Merryn Talks Money with Bloomberg senior columnist Merryn Somerset Webb is your key to understanding how markets work – and how you can make them work for you. Every episode features a relaxed but in-depth conversation with a fund manager, a strategist, a Bloomberg expert or just someone Merryn finds particularly interesting in any given week. Listen in for the kind of insights and explanations everyone can use to help them make better saving and investing choices.
Financial historian Edward Chancellor tells Merryn how low rates resulted in capital being misallocated, and why that’s bad news for any soft landings. Plus, John Stepek tells investors how to get exposure to cheap UK equities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Merryn and senior reporter John Stepek discuss the conversation with Argonaut’s Barry Norris. Links of research/stories referenced in the show and aftershow: https://www.argonautcapital.co.uk/stockumentaries/2023/10/26/britains-a-goner-with-the-wind/ https://www.these-islands.co.uk/publications/i390/an_inconvenient_fact.aspx https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-offshore-wind-as-government-raises-maximum-prices-in-renewable-energy-auction https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-14...
Argonaut’s Barry Norris, whose fund has been making money by shorting renewable energy firms, joins Merryn Talks Money to explain. Links of research/stories referenced in the show and aftershow: https://www.argonautcapital.co.uk/stockumentaries/2023/10/26/britains-a-goner-with-the-wind/ https://www.these-islands.co.uk/publications/i390/an_inconvenient_fact.aspx https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-offshore-wind-as-government-raises-maximum-prices-in-renewable-energy-auction https://www.b...
Merryn Somerset Webb and senior reporter John Stepek reflect on Asante’s assessment of the current EM landscape, debate his argument for choosing India over China as a place to invest and how he chooses what companies to put his money behind. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Emerging markets have had a bad stretch, but fund manager Jonathan Asante explains how picky investors can make them work. After taking a break from the industry in 2019, Asante is getting back in with the launch of the Chikara Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund. Plus, John Stepek joins to talk about the leasehold reform mentioned in this week's King's Speech. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
At Bloomberg, we’re always talking about the biggest business stories, and no one is bigger than Elon Musk. In this new chat weekly show, host David Papadopoulos and a panel of guests including Businessweek’s Max Chafkin, Tesla reporter Dana Hull, Big Tech editor Sarah Frier, and more, will break down the most important stories on Musk and his empire. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Cathie Wood says she would unambiguously bet on Bitcoin — rather than gold or cash — to safeguard against the possibility of deflation in the coming decade. The head of ARK Investment Management joins this week’s Merryn Talks Money podcast and reiterates her view that she expects an era of falling prices, backed by new technologies including artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, robotics, genomic sequencing and blockchain. It’s a view she’s held since 2021. On this week’s special aftershow...
Despite a rough few years for her Innovation exchange-traded fund, Ark Investment Management founder Cathie Wood still sees a bright future. She joins this week to talk about her outlook, Tesla, the merits of Bitcoin and more. Plus, John Stepek joins to discuss the Bank of England's decision to keep rates unchanged. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the UK, there are 70% fewer listed companies today than in 1996. Around the world, equity markets are getting progressively smaller as the number of publicly traded companies dwindles. So where have all the companies gone? In this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money , Schroders’s Duncan Lamont and Douglas Abbott join host Merryn Somerset Webb to try and answer that question. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Why have equity markets around the world, and in the UK in particular, been shrinking? According to Duncan Lamont and Douglas Abbott of Schroders, the answer is simple: a robust private equity industry means more companies are going private. The two men joined Merryn Somerset Webb this week on the podcast Merryn Talks Money to discuss this state of affairs, both globally and in Britain where the situation has become extreme. There are 70% fewer listed companies in the UK today than was the case ...
The way the British government funds itself is complicated—ridden with fiscal drag and stealth levies. Everyone seems to hate the system for something, and there’s arguably a dire need for reform. That’s the case that was made by Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Paul Johnson during an episode of Merryn Talks Money this week. But what kind of changes are we talking about, and will they work? In this week’s special aftershow episode, Somerset Webb and senior reporter John Stepek unpack Johnso...
Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Paul Johnson joins this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money to explain how the seemingly impossible can be achieved. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In a new series, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek are examining housing markets across the globe to see how they’re holding up, and if there are any lessons we can read across to the UK. On this episode, they take a look at Germany with Bloomberg editor Benedikt Kammel and TV correspondent Oliver Crook, both in Berlin, and talk about the profitable world of subletting, the consequences of rent control and the country's fascination with Kleingartens. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...
The reckoning for markets is picking up speed, says GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham, and as a result investors for should be wary of the US. On this week's aftershow, Merryn and John Stepek unpack Grantham's comments. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In 2021, Jeremy Grantham was telling anyone who would listen that global asset markets were in one of the biggest bubbles of all time—and that a reckoning was coming. That reckoning, he says, began the next year. The co-founder of GMO LLC says that, while this reckoning recently took a break, it’s now back with a vengeance. Grantham joins this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money to make the case that—as a result—no one should be invested in the US. In particular, he warns of the Russell 2000, w...
If you think the US is heading for a soft landing, you might have another thing coming. That’s according to Seema Shah, the chief global strategist for Principal Asset Management. Despite a stream of data in recent weeks supporting the Federal Reserve’s best-case scenario, Shah argues there’s no way an economy can survive the super-fast shift in interest rates just seen without some relatively unpleasant repercussions. What would that future look like? Shah joins this week’s Merryn Talks Money t...
