Sébastien Page, CFA, Head of Global Multi-Asset and CIO at T. Rowe Price, joins the FTE Podcast to explore the intersection of leadership psychology and investment strategy. Drawing from his books Beyond Diversification and The Psychology of Leadership, Page shares how storytelling enhances financial education, the importance of resilience in investing, and how personality traits like openness and agreeableness shape portfolio management. He also reflects on goal-induced blindness, the underrated skill of quitting, and the deeper meaning behind active management. A must-listen for finance professionals and aspiring leaders.

Ehren Stanhope, CFA of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management explains how custom indexing builds on direct indexing by integrating tax loss harvesting, ESG preferences, and quantitative equity factors. He discusses how platforms like Canvas enable personalized portfolio construction while maintaining benchmark alignment. Stanhope also shares insights on the implications of rising interest rates, inflation, and changing asset correlations for long-term investment strategy and risk management.

Marlena Lee, Global Head of Investment Solutions at Dimensional Fund Advisors, explains how her team bridges investment research with client needs through systematic, evidence-based approaches. Rather than chasing short-term market moves or stock-picking, Dimensional builds portfolios grounded in decades of academic research and practical data analysis. Lee highlights how the firm evaluates traditional factors—such as size, value, and profitability—while carefully testing new ideas to avoid data-mined results. She underscores the importance of looking beyond simple measures like correlations or Sharpe ratios, encouraging investors to dig deeper into underlying holdings, factor overlaps, and global perspectives. From the challenges of timing premiums to the distortions caused by mega-cap stocks, Lee emphasizes the value of strategic, long-term allocations over tactical shifts. Her remarks offer clarity on what true diversification means and how investors can navigate trade-offs between tracking error and long-term outperformance.