If you are an asset allocator, what is the most effective way to widen your lens on identifying potential investment managers? And if you are an investment manager, how can you be more effective in meeting some of those key allocators who might transform your business? In April 2020, Ron Biscardi launched iConnections , whose platform allows managers to share fund information with allocators. Ron started iConnections as a small virtual events platform during COVID-19, with 'no money, no employee...
Jun 19, 2025•56 min•Ep. 177
Today we welcome one of the Middle East’s most successful angel investors and venture capitalists, listed in 'FORBES 100 Most Powerful Business Women 2025'. Noor Sweid explains her journey, from early career in management consultancy and relocating to Dubai, followed by growing and listing a business on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai in 2008 ( Depa ), through to establishing her VC business, Global Ventures , in 2018. She sets the scene for the investing dynamics of MENA (Middle East...
Jun 05, 2025•49 min•Ep. 176
From the 1950s onwards, the foundations of investment consulting were laid, as pension funds and institutional investors sought professional guidance on asset allocation and portfolio management. This was enhanced in the 1960s & 70s by the introduction of Modern Portfolio Theory by Harry Markowitz and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) by William Sharpe. Today, the investment consulting industry has become a vast cog in the investing machinery, increasingly extending its reach from insti...
May 22, 2025•50 min•Ep. 175
Through direct, entertaining & insightful interviews with masters of the real life money maze, we hope to learn about different approaches to allocating capital, making business decisions and navigating the pitfalls that line the paths to prosperity. Each episode, with invite leading figures from the investment management and finance sector onto the show, who share their investment insights and career tips with our community. We're driven by a commitment to opening up the industry, which can...
May 19, 2025•3 min•Ep. 174
Chris Wood, former guest and highly respected global strategist, recently made a bold prediction, namely that the US stock market has reached its all-time relative peak, similar to Japan in 1989. His recent commentaries include one describing Trump’s “Liberation Day” as “Impoverishment Day” and that Trump is the “Bull in the China Shop”. In this conversation, Chris gives his take on whether US equities are peaking, or just pausing. Alongside sharing some thoughts on US equities, Chris also analy...
May 15, 2025•47 min•Ep. 173
Economic theory suggests that when competition decreases, remaining firms may have more market power, which can lead to increased opportunities to expand, innovate, or capture a larger market share. Does that analogy apply to the world of shorting? And even if you are considered one of the best in the business, can you stay afloat with a rising tide of bullishness and asset inflation? To discuss what’s changed and where might the opportunities lie, we welcome back Carson Block, who first appeare...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 172
Some of our conversations are deliberately different, and the man I interview here has cost me a lot of money! I also consider him a friend and somebody whose perspective I have valued. It could be said that Neil Woodford, CBE, has had a career of two halves, the first of which encompassed extraordinary investment success at Invesco Perpetual and then at Woodford Investment Management (2014-2019). At its peak, Woodford’s business managed £15bn and was backed by Hargreaves Lansdowne and St. James...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 171
In the world of mythology, Apollo is one the most revered and significant of all the ancient Greek and Roman Gods. It was also the name given to an asset management business created in 1990 and today with assets of over $750 billion*, it’s a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement solutions. In this conversation we understand Apollo’s growth, reach and specialisations. More importantly we discuss the convergence of the public and private asset management industries, where...
Apr 01, 2025•50 min•Ep. 170
When Warren Buffet singles you out for praise, it might be fair to say you have summited the investment equivalent of K2, Annapurna and Kangchenjunga, the most challenging of mountain peaks! In a capricious investing world, where success is often transient, reputations easily tarnished and hubris punished, to have not only stayed the course for 55 years, but thrived, built Oaktree Capital into one of the largest investors in distressed securities worldwide and cemented a vast loyal following is ...
Mar 13, 2025•56 min•Ep. 169
In this episode we’ve been very fortunate to find someone who ranks amongst the most qualified anywhere in the world to discuss this topic. He was the former CFO of Billiton, then as CEO, built Xstrata into one of the world’s largest diversified mining companies, helping grow their market value from US$500m to US$60bn, at one point employing over 90,000 people. In this conversation we examine the most important supply and demand mismatches of critical materials. We assess the energy transition, ...