On this week’s Merryn Talks Money , host Merryn Somerset Webb poses the question of whether Brexit has actually harmed the UK economy as much as some may think. The answer is discussed by her guests: Robert Colville, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, who voted for the UK to remain in the European Union, and economist Julian Jessop, who voted for the UK to leave. They agree that—in the short term—it’s hard to argue there isn’t some damage, given the friction the UK has created between it...
Matt Cole, head of Strive Asset Management, the anti-activism fund co-founded by GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, assails the use of sustainability targets in determining executive pay. He joins this week’s Merryn Talks Money to discuss what he says is Strive’s mission— encouraging companies to “focus on excellence” rather than ESG mandates—and argues why he thinks ESG mandates threaten democracy. Plus, Money Distilled author and senior reporter John Stepek on why the UK pensions Triple Lock needs t...
Senior reporter and Money Distilled author John Stepek joins Merryn to talk through the themes hit in the two panels at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, we bring you a lightly edited version of Merryn's panel at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh called "The Butcher, the Brewer, the Baker and Merryn Somerset Webb." It was held at Panmure House--Adam Smith's residence between 1778 and 1790. We taped this panel on August 26, 2023. Guests include: Russell Napier, Anna MacDonald and James Anderson. Sign up to John Stepek's Money Distilled : https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/uk-wealth See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...
Double feature this week--here is the second day of Merryn's panel "The Butcher, the Brewer, the Baker." Again, it was held at Panmure House--Adam Smith's residence between 1778 and 1790. We taped this panel on August 27, 2023. Guests include: Jim Mellon, Richard Wilson, Paul Johnson and Simon Evans. Sign up to John Stepek's Money Distilled : https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/uk-wealth See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
For your summer listening, the Merryn Talks Money team brings you an episode from another podcast you might like: In the City . This week, Francine Lacqua speaks to a panel of Bloomberg experts including Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth, reporter Tom Rees, and Ana Andrade of Bloomberg Economics. They discuss the central bank’s strategy and what moves the monetary policy committee might make next. Find In the City wherever you're listening, and subscribe. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...
This week, we bring you an earlier interview by Merryn Somerset Webb of Bloomberg's Merryn Talks Money , originally recorded in November 2021 as part of the MoneyWeek podcast. It's a conversation with Vivek Ramaswamy, author of Woke, Inc., biotech entrepreneur and a far-right candidate for the 2024 Republican Party nomination. We're republishing it because the populist themes discussed in the interview, like "woke capitalism" and "boycott culture," are back in the news. And so is Ramaswamy himse...
Is it time to get out of passive funds and switch to their active brethren? Or should you dump equities entirely and find a nice savings account that pays 4%? While the latter means you won’t be maintaining the real value of your capital, at least you won’t lose too much of it. And what of silver or gold, or perhaps even Bitcoin? If you had to choose one, which would it be? And, just to ask, how angry should UK investors be with the Bank of England for forcing them to think about all of this? Or...
Former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King says the central bank hasn’t been covering itself in glory of late, and that’s partly thanks to it falling victim to groupthink. The economics profession is jammed with brilliant people, he argues on this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money , but unfortunately, they’ve all been taught the same thing: money has absolutely nothing to do with inflation. Believing that was a “big mistake,” King says it’s brought the UK economy to where it is: infla...
Inflation in the US is going to continue falling, says founder of Intertemporal Economics Brian Pellegrini, and much faster than one might think. He joins Merryn Somerset Webb on this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money to share his predictions. Indeed, the rate of inflation will drop so quickly that it will unnerve the US Federal Reserve, he says. Pellegrini contends signs of the decline can be seen in inventory levels, factory prices in China and the labor market. He argues that it’s also rea...
A decade ago, it was almost impossible for private investors to buy into private equity with the professionals. Most PE funds require huge minimum investments and long-term commitments. Good managers also don’t come cheap. Now, however, there are more ways for private investors to get into the unlisted sector. There are funds and trusts that buy individual private companies alongside listed ones, but there are also a few dedicated listed PE trusts. One of them is Pantheon International. In this ...
The idea that history is cyclical is hardly new. But exactly what drives those cycles is up for debate. On this week’s Merryn Talks Money , Peter Turchin, author of End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites and the Path of Political Disintegration, suggests he’s solved the puzzle. Sign up to John Stepek's daily newsletter Money Distilled. https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/uk-wealth See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
The Bank of England has a vision for the digital pound. But first, it has to decide whether “Britcoin” is worth building in the first place. The BOE wants to make a cash-like alternative to the banknote—an instrument that works like cash and holds its value but won’t accrue interest or become a tool of speculators. Right now, the bank is seeking input from Britons on whether such a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, can work or even makes sense. The period during which the BOE will take sub...
Active fund management isn’t just about maximizing upside for your shareholders, says Gervais Williams, head of equities at Premier Miton Investors. It’s also about minimizing downside risk. On this week’s Merryn Talks Money with Merryn Somerset Webb, he lays out just how to do that. Plus John Stepek joins to discuss the Bank of England's rate hike and inflation expectations. Sign up to John Stepek's daily newsletter Money Distilled. https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/uk-wealth See om...
