We were joined this week by none other than Alex Gurevich, founder and CIO of HonTe Investments, author of The Next Perfect Trade, and more recently The Trades of March 2020 – A Shield Against Uncertainty, and a legend in the macro hedge fund industry. Our conversation included topics such as: His background in math, and as a competitive chess, GO and poker player An analytical approach that was well-suited for a Wall Street trader Skin in the game – he wanted to be a trader from the start, not ...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 116
This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Marcos Bueno, CIO at Ascent Systematic Advisors. Marcos has a diverse and well-rounded backgrounded in finance, and our conversation covered topics that included: His background at proprietary trading desks and macro funds Starting his career in fundamental, research-oriented investing Early successes during a bull market while recognizing the role of luck The GFC, the Volker Rule and leaving Wall Street to join Graham Capital in London Combining gl...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 115
After a multi-decade slumber, inflation has been dominating the economic and financial zeitgeist over the last twelve months. The sustained sell-off in both US stocks and bonds at the start of 2022 was an unfamiliar sight to investors that grew accustomed to the negative correlation that created the once mighty 60/40 portfolio. Are we entering a new paradigm where inflation has both higher mean and variance? Adam, Mike and Rodrigo lay out their views for navigating inflationary times, including ...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 114
Our guest this week was Cullen Roche, CIO of Disciplined Funds, founder of Orcam Financial Group and author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Know About Money and Finance. We discussed topics that included: Disciplined Funds’ macro-oriented investment approach Cullen’s rude awakening – classic economics learned in university is largely at odds with real world economics Taking a step back and learning public finances from first principles Digging into the mechanics of quantita...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 113
This week we had the privilege of hosting Viktor Shvets, Managing Director at Macquarie Securities and author of ‘The Great Rupture - Three Empires, Four Turning Points and the Future of Humanity - Do we need to be free?’. This deeply insightful conversation touched on topics that included: Is freedom truly a prerequisite for prosperity? Hong Kong’s transition from global hub to China-centric US and Chinese societies face similar challenges, but have a vastly different toolkit to tackle them Chi...
Feb 08, 2022•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 112
The prospect of normalizing monetary policy has been the main catalyst for a major equity rotation that has favored value stocks. Could this be the long-awaited reawakening of value investing? We had the pleasure of speaking to Rafael “Rafa” Resendes, co-founder of Applied Finance and prominent value investor. Our conversation covered: Economic ValueTM as a core metric The power of the Investment Factor The importance of capitalizing R&D and other balance sheet adjustments Sensitivity analys...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 111
To kick off the new year, our 2022 inaugural episode welcomed back Jeff Weniger, Head of Equity Strategy at WisdomTree Asset Management. Sharp-witted and pulling no punches, Jeff and the team covered topics that included: The early year equity rotation as the inflation narrative gathers steam The third leg of the portfolio stool that most investors are likely missing Owning commodities vs commodity-linked equities Most investors today have barely had any experience with inflation in markets – re...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 110
This week we had the pleasure of hosting Mark Yaxley, founding partner of Strategic Wealth Preservation , which specializes in the acquisition and storage of precious metals for investors around the world. He also brought his team member Philip Zappacosta to the conversation, which covered topics that included: Mark’s journey through the commodity space, before founding SWP The reasons that drive investors to own physical precious metals Different wealth objectives – creation vs growth vs preser...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 109
This week we spoke with Glen Burella, PhD, Vice President, Business Development at Abbey Capital (US). Glen previously worked on the investment research side of Abbey Capital having a background in quantum computing and a theoretical physics PHD. Our conversation with Glen covered the following themes: The incredible combination of stocks and trend following Glen’s attraction to science and math A glimpse inside a PhD in quantum physics First days at a new quant firm Behind the scenes at Abbey C...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 108
This episode features Ben Hunt, founder of Second Foundation Partners , which hosts the Epsilon Theory content portal. I reached out to Ben because I’d been starting to feel myself shifting gears on my feelings and perceptions around the ongoing COVID pandemic, and I knew Ben would be able to help put things in proper perspective. For most of the past 18 months or so I have been firmly in support of most of the measures taken by governments to manage the health impacts of the virus. We adhered s...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 107
