Critical thinking
Join our thought leaders and special guests, as they explore and debate the themes, trends and opportunities shaping markets, and how these may translate for investors.
Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of the recording and are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Marsh. This is provided for informational and educational purposes only. This does not constitute a recommendation or an offer to purchase or sell any securities. This does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other personalized advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. None of the material presented in this podcast is intended as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment manager or investment. Podcast guests may be from firms that Marsh evaluates or rates. Podcast guests may have commercial relationships with Marsh. Notwithstanding any separate relationship between Marsh and a guest, no guest receives direct or indirect compensation for their participation in the podcast.
Episodes
147 episodes
Sports investing: trends, opportunities, and market perspectives
Global sport is fast emerging as a compelling new asset class for institutional investors. In this episode of Critical Thinking, host Teena Jilka speaks with Alastair Seaman, Managing Director at KKR and a member of the Arctos sports i...
Managing legacy private market assets: Turning complexity into opportunity
Managing inherited legacy private market portfolios is increasingly complex as allocations grow across private equity, credit, real estate, and infrastructure. This episode looks at the hidden operational and liquidity burden of these assets an...
Leadership, Building Enduring Businesses & Private Markets | In conversation with Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone
In the first episode of CEO Perspectives under our new Marsh brand, Mick Dempsey, President of Investments and Retirement, speaks with Jon Gray, President & COO of Blackstone, about the leadership principles that have shaped one of...
Secondaries on the main stage: Opportunity, alignment and the future of private markets
Liquidity has always been a consideration in private markets — but the way investors manage it is changing. In this episode of Critical thinking, Teena Jilka is joined by Mike Forestner and Benjamin Baumann to explore the rise of GP-led seconda...
Accountability at the table: The role of the investment committee
In this episode of Critical thinking, Eimear Walsh, European Head of Investments, is joined by Michel Meert, European Consulting Leader for Endowments, Foundations and Family Offices, and Michael Curtin, Senior Investment Consultant at Mercer, ...
What’s driving institutional interest in professional sports?
In this episode Mercer's US Alternatives Investment Leader Matt Vokes is joined by Neil Blundell, CIO at CAIS Advisors, and Catherine Abely, Private Equity Research Specialist at Mercer, for a discussion on the structural characteristics that d...
How wealth managers are rewriting the alternatives playbook amid macro shifts and retailization
In this episode of Critical Thinking, Teena Jilka is joined by David Scopelliti and Karl Heckenberg, President and Managing Partner at Constellation Wealth Capital, to explore how wealth managers are evolving their alternatives playboo...
Trends and Opportunities in (Re)insurance
In this episode of Critical Thinking, David Morrow, Global Insurance Proposition Leader at Mercer, is joined by Laurent Rousseau, CEO for EMEA and Global Capital Solutions at Guy Carpenter, and Eryn Bacewich, Head of Insurance Solution...
Navigating the new private markets landscape
Private markets today are being shaped by megatrends such as artificial intelligence, decentralization, and rising concentration across public markets. As traditional diversification comes under pressure, investors are increasingly rethinking l...
[Recorded in Dutch] A conversation with Mark Heemskerk
In the fifth episode of Wegwijs na Invaren, Roel Mehlkopf (Cardano) and Marc Heemskerk (Mercer) talk to pensions lawyer and professor, Mark Heemskerk, about an important and topical theme: pensions in court - particularly in relation to the new...
What opportunities and risks are shaping securitized credit markets today?
Global securitized credit has come a long way since the 2008 financial crisis. In this episode of Critical Thinking, Deborah Wardle speaks with Jean de Kock and Thimal Kollure about how the market has evolved, why it is attracting rene...
1 Theme, 2 CIOs, 3 Questions: Geopolitics, AI, and the search for portfolio resilience
Recorded live at Mercer’s Global Investment Forum in Orlando, in this special edition of the One theme, Two CIOs, Three questions podcast Anne Marie Schultz, US Investments Commercial Leader is joined by US CIO Andrew McDougall and Glo...
