Johanna Kyrklund
The Navigator
Judgement in the fog, money, risk and the call others cannot make.
Johanna Kyrklund demonstrates the Navigator archetype throughout this interview, consistently framing asset allocation not as prediction but as disciplined risk assessment across shifting terrain. She describes her CIO role as one of orientation rather than command, explicitly rejecting a house view in favor of creating conditions where portfolio managers self-correct through peer scrutiny and shared intelligence.
“So having had a front row seat to watch many of the problems which came about from business having been done with regard to female employees in a certain way for a long time, how did you want to shift things to recognize some of these challenges and to learn from your own experiences?”
“And where you get, and we can debate whether we are an inflection point with inflation or not, but when we get an asset paradigm shift and one which may be deeply hostile for fixed income investors, do you find yourself then having to shift more to work with and spend time with those, it might be the fixed income investors along with the…”
“And in some sense, in the move away from balance funds, loss of support from the asset management community, and that has been an area again where we've been quite active, where big asset owners are asking us, how do you do it? How do you think about the risks? How do you create the investment culture? Why do they choose Schroders?”
“So I moved any Routine internal meeting to start at 9am. And that simple change made it much easier for working mothers and actually for all working parents because I think the benefit of creating a more inclusive environment is it benefits everyone. It isn't just about focusing on women or focusing on ethnic minorities.”
Money Maze Podcast: “Life at the Investment Helm of a £700 Billion Asset Management Giant - With Johanna Kyrklund, CIO of Schroders”
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