Enterprising Investor

In episode #417, Arden O'Connor discusses how financial advisers can recognize potential addiction issues with clients and shares effective communication strategies and resources for helping clients and families in sensitive situations.

In episode #416, Sam Stubbs, founder and managing director of Simplicity, talks to Neil Govier, CFA, about the impact, positive or negative, that COVID-19 will have on the changes taking place within the finance industry and its impact on investor trust.

In episode #415, Barbara Stewart, CFA, shares insights from a decade spent researching women and finance. She dispels some common myths about women investors and explains why the investment industry must change to better serve female clients.

In episode #414, Robert Martorana, CFA, author of the How to Read Financial News series, explains why we need to read the news with a clear eye about our emotions and biases, especially our tendency towards confirmation and political bias.

In episode #413, Joachim Klement, CFA discusses how investors can assess which geopolitical risks are important for their portfolios, shares advice on forecasting, and explains why investors must pay attention to climate change.

In this bonus episode, Geopolitical strategist and author Peter Zeihan discusses why the global order, as we know it, is about to collapse, touches on the US presidential elections, and takes listeners on a whistle-stop of where we stand in the current COVID-19 crisis and what to expect in the coming weeks. This conversation was recorded during the 73rd CFA Institute Annual Virtual Conference.

In this bonus episode, Morgan Housel, author of the forthcoming book, "The