outcome of his long-term commitment to diversity, thoughts on post-pandemic global markets, societal changes driving new leadership styles…and his labour of love as a Leeds United supporter!

This episode of MoneyNeverSleeps is sponsored by PAT Fintech, the training partner that demystifies fintech and digital finance for financial services professionals.

EPISODE OVERVIEW:

PineBridge Investments is a private, global asset manager focused on active, high-conviction investing.

A mutual friend introduced Pete Townsend and Mick back in 2018 through a mutual friend, and they got on famously right away through a shared appreciation for the merits of strategic change, restructuring and execution, and a similar look on life. Since then, they’ve done their best to be helpful to each other, and this episode brings it all together.

HIGHLIGHTS:  

On his earliest days in the financial markets in a treasury role: “All markets are interconnected, so if anything happened globally, it impacted the markets domestically. You had to have a clear insight and a view on where markets were going to be able to play the markets. But it gave me fantastic exposure and a fantastic interest, and no two days were alike. That's where my passion for this business was born.”

On what Ireland has built for fund managers since the 1990s: “It’s a fantastic framework and a fantastic platform to build from. What I would ask my fellow industry leaders strategically is, how can we build on top of that platform? In other words, what is the opportunity to bring front-end, high-end investment roles to Ireland? Over the next three to five years, we should be looking at how we build defensible niche products, defensible niche funds, that will be insulated from attack from the global players. How do we build those in Ireland?”

On the outcome of a commitment to diversity: “Some of our top-performing portfolio managers, globally, are women. Some of the best traders I’ve worked with over the last 30 years are women.  The results are there - this is uncontestable and decision making is better with diversity.”

On where we go from here: “There’s an old adage, ‘the survivors will be the winners,’ but I think that’s moved on. Now, it is the early adopters who are going to be the winners. The people that get this and understand that there is a change in leadership style needed are going to be the winners and will get the gains from the market opportunities because they will be bringing their teams with them.”

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