[Recorded in Dutch] A conversation with Jeroen Steenvoorden
In the fourth episode of Wegwijs na Invaren, Roel Mehlkopf (Cardano) and Marc Heemskerk (Mercer) speak with Jeroen Steenvoorden, the Dutch national pension ombudsman, about what he is seeing in practice and what challenges participants face.&nb...
[Recorded in Dutch] A conversation with Agnes Joseph
In this episode of Wegwijs na Invaren, Roel Mehlkopf and Marc Heemskerk speak with Agnes Joseph about her time in the Dutch Parliament and her involvement in the pension debate. What insights can be drawn from that period, and how does she now ...
[Recorded in Dutch] A conversation with Michael Visser, Nibud
In this episode of our Dutch podcast, Wegwijs na Invaren, Roel Mehlkopf, Pension Fund Adviser at Cardano Netherlands, and Marc Heemskerk, Actuarial Consultant at Mercer, talk with Michael Visser from Nationaal Instituut voor Budgetvoor...
The rest is investments – A conversation with Dominic Sandbrook
In this episode of Critical Thinking, Mercer’s Commercial Leader for UK Investments, Dan Melley, is joined by historian and "The Rest Is History" podcast co-host Dominic Sandbrook to explore what today’s investors can learn from some of history...
Unlocking the value of data with AI - Our journey to date
In this episode of Critical thinking, Byron Evans speaks with Rob Ansari and Bev Sharp about unlocking the value of data with AI. They share real examples – from using internal AI tools to streamline manager research to building capital‑flow fo...
From banks to assets: How asset-backed finance is rewriting credit markets
In this episode of Critical Thinking, Amit Popat is joined by Andreas Vermeiren and Huw van Steenis to explore the rapid rise of asset-backed finance (ABF) and its role in modern portfolios. The discussion examines the drivers behin...
[Recorded in Dutch] A conversation with Jacob Schoenmaker, financial journalist
In this first episode of our Dutch Podcast Wegwijs na Invaren, Roel Mehlkopf, Pension Fund Advisor, Cardano Netherlands, and Marc Heemskerk, Actuarial Consultant at Mercer, speak with financial journalist Jacob Schoenmaker to explore h...
1 Theme, 2 CIOs, 3 Questions: Values aligned investing in a rapidly evolving landscape with CBIS and Mercy Investment Services
Join host Cori Trautvetter as she sits down with Lisa Laird, CIO of Mercy Investment Services, and Tom Digenan, CIO of Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), for a frank conversation about the promise - and the misconceptions - of value...
Private credit: what matters now?
In this episode of Critical Thinking, host Kenny Pitman, Senior Director, Alternative Investments, takes a closer look at the evolving private debt landscape with David Scopelliti, Global Head of Private Equity and Private Debt and Scott Wilkin...
Trade finance’s breakout moment
As traditional banks step back from short-term lending due to regulatory pressures, a significant gap has opened up in global commerce, and alternative lenders are stepping in.In our latest episode of the Critical Thinking podcast, Debor...
Insurance private markets and the Prudent Person Principle
In this episode, we join Roman Knipprath, Andreas Vermeiren and Arco van Oord to hear how insurers can strengthen their approach to the Prudent Person Principle (PPP) as regulatory scrutiny increases. From valuation and liquidity to governance,...
Return on resilience
In this episode, Anne Marie Schultz, US Investments Commercial Leader, Bernardo Serpa Pimentel, Senior Investment Consultant, and Michel Meert, European Consulting Leader for Endowments, Foundations and Family Offices, explore the idea of a “Re...
Where values meet value: Faith-based investing in a changing world
Faith-based investing is evolving quickly, driven by advances in data, greater transparency, and more sophisticated portfolio design. Today, some investors are demonstrating their conviction through a range of strategies that seek to align miss...