196: Scale, Strategy, and Stewardship: Rachel Elwell, CEO, on Border to Coast’s Growing Power in UK Pensions

Moreover, if executed well, it offers the potential to act with a long-term horizon as true asset owners, and to unlock investment opportunities that individual funds might struggle to access alone. Today in the UK, one of the most consequential organisations in UK pensions, is Border to Coast. They sit at the centre of one of the most significant shifts in UK institutional investing in a generation, and as of April 2026, will oversee nearly £120bn of local authority assets.   Rachel Elwell explains their investment approach, the motivation behind the merged pools and the advantages scale offers. Specifically, she discusses insourcing versus outsourcing, passive v active, where and why, UK v global, and the role of private assets, fees, as well as why Leeds is such a great place to live and work. The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.

We have had some extremely distinguished guests over the last 6 years, but we haven’t secured one who combines, a Rhodes Scholar, US Army Colonel, Counter terrorism expert, leading the US’s cyber intelligence defence agency, and a lecturer at Oxford and beyond, whilst also having worked at Morgan Stanley, and now CEO at RSAC. Jen plots a journey from Oxford to Westpoint, from Colonel of the US’s first Cyber Battalion to the Whitehouse, working under Condoleezza Rice and then chosen by President Biden to create CISA, The US’s first cyber defense agency.In a whirlwind, world-wide tour, Jen plots the risks, defines the adversaries, reflects on intelligence, cooperation, and the real and present cyber risks to industries.She offers advice to boards, the existential risks for businesses who think this is just a “technology issue” and leaves us with a stark observation. If the cost of annual cybercrimes were aggregated into one number, it would be equivalent in GDP terms to being the third largest economy in the world! The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

A first! For the first time since our inception 6 years ago, we welcome back a guest for their third visit. General David Petraeus, once described by Simon Sebag Montefiore as the ultimate soldier-scholar, is Chairman of the KKR Global Institute. Prior to this, David had a distinguished US military career and was the CIA Director during the Obama administration. He assesses the heat map of geopolitical and military tensions which is glowing red. Starting with the Indo-Pacific he assesses President Xi’s removal of his top Generals, what this might mean, and why peace must prevail despite the undercurrent of tensions.Having returned recently from Ukraine, he then gives some fresh perspectives which challenge stale narratives and describes the immense scale of loss of Russian lives and the technological prowess of Ukraine manufacturing and know-how.He then weights Iran’s options; the US’s potential moves and the perspective of other Middle Eastern nations.  Finally he offers advice for leaders in an environment where “just in time” has morphed into “just in case”.The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

While women leaders in finance are gradually becoming more common, that cannot be said the alternatives industry. But as traditional investment firms increasingly acquire alternatives and private markets firms, their leaders, styles and backgrounds are experiencing a changing topography. One of those to have been instrumental in helping build some well-known alts firms, from GLG to Moore Capital and now MCQS, is their President and CEO, Soraya Chabarek.Soraya discusses the characteristics of some of the top hedge fund performers, the egos and enigmas, females in finance, the art of selling, and how she helped reposition CQS from a hedge fund manager into an alternative credit platform.  She gives her view on where the risks and opportunities lie in today’s credit market, how founder-led firms scale beyond star culture, and on resilience, grit, and what she looks for in a hire. The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

Emerging Markets, once the darling of the asset allocators world, have found themselves increasingly discarded by those same allocators. Such became the re-allocation away from them and the magnetism of the US & its technology companies, that as recently as the end of 2024, Emerging Markets were at a 50 year low, relative to the S&P 500. With some improved relative performance, it may be asked if this is a flicker, or are we at the foothills of a bigger reallocation? East Capital’s CEO, Peter Håkansson, discusses the opportunities, the lessons drawn from researching them for 3 decades, and what the drop in EM Government bond yields might be signalling. He explains why no central heating might indicate corporate failure ahead, which fundamentals matter, and why they prefer to take their bets in company position sizing, rather than in the country weights. He also discusses Frontier markets, the impact of foreign exchange and as a music lover he is, “reasons to be cheerful!” (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

