Few investors see the world as broadly or clearly as Sinead Colton Grant. With a career spanning Dublin, London, San Francisco, and now New York, Colton Grant brings a uniquely global perspective to her role as Chief Investment Officer of BNY Wealth. Her path through some of the world’s most sophisticated investment institutions—BlackRock, JPMorgan, and BNY Wealth—has shaped her views on markets and her thoughtful, nuanced approach to leadership.
In this conversation, she reflects on the pivotal risks that defined her career, including her midstream move from Europe to the U.S., the rise of digital assets and tokenized finance, and the new demands of a generation of wealth creators who want both performance and purpose. We discuss why private markets open a new frontier for investors, how blockchain is poised to reshape asset management, and what “worth beyond wealth” truly means.
Costa: You’ve worked in London, Dublin, and New York. How did those geographic shifts shape your worldview and your leadership style?
Colton-Grant: I lived and worked in Europe before relocating to the U.S, mid-career. I learned quickly that even in a major international city like New York, global is local, and how you engage with teams in different cities across the globe is subtly different.
For example, when introducing a New York-based team to a new strategy or approach, by presenting the approach in a high-octane, energetic way, highlighting the potential benefits, the team will be highly energized and excited about execution. However, in London, things move more slowly. Gradually introducing new concepts and explaining how the idea will work, including the potential pitfalls, allows the team to more progressively acclimate to the new idea before starting down the path of change.
Having a strong understanding of cultural nuances is critical, which means adapting your message to your audience. Otherwise, it won’t land. Inspiring and motivating teams is an essential part of leadership, and while much of the core is constant across the globe, the softer side is different.
We often ask leaders about inflection points—was there a risk you took in your career that felt uncertain at the time but proved essential in retrospect?
Relocating from London to the U.S. was a huge inflection point, personally and professionally. The easy option would have been to stay in London, with many exciting opportunities ahead. The U.S. was a huge draw, home to the world’s largest and deepest financial markets. My first home was San Francisco, where I had the opportunity to be fully immersed in a tech-centric world, including the powerful start-up ecosystem. There is much to love about San Francisco, including the weather, food, and thirst for what’s next, whether it’s for the latest app or where to find the best coffee (Saint Frank, in case you’re wondering).
Ultimately, though, New York was calling. As the premier hub for finance and wealth in the U.S., this is where everything happens. The energy, the deals—everyone is working on something, and everything seems possible as the dynamism of the U.S. economy is in full effect. While it took time to establish new networks, being part of a growing and expanding financial ecosystem focused on innovation has allowed me to expand horizons, accelerate my career, and give back to the community in ways that I had never dreamed possible.
Given your background in digital assets, how do you foresee blockchain technology reshaping traditional wealth management?
Digital assets have progressed from marginal assets to almost mainstream. Many investors see this, with cryptocurrencies and digital assets as a growing portfolio allocation. Half of our recent family office investment survey respondents indicated they were either actively investing or had done so previously.
Tokenization of assets is one of the most significant transformations of financial markets that will take place over the next decade. It allows for fractional ownership of assets, which facilitates easier ownership transfers without the use of intermediaries, as smart contracts enable automatic trade execution. While a few tokenized money market funds exist today, this capability could potentially be extended to public or private assets, from equity stakes to works of art.
Blockchain transactions are real-time, which could enable 24/7 trading of all assets held in a portfolio. Within family offices, asset transfers among family members could also be streamlined.
The real-time, ‘always on’ transformation is significant, but it brings heightened security risks that investors must be aware of. While the decentralized nature of the blockchain enhances security, many investors hold digital assets directly, which increases the risk of fraud or hacking, with the immutability of transactions an additional concern.
With the current economic landscape, what sectors or asset classes present the most promising opportunities for investors?
Sometimes, to identify the best opportunities, we must remember historical context. Market structure has changed dramatically since the late 1990s when there were approximately 8,000 public companies in the U.S. Today, there are fewer than half that number, while the number of private equity-owned companies has multiplied over fivefold. Meanwhile, the size of the private credit market has grown from $300B in 2010 to almost $1.8B today, including dry powder. Private assets represent a much greater proportion of the investment universe today, and illiquidity premium boosts returns.
During periods of economic uncertainty, opportunities emerge for nimble private assets investors. Growth equity, distressed debt, and opportunistic real estate are all likely to see attractive deal flow in the coming quarters. Additional inflation hedging solutions with exposure to the high-tech economy, such as non-traditional infrastructure (cell towers, data centers, etc.) is also attractive. Sports team investing is also an emerging non-traditional inflation hedging.
Take advantage of volatility to deploy tax-managed equity and fixed income solutions that generate taxable losses while continuing to deliver investment results in line with the desired benchmark. These taxable losses can be applied across your total portfolio, minimizing taxes where possible, so you get to keep more of the returns generated, which enhances wealth accumulation.
How do you see the evolution of client expectations influencing the future of wealth management services?
Client expectations are increasingly holistic, meaning that they don’t only want a great investment portfolio; they also want advice on asset location, structuring, planning, and managing for taxes. In addition, they want exposure to leading-edge investments, and they want all of it delivered through a seamless platform. Blockchain and real-time payments will become table stakes sooner than we think.
What does ‘worth beyond wealth’ mean to you?
Family and community, health, time, purpose, and meaning—being out of balance in any one of these can make you feel poor, even while you are financially well off. For me, it can be summarized as how we contribute to society and how we try to make life a little better for everyone.In addition to supporting family and friends, we each need to find areas that we believe contribute to society. One of the areas I focus on is supporting educational opportunities for our kids and in our communities. Growing up in Ireland, education was greatly prized, with government-funded, high-quality schooling broadly available at zero to very low cost. The laser focus on education for all has a historical context; during the 19th century, under British rule, schooling was denied to Irish language speakers. The educational foundation I received has brought me many tremendous opportunities. I strongly believe in its transformative power and support several initiatives in Ireland that sponsor holistic academic and vocational education.