Daruis Dale is the Founder and CEO of 42 Macro, an investment research firm that aims to disrupt the financial services industry by democratizing institutional macro-grade risk management frameworks and processes. Prior to founding 42 Macro, Darius was a Managing Director and partner at Hedgeye Risk Management, an independent investment research firm based in Stamford CT. He joined us for jam-packed and timely conversation that included topics such as: Positioning for inflation volatility and th...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 106
Phil Huber is the Chief Investment Officer of Savant Wealth Management, and author of The Allocator's Edge: A Modern Guide to Alternative Investments and the Future of Diversification . He joined us for a great discussion that covered topics such as: Educating advisors on the role of alternative strategies in portfolios and their benefits Recency bias and why “hindsight is 60/40” A different approach to building a truly balanced portfolio Why allocators find it difficult to diversify away from s...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 32 min
Jack Forehand is co-founder, partner and CIO at Validea Capital, and is also the co-host of the popular Excess Returns podcast. He joined us for an awesome conversation that included topics such as: The different styles for interviewing guests –preparation vs improvisation Factor models to decompose the returns achieved by famed managers Peter Lynch and the real mystery behind his track-record Momentum vs return chasing Cycles, underperformance and the benefits of combining different methodologi...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 104
Perth Tolle is the founder of Life + Liberty Indexes , an index provider and sponsor of the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF – a first of its kind strategy that uses personal and economic freedom metrics as primary factors in its investment process. She joined us for a great conversation that included: How her early life in China, Hong Kong and the US shaped her perceptions of freedom Isolating the “freedom factor” and using it, not as a tilt, but the primary basis for investment decisions The e...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 103
This week we had the pleasure of hosting our friend Jon Aikman, President and CIO of ReSolution Investments, for a broad conversation on the three-lettered acronym that has taken the investment world by storm in the last few years: ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance. We covered: How a background in law, banking and academia developed into a passion for impact investing While the environment has drawn most of the attention, we shouldn’t overlook the social and governance agenda Untangling...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 102
Tom Morgan is Director of Communications and Content for the Knall/Cohen/Pence (KCP) Group at Stifel. He writes a weekly missive called The Attention Span, which curates and synthesizes content, ideas and frameworks to help readers make sense of an increasingly complex world. Tom, Richard, Mike and Adam wandered into a wide range of topics, but the central theme orbited around humanity’s universal craving for meaning and connection in the vacuum created by the post-modernist Western focus on emp...
Oct 28, 2021•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 101
Wes, Patrick and the Alpha Architect Team are long-time friends of ReSolve, and were gracious enough to join us last-minute to discuss their huge win in the ETF white label space, with the launch of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF. Wes and team are known for their pure factor ETFs, but in the last few years they’ve pivoted from asset management to create an ETF Architect division, offering the “picks and shovels” for external managers to offer niche strategies with tight operations and low costs. W...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 100
Traditional portfolios are faced with the prospects of depressed expected returns in the coming years, as implied by current stretched valuations of stocks, and near record low rates and credit spreads for bonds. Our recently released paper – Return Stacking: Strategies for Overcoming a Low Return Environment – co-authored by Rodrigo and our good friend Corey Hoffstein, shows how investors may materially improve their chances of success by allocating to uncorrelated managers that may offer more ...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 99
Whether stemming from a recession, a policy shock, a terrorist attack, or a global pandemic, financial markets periodically go through major selloffs. It has always been this way. Euphoria eventually leads to panic, every time. Another way to look at these crashes is through the lens of volatility (and its commensurate rise), which has become a fundamental component of investment decisions. As time goes by, innovations can (and will) suppress volatility and can sometimes give the impression that...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 98
We had a very special guest this week – Roy Niederhoffer, founder and president of R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, a NY-based quantitative investment firm. With a strong musical background and an original plan to become a neuroscientist, Roy might have led an academic life if it weren’t for his programming skills and an offer to join his older brother’s hedge fund, one that he couldn’t refuse. He joined us for a fascinating conversation, covering topics such as: His early life, a diverse ...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 97
