Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, a managing director and head of iShares investment strategy Americas at BlackRock Inc., thinks running and investing are a lot alike, and she should know.
Ms. Chaudhuri has run 25 marathons and "hundreds" of shorter races, she said. The New York-based BlackRock exec has also completed triathlons, including one full Ironman."I always tell people, especially those that are new to the market and those that are runners, that running is very much like investing," she said, adding that it's important to see it as something you'll be doing for the long term, and that you need to put in the work and run "your own race."
Diversification is also key, she said. Just as a diversified fitness regime that incorporates stretching and strength training is important for running, when managing a portfolio, "you want to be as diversified as possible," Ms. Chaudhuri said.
In fact, she thinks about her role at work, as well as her roles as a daughter, wife, sister, friend and an athlete as like a diversified portfolio.
"And one part, so the running in this case …. makes me better at the others," she said.
Morning runs in New York City's Central Park offer her opportunities to "be focused on just that," she said, describing the experience as "almost meditative" and a way to clear her mind. She also sometimes uses her running time to listen to a podcast such as Bloomberg Surveillance, she said.
Being able to take time away from the desk to do something that's good for her brain and her body allows her to be "better at the job" when she returns, she said
While Ms. Chaudhuri has run marathons in cities like Istanbul and London, she set her marathon PR, or personal record, of 3:55 in Hartford, Conn., in 2011. In 2018, along with some BlackRock colleagues, she ran a race now known as the Lewa Safari Marathon, which, according to its website, has supported conservation efforts across Kenya for more than 20 years.
Still, Ms. Chaudhuri's favorite marathon is the New York City Marathon.
"It's home," she said.