As Mike Milken said on this podcast, “the greatest achievement of humankind in the 20th century, was the doubling of life expectancy.” If living longer seems a powerful goal, the caveat would be only if it goes hand in hand with being healthy whilst being older, AND in not running out of money!In this conversation, Dr Andrew Steele examines, diagnoses, evaluates, and prescribes the implications, actions, benefits, costs and possibilities associated with living longer, healthier lives. He examines the financial and health aspects, the drugs already breaking new ground, why reasons for optimism are well grounded, and the associated leaps in scientific understanding.  Subscribe to stay up to date with our range of fascinating interviews, featuring some of the biggest names in global finance and business!The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

In this Christmas special, we reshare our conversation with Nicky Gumbel! Very occasionally one individual can have a disproportionately powerful impact on a collection of people, but very rarely does that person’s impact grow in time and reach, and expand beyond anyone’s expectations and for millions, be responsible for enhancing their lives.In this episode we explore a slightly different realm: religion. Our guest, the Reverend Nicky Gumbel, talks of his own odyssey from barrister to clergyman, before widening both awareness and access to Christianity to those outside the church via the Alpha Course. Alpha - a term which we usually employ in a very different context on the podcast - effectively rebranded and modernised Christianity for a new generation in the 1990s, with tens of thousands of courses being run by the end of the decade. The programme has now been translated into 112 different languages, and 30 million people have taken part. In this interview he explains his own pivot to faith, how he was asked to take charge of the Alpha Course development, and in the subsequent years how its reach was extended globally.He explains how he built it into a global brand, how charismatic leadership can be relevant to all fields, the changing relationship between faith and secularism, the role of religion for prisoner rehabilitation, as well as thoughts on morality, money and giving!The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

When we interviewed Howard Marks in March of 2025, he observed, “It's the pioneers who get the arrows”. Many consider a 21st century investment pioneer to be Cathie Wood.She embraces disruptive innovation themes early, has faced intense criticism during large drawdowns, has reshaped ETF thinking and is characterised as bold, influential, and controversial. Cathie explains why studying under Arthur Laffer inspired her to think about private sector disruptive innovation driving growth. She explains how multiple S curves can operate simultaneously, and how Ark fuses the macro and thematic with bottom-up conviction, along with the volatility. She continues by discussing idea generation and Ark’s big themes including multiomic sequencing, energy storage and robotics. She discusses risk, benchmarks, setbacks, and where to go to find work in an AI disrupted world. The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

Ares is recognised as one of the leading global alternative investment managers, investing across credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure.Listed on the NYSE, it has over 4,000 employees, $595billion in assets* and a substantial geographical footprint.Blair explains the high yielding Ares-managed listed vehicle, ARCC, which as a business development company (BDC) structure must distribute 90% of taxable income and averages 9% of yields*.He discusses how being a public entity gives them a “currency” which is highly valued by employees, and also how it has helped with brand recognition as its growth accelerated.We discuss European capital markets and the structural reliance on bank debt versus private credit (the inverse of arrangements in the US). He explains how it is changing, as well as the current headwinds and opportunities ahead.He discusses why over 1,400 conversations take place in Europe each year, but Ares makes less than 50 loan investments in direct lending, how they are deploying over $100 billion of dry powder firmwide, and the criteria that matter for them.He explains their focus on the middle market, their ownership of sports assets – including a $500 million preferred equity stake in Chelsea FC – and their other media and entertainment investments.Finally, Blair responds to the question around the growth of credit secondaries and continuation vehicles, assessing the motivation behind the growth, and risks associated with the wealth management sector’s increasing allocation to this space. The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube (*AUM as of 30/09/25, BDC distribution stats as at 04/11/25)

In September we held our inaugural Money Maze Allocator Summit and over the two days there was fantastic discussion, debate, insights, disagreement and a lot of learning.It proved incredibly popular & much of that was a result of the quality of panels, moderators & topics. Of all the conversations, one that particularly resonated with us was the chance to interview Sir Chris Hohn about two topics with which he is fantastically acquainted: investing and philanthropy. As you will discover in this episode, he perhaps stands above most mortals with the clarity of his thinking and the extraordinary generosity and effectiveness in both disciplines.The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube