What if the most powerful thing a CEO can do… is show up?

That’s exactly what John Bowman is doing. As the new CEO of CAIA, he’s not sitting behind a desk or delegating from an ivory tower. He’s on a plane, in person, listening to the very people his organization serves.

In this episode, Stacy sits down with John to talk about the underrated power of founder-led sales (even when you’re leading a global organization), the ROI of empathy, and why success in finance is less about numbers and more about people than you think.

They dig into:

• John’s backstory: The leadership lesson he learned after getting laid off at 29 with three kids
• Why walking the “listening tour” isn’t just smart, it’s essential
• How storytelling shaped his career in this number-obsessed industry
• What CAIA’s member-first strategy can teach every founder and fund manager

Why he believes rejection is almost always redirection that’s either protecting you or leading you to where you’re meant to be

More About John:

John was appointed CEO for the CAIA Association in January 2025. He has devoted over 25 years to the asset management industry to recover the narrative of the value that the investment profession brings to society. He is a staunch public advocate for market integrity, long-termism, investor outcomes, diversity, human dignity and educational standards, as necessary ingredients to building a sustainable and healthy profession.

John previously served as Managing Director for the Americas for CFA Institute, a region comprised of 40+ countries from Canada, the U.S., Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Before that, John was a portfolio manager for non-US equity strategies at both Boston Company and SSgA for several years.

John is a prolific, speaker,writer and commentator, frequently keynoting industry conferences and appearing in investment and business publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Pension and Investments, Financial Advisor, The Independent, Wealthmanagement.com and CNBC. Bowman earned a BS in Business Administration from Mary Washington College and is a CFA charterholder.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

• The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni | https://a.co/d/2msVUSw
• The 6 Types of Working Genius — Patrick M. Lencioni | https://a.co/d/15S3sKW
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us — Seth Godin | https://a.co/d/ajf88KP

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Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership.

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

You’ve got your pitch deck. Your talking points. Your “why us” slide.
But if you’re telling the wrong story in meetings, none of that matters.

In this episode, Stacy’s diving into the two MVPs of storytelling for fund managers: the job story and the brand story. Think of them like the hammer and wrench in your toolbox, you need both, but you’ve gotta know when to use each.

Inside this bite-sized episode, you’ll learn:
• What makes a job story different from a brand story (and why that mix-up matters)
• Why every fund or strategy deserves its own tailored story
• How constantly tweaking your brand story for the room can make your message… fuzzy

This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

- - -
Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros. Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership.

---
Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

The impressively bold mindset that drove Chad Willardson to leave behind a million-dollar salary and a top 1% client base to build his own firm from scratch is the same mindset that grew his firm to $1.5B AUM and earned him the status of 5X bestselling author.

In fact, Chad’s story is proof that thinking like an entrepreneur can take you far in the fund world–and beyond. But can this mindset be learned and developed? Find out in today’s episode.

Plus, hear Chad’s full backstory and learn:

• Why advisors who think like entrepreneurs stand out to high-net-worth clients
• The hidden benefit of his LinkedIn presence: how he’s able to pass off sales meetings to his team almost entirely thanks to the strong trust he’s built on social
• His tips and tricks for balancing entrepreneurship and family life

About Chad Willardson:

Chad Willardson is the President and Founder of Platinum Elevated, an exclusive coaching program where he helps entrepreneurs enjoy increased lifestyle and financial freedom by removing their stress about money, increasing their cash flow, and freeing up a ton of their time.

In 2011, Chad founded Pacific Capital, a family office specializing in wealth management for high-net-worth entrepreneurs. Chad's currently responsible for investing $1.5 billion dollars as a fiduciary. Before founding Pacific Capital, he spent nine years at Merrill Lynch, ranking in the top 2% of over 16,000 advisors nationwide.

