Stacy Havener, Havener Capital, Raising assets against the odds

Stacy Havener has raised $8bn for boutiques ‘that shouldn’t win’. Describing herself as blue-collar, ‘who got the wrong degree from the wrong school’, she sets out her stall as a much-needed misfit in the asset management industry. Her degree was English literature. And indeed, Havener is a storyteller, having communicated advice already through Citywire Selector’s Sales Craft column on topics such as ‘Ditch the Pitch’ and ‘You’re not the hero of the story’. Now, in conversation with Selector editor, Will Robins, Havener turns fund sales traditions on their heads: Most salespeople’s KPIs are wrong; clients buy people not products and proving true differentiation cannot reply on numbers alone.