Mar 06, 2025•52 min•Ep. 168
Star Trek’s opening lines were potent: "Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its mission? To boldly go where no man has gone before!” Whether Star Trek or Star Wars, such films offered tantalising glimpses of another world. But it’s actually here now! The WEF & McKinsey predict that the space sector will reach a value of $1.8tn by 2035. That’s only 1 decade ahead! Mark is CEO of the world’s first listed space tech fund, Seraphim Space , and he discusse...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 167
In today’s episode we have the chance to talk to one of the most successful investors of his generation, James Anderson, Former Partner at Baillie Gifford. I'm joined by Mark Wallace, MD of Rothschild & Co, who brings his expertise on US tech equities to this discussion. From 1987 until 2022 he led their flagship fund, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. His early investments in Google through to Tesla paid handsome returns to investors, and have made him both highly respected and widely...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 166
Enjoy a variety of career tips & life lessons from finance leaders in this New Year compilation special. This episode brings together some of the most insightful lessons and perspectives we’ve gleaned from past guests, covering everything from life wisdom to industry-specific strategies. You’ll hear from an extraordinary lineup, including Sir Chris Hohn, Nicolai Tangen, Mathieu Chabran, David Neal, Ray Dalio, Baroness Dambisa Moyo, and Suyi Kim. But that’s not all—we’ve also included insight...
Jan 23, 2025•23 min•Ep. 165
Today is the first time we welcome back a guest who has changed firms between interviews. We recorded Luba Nikulina, on Thanksgiving day, 2022, and our guest was then Head Global of Research at WTW, an organisation advising on over $3 trillion of assets. Today Luba is the Chief Strategy Officer at IFM Investors , a leading asset manager in infrastructure with a significant presence in other asset management capabilities. Luba explains the switch, and unpacks the investment thesis behind the incr...
Jan 09, 2025•50 min•Ep. 164
In this episode, Simon shares an update on the show, reflecting on notable interviews and summarising the wide range of initiatives under development beyond the Money Maze Podcast itself. Although we have said this for each of the 5 years since we started, this year has been incredibly exciting, surpassing both out expectations, and 2+ million global downloads, officially releasing over 200 episodes since starting the podcast in 2020. In the last few months, we’ve been lucky enough to feature Sc...
Dec 19, 2024•7 min•Ep. 163
With Christmas coming up, we thought today would be the perfect time to replay one of our older episodes! Very occasionally one individual can have a disproportionately powerful impact on a collection of people, but very rarely does that person’s impact grow in time and reach, and expand beyond anyone’s expectations and for millions, be responsible for enhancing their lives. In this episode we explore a slightly different realm: religion. Our guest, the Reverend Nicky Gumbel, talks of his own od...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 162
Today’s guest is the new US Treasury Secretary, serving under Donald Trump. The role gives him immense responsibility for managing US obligations and finances, including circa. $7 trillion of annual US federal spending, the $35+ trillion fiscal debt pile and continued inflationary pressures on both US businesses and consumers. Prior to this, Scott was a globally respected and market-moving hedge fund investor. He was key player on the George Soros's team, who in 1992 helped the Quantum Fund make...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 161
In 1932, the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. One in four Americans were unemployed, nearly 9,000 banks had failed. Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the first of his four terms as President of the United States, and a retirement system for state employees was established in California. It became the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Today it’s America’s largest public pension fund, managing over $500bn (as of July 2024). In this conversation, Marcie...
Nov 28, 2024•59 min•Ep. 160
The episode brings Sir Patrick Sanders, a British military officer, back to discuss geopolitical issues, specifically focusing on the precarious state of global affairs today compared to the 1930s. The conversation delves into the complexities surrounding Donald Trump's foreign policy perceptions and Norway SWF's approach to defence sector exclusions. This episode was recorded in Norway at the Grieg Conference, organized by Grieg Investor . They’re an independent investment adviser for instituti...
Nov 21, 2024•32 min•Ep. 159
Technological revolutions are by their nature rare events: the printing press, mobile telephony and the internet. The associated excitement can capture the imagination, spur a raft of associated breakthroughs, encourage investors to dream of extraordinary returns, yet their byproduct is often to create excessive short-term exuberance, and expectations that might be correct in time, but invariably expect too much, too soon. Scott Guthrie understands this space better than most, being a Microsoft ...
Nov 14, 2024•55 min•Ep. 158
Four years ago we had the chance to record a US election special ahead of the vote to determine whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump became President. We welcomed Anthony Scaramucci; Harvard Law, Goldman Sachs, political fundraiser and, for 11 dramatic days, Donald Trump‘s Director of Communications. Since then he has developed his finance business, run the SALT conferences, been a crypto evangelist and in addition - possibly inspired by his experience on the Money Maze Podcast - has become the co-...