Chad is a 5X best-selling author and Co-Host of The Smart Money Parenting Show, a podcast ranking in at #2 Apple for Parenting, Kids & Family. He is a Certified Financial Fiduciary® and Accredited Wealth Manager who also writes for Entrepreneur and Forbes. Chad earned his degree in Economics from Brigham Young University.

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

- - -
Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros.Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

Fund managers, it’s time to ditch the pitch deck of doom. It’s not helping you differentiate. It’s putting allocators to sleep.

Take it from Lucy Walker, Founder of data platform AM Insights, who spent the bulk of her career as a manager of managers allocating over $1B at specialist firm Sarasin Partners in the UK.

She knows this business inside and out, and today she’s sharing her wisdom on up-leveling your meeting game so you can land more investments.

Listen in as she and Stacy discuss:

· Her backstory – from corporate allocation to launching her company

· Inside the mind of a fund-buyer: what makes a fund manager stand out to her

· Why you should dig into data but not use it as a crutch in meetings

· The competitor bashing Achilles heel – how to show your differences to the peer group tastefully

About Lucy Walker:

Lucy Walker is founder, chair, board director and advisor in investment management, technology and not-for-profit.

In 2020 she founded AM Insights, a fast and intuitive tool for the fund industry. She is Chair of the Aurora Investment Trust, and Senior Independent Director of Henderson International Income Trust. She is a former head of fund research and fund manager at Sarasin & Partners, advising on over £1.2 billion of assets for charities and high net worth individuals, and before that was at HSBC Global Asset Management.

Lucy has been regularly featured in publications including the FT and The Telegraph, and was shortlisted for Fund Manager of the Year at the Women in Investment awards. She holds BSc Economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

- - -
Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros.Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

---
Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

Alfonso Peccatiello built a following of 500,000 on LinkedIn by doing something radical – by being a real, authentic human in the fund world.

And that authentic social presence helped him close investment deals for his new hedge fund, Palinuro Capital.

Alfonso’s story is proof that it pays to challenge the status quo and to put people (and connections) first – even in a numbers-obsessed industry.

Want the full story? Join Alfonso and Stacy as they discuss:

• Alfonso’s backstory: How a car accident sparked his obsession with creating success on his own terms
• Why he’s never afraid to repel the wrong investor
• How his willingness to repel, both on social media and in meetings, has helped him attract more of the right investors
• The lesson he learned as a $20B bond manager that has served him most as an entrepreneur (spoiler alert, it wasn’t an investing technique)

More About Alfonso Peccatiello

Alfonso (Alf) Peccatiello is the CIO of the global macro hedge fund Palinuro Capital. Alf was born in Southern Italy, roughly 1,000 km away from the closest financial center, yet his dream was to run his own hedge fund. To get there, he had an idea: share macro analysis and frameworks with the world through his research firm, The Macro Compass, first, establish relationships, and only after spinning out his macro hedge fund. After scoring the largest asset managers in the world as clients of his research, here we are: his global macro hedge fund, Palinuro Capital, is ready to launch in January 2025. As a proper Southern Italian, Alf stands by three culinary rules: no cappuccino unless it's breakfast, no pineapple on pizza, and never break pasta in pieces!

Apply for The StorySales™ Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program for boutique fund managers who want to craft compelling stories and confidently raise capital | https://www.havenercapital.com/accelerator

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

- - -
Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros.Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

- - -
Apply for The StorySales™ Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program for boutique fund managers who want to craft compelling stories and confidently raise capital | https://www.havenercapital.com/accelerator

---
Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus

Success as a founder is about more than impressive AUM. It’s about maintaining autonomy and connnection. It’s about taking pride in what you do, the team you’ve built, and most importantly having fun along the way.

Take it from today’s guest, Greg Dean, founder of global small-cap specialist firm Langdon Partners.

