Univ in the City 2025

Event report by Iris Bertrand (2019, Modern Languages)

On 16 October, Univites and their guests gathered at the Financial Times Building in London for a fireside chat between Baroness Amos and Joanna Welsh (1991, Biology), Chief Risk Officer at Citadel. Against the backdrop of St Paul’s, the discussion offered a glimpse into the mindset of one of finance’s most disciplined risk managers.

From the outset, Joanna spoke with a clarity and precision that reflected both her scientific training and her years navigating volatile markets. Risk management, in her view, is less about prediction than preparation. “Do as much thinking as you can upstream,” she advised, a mantra forged in the aftermath of 2008, when many hedge funds skirted disaster. The best traders, she argued, are not thrill-seekers but rigorous thinkers who recognise when to step aside before the crowd turns a good idea into a dangerous one.

Financial markets, Joanna observed, offer useful analogues for navigating uncertainty. Survival itself is a sign of sound judgement: “If a bad event occurs and you’re still around, you’ve done something right.” She spoke about the way risk ripples through the system – what happens when everyone is in the same trade? Today’s markets, she noted, face new strains: the advance of AI, illiquidity in private assets, and the growing concentration of capital. Navigating them demands adaptability and an ability to connect the dots across disparate trends.

Prompted by Baroness Amos to reflect on leadership, Joanna described her own style as “uncompromising and impatient”. Effective leaders, she suggested, create organisations that would be unrecognisable without them. She credited mentors such as hedge fund managers Paul Tudor Jones and Ken Griffin with shaping her thinking, singling out Griffin’s “scary command of detail” and the culture of accountability that defines enduring firms.

What lingered with me most was her view on control, luck, and opportunity. “You can 100% put yourself in the right place,” she said, “but there’s no such thing as the right time. Take the opportunity when it comes.” It was a simple truth, delivered with the conviction of someone who has lived it – a crisp reminder that success, in markets as in life, rests more on readiness than on timing.

As the evening wound down with drinks and conversation, I left struck not only by Joanna’s remarkable career but by her humility and belief in process over perfection. Thank you to Joanna and Baroness Amos for sharing their experiences and for making this autumnal evening particularly memorable.