Mina Pacheco Nazemi, Head of Diversified Alternative Equity at Barings, shared her candid thoughts about the opportunities she sees in the current market environment and the challenges diverse managers with NAIC’s President & CEO Robert L. Greene. Pacheco Nazemi, a champion for female and diverse managers, included an overview of the marketplace where she reaffirmed her belief that sector specialist smaller managers tend to outperform and create value in challenging environments. She also shared the influence and lessons learned from her mother, an OB/GYN who advocated for her diverse patients to ensure they received the best service. During the conversation, Pacheco Nazemi teased an upcoming Barings study that found that 70% of women’s funds performed in the first or second quartile and only 14% landed in the fourth quartile. Finally, she advised young professionals looking to excel in the industry, “Leadership doesn’t come in a title. You can be a leader as a first-year analyst and make change.”