In this episode, he and Stacy discuss:

• Greg's backstory:
  • From Fidelity Investments to co-founding a $27B investment firm
  • How his passion for connecting people and numbers drove him into small-cap investing
  • His big leap from the shallow end of co-foundership to founding his own firm
• Why AUM isn't the only measure of success in small-cap investing
• Strategies for maximizing return on time in small-cap investing
• The challenges of climbing the ranks in the fund world
• Key advice for fund managers considering leaping into entrepreneurship

About Greg Dean:

Greg founded Langdon Equity Partners in 2021 and is the firm’s Chief Executive. He is the lead investor for Global and Canadian smaller companies portfolios. Greg has over 15 years’ experience in investment management.

Before founding Langdon he was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Cambridge Global Asset Management (a boutique within CI Investments), responsible for the Canadian and Global smaller companies portfolios, having joined there in 2011 as an analyst.

While at Cambridge Greg was the joint recipient of the prestigious Morningstar Breakout Fund Manager of the Year in 2015 and his funds have won numerous industry awards over the years.

Previously he spent 3 years as a Canadian analyst covering consumer and infrastructure at Fidelity Investments.

Greg has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelors of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Apply for The StorySales™ Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program for boutique fund managers who want to craft compelling stories and confidently raise capital | https://www.havenercapital.com/accelerator

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Song: 22 Two's – JAY-Z

Books: Same as Ever by Morgan Housel, Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor

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Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

- - -
Apply for The StorySales™ Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program for boutique fund managers who want to craft compelling stories and confidently raise capital | https://www.havenercapital.com/accelerator

What do you do when the market tells you there’s no room for another fund? You tell a better story and carve your niche anyway.

In this episode, Stacy sits down with Bob Lind, Co-Founder of Lind Capital Partners, a boutique manager specializing in one of the most overlooked corners of the credit market: non-rated municipal bonds.

They dive into how Bob went from selling himself into his first research job to building a firm around a misunderstood asset class and why ditching the pitch helped him find the right investors.

They also cover:

• Why non-rated doesn’t mean “junk” (and how Bob spots value where others won’t look)
• The inflection point that sparked the launch of Lind Capital (hint: it involves a friend, a Fidelity broker, and a missed opportunity)
• How Bob went from BlackRock-comparison pitches to founder-forward storytelling
• The power of showing up as yourself and why authenticity wins with allocators

Plus: how to listen better in meetings, the magic of behavioral discovery questions, and the one Bruce Springsteen song that got Bob through everything.

About Bob Lind:
Bob is a co-founder of Lind Capital Partners. He has built the firm around his passion for finding opportunities in inefficient markets and providing innovative ways to deliver access to individual investors. With nearly 40 years of experience in the municipal bond market, there is little Bob has not done. Today, he leads the portfolio management team and strategic initiatives for LCP.

Prior to founding Lind Capital Partners, Bob managed a $500 million high yield municipal bond portfolio for Deutsche Bank, where he leveraged his prior sell-side experience and institutional relationships. Bob began his career as a municipal analyst at Nuveen before moving into institutional sales and trading at Kemper Securities and Raymond James, where he underwrote, traded and sold municipal bonds.

Bob received a BA in History from Kenyon College and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago. He is a passionate bread baker/pizza maker, feeding and nourishing his 25+ year-old home-grown starter. Outside of the office and the kitchen, he enjoys paddle tennis, golf and telemark skiing.

Want More Help With Storytelling?

+ Subscribe to my newsletter to get a weekly email that helps you use your words to power your growth:https://www.stacyhavener.com/subscribe

- - -
Make The Boutique Investment Collective part of your Billion Dollar Backstory. Gain access to invaluable resources, expert coaches, and a supportive community of other boutique founders, fund managers, and investment pros.Join Havener Capital’s exclusive membership

- - -
Thinking about expanding your investor base beyond the US? Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz to find out if your firm is ready to go global and get all the info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap

- - -
Apply for The StorySales™ Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program for boutique fund managers who want to craft compelling stories and confidently raise capital | https://www.havenercapital.com/accelerator