Oct 30, 2024•59 min•Ep. 157
This recording took place at the London Value Investor Conference over summer, where Simon hosted a discussion with Joel Greenblatt. Joel not only founded and runs Gotham Asset Management, but was also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School for 20+ years. Joel previously ran Gotham Capital, where he achieved 50% annualised returns between 1985-1994 (34.4% net) . Joel also helped Michael Burry set up Scion Capital in 2000. In this discussion, Joel offers some exceptionally valuable insi...
Oct 24, 2024•46 min•Ep. 156
Today we travel back to Melbourne, Australia, having had previous conversations with Ben Samild (now CIO of the AFF) & David Neal (CEO of IFM Investors) . AustralianSuper , Australia’s largest super fund, manages approximately USD $230bn for 3.4m members. Mark Delaney has been at its helm as CIO for almost 20 years. Mark describes the goals, the organisation and its investment principles. He explains why Australia consolidated its pension industry and the benefits it has reaped for pensioner...
Oct 10, 2024•39 min•Ep. 155
Sovereign wealth funds, private equity, Hollywood actors; the world of sports has been undergoing an investing revolution. The last few years have seen a quantum increase of new investors, investing both in sports and even their governing bodies, raising questions about potential returns, the investment thesis and competition. Arctos is one of world’s largest sports investors, counting amongst its investments, with 20+ portfolio companies, including: Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pari...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 154
In an interview we had especially looked forward to, and with the Credit Suisse acquisition behind us, the MMP went to Zurich to talk to Colm Kelleher. Described as one of the most influential and capable banking executives of the last several decades, he has been dubbed by the FT as 'Europe’s most powerful banker'. As Chairman of the UBS board, he helps manage an organisation with approximately $5.7 trillion in assets, employing 112,000 people. After discussing the early forces that shaped him,...
Sep 19, 2024•43 min•Ep. 153
Thought-provoking, amusing, self-critical, rich with anecdotes, laced with good advice, and large servings of humility, you might not automatically assume I’m describing the book, titled ' On Leadership ' , just published and written by Sir Tony Blair. The discussion starts with the essential need for a leader to identify the priorities, to determine the plan, and to pursue its execution. Sir Tony Blair discusses meeting roadblocks and responses, and why the leader must stay resolute. He then op...
Sep 10, 2024•42 min•Ep. 152
Simon introduces Cliff Asness, Co-Founder and CIO of AQR (Applied Quantitative Research), highlighting the firm's systematic approach to investing in a variety of assets. Cliff Asness shared his background, mentioning that he was initially an underachiever in school but transitioned to a highly driven person during college at the University of Pennsylvania. He explained that market efficiency is a spectrum, and even Fama admitted that markets are not perfectly efficient, despite what many might ...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 151
In this episode we have the huge pleasure and privilege to talk to General Sir Patrick Sanders, who until June of this year served as Chief of the General Staff. As the professional head of the British Army he had responsibility for over 100,000 troops (including reserves), steering this key component of the UK’s defence apparatus through an increasingly fractured world. The mission in this interview is to orchestrate a rapid and highly effective tour of the key challenges on the minds of politi...
Aug 08, 2024•52 min•Ep. 150
This episode comes from the SuperReturn conference in Berlin, with guest Victor Khosla, Founder of SVP. Set up in 2001, the firm manages $18 billion in credit, with an impressive long-term track record in identifying credit opportunities. Victor describes himself as the ‘ Accidental Investor’, initially hired as a strategic consultant for a Citibank project in the 1990s, only then to join them to help develop their credit business. He recaps his journey from India through Citi, Cerberus, and Moo...
Aug 01, 2024•33 min•Ep. 149
If you write a widely followed weekly piece for nearly 30 years, assessing investment risks & rewards, geopolitical implications, and extracting signals from noise, you need experience, good instincts, market nous, and the ability to talk to the right people. The weekly piece in question is GREED & FEAR, and its author, our guest Christopher Wood, Global Head of Equity Strategy for Jefferies, in Hong Kong. He has been ranked No. 1 Equity Strategist in the Asia Money Polls 18 times since ...
Jul 25, 2024•42 min•Ep. 148
