Mike Freno
The Steward
Legacy, values and the long now, leadership as care and continuity.
Mike Freno reads as The Steward because custodianship, for him, is explicit rather than implied. Anchored in Barings' 175-year institutional legacy, he deliberately minimizes his own decision-making authority, elevating others and building durable human infrastructure around him.
“Babson Capital. And so we had four affiliates at the time. There was actually five affiliates because Mass Mutual at the time also owned Oppenheimer funds, which is subsequently been sold to Invesco. But we made a decision to combine the four brands, the four aforementioned brands together under the new bearings.”
“Yeah, it was very insightful for me. I had some knowledge of the insurance industry and really just how it touched the asset management industry, but it does give me a bigger perspective on the industry as a whole.”
“Absolutely. And I think probably everyone is looking for fewer relationships. They have to deal with a lot of relationships and a lot of partners. So the more you can have a robust or a broad sense of capabilities, the more value you are to be.”
“We're in over 20 countries. And when people talk about culture, we have different cultures candidly in different regions because there's different behaviors and things that are done there. But I will say what we do when we describe it is we have a set of philosophies, a set of principles, and a set of values that are consistent.”
Masters in Business: “From Managing Portfolios to Running an Organization with Mike Freno”
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