“The unfortunate truth is, very few want to hear an optimistic take on the world during a pandemic.” Human beings evolved to pay closer attention to negative vs positive information. For our ancestors, the cost of seeing danger where there was none was a cortisol spike and an unnecessary sprint, but dismissing a real threat might have led them to be a predator’s next meal. Our guest this week was Laurence Siegel, Director of Research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and author of “Fewer,...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 96
“Don’t hide from risk; find it and attack it.” We were joined this week by none other than Tom Basso (Enjoytheride.world), trend following legend, author of Panic-Proof Investing and The Frustrated Investor and known as ‘Mr Serenity’ from his depiction in Jack Schwager’s best-selling Market Wizard series. From his ten-dollar a week paper route, to earning enough money to buy his first mutual fund, our conversation spanned a few decades and included: A chemical engineer’s approach to capital mark...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 95
As a growing percentage of Baby Boomers prepare for retirement, they are confronted with the uncomfortable prospect of record stock and bond valuations. Even the most optimistic capital market assumptions suggest the 60/40 portfolio is unlikely to deliver the returns many nest eggs have been built for. To help us get a clearer picture of the challenges and opportunities faced by retirees in the coming decade, we had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Finke (Professor of Wealth Management) and...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 94
A casual observer of modern economies might be forgiven for feeling that life is pretty good. And they might reasonably credit neoclassical economic principles for facilitating what appears to have been a great leap forward in global prosperity. At the same time, we are occasionally confronted with news of looming global calamities, which are a product of the exact same policies that brought about this apparent prosperity: irreversible climate change, unprecedented global private credit, global ...
Aug 27, 2021•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 93
One of the major trends catalyzed by the era of low interest rates and excess liquidity has been the drive towards real assets. Uniqueness and scarcity premiums are paid in assets as diverse as real estate, art, digital assets, and fine wines. With our friend Jason Buck (CIO of Mutiny Fund) as co-host, we were joined this week by Atul Tiwari (CEO of Cult Wines) for a deep dive into the world of investable fine wines. Topics included: Atul’s journey – from reformed lawyer and finance executive to...
Aug 12, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 92
If you’ve been following international news over the past few years, you’ve likely noticed brewing tensions between major countries, even before the pandemic struck. Proxy wars, diplomatic tensions and regional skirmishes have been flaring up across the globe. To help us make sense of these events and how they may impact financial markets, we had the distinct pleasure of hosting none other than Dr. Pippa Malmgren, former presidential advisor, best-selling and award winning author. Her expertise ...
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 91
With our good friend Dave Nadig (CIO and Director of Research at ETF Trends) as co-host, we had the pleasure of speaking with Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Investment, which manages the world’s largest crypto index fund. A veteran of the ETF industry, Matt brings institutional gravitas to a nascent sector and has recently authored the CFA Institute’s curriculum guidelines for digital assets. Our conversation included: Crypto as a currency looks highly unlikely to succeed, but as a technological ad...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 90
This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global* and Richard Laterman of ReSolve Asset Management. Following our first conversation with David Fauchier (Portfolio Manager at Nickel Digital Asset Management), he insisted that we had to speak with Thomas Braziel, Founder and CIO of 507 Capital, who he claimed was one of the most interesting and i...
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 89
For this podcast we had the pleasure of being joined by Fred Pye, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 3iQ Corp. He is also the Chairman of 3iQ Digital Holdings Inc. 3iQ is a pioneer manager in the digital asset space, with a variety of Canadian and international mutual funds and ETFs providing access to a variety of cryptocurrencies. On this episode we discuss: The early history of trailblazing unique asset classes The QSC/OSC and Bitcoin – a commodity, a security or a currency Closed-end fu...
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 88
This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*. “A year ago, digital assets were a fringe asset class, the mere mention of which could spell career risk. Now, the career risk is likely if you completely ignore the space.” Global markets are evolving at a blinding pace, and investors often find themselves in a race to catch up with what are so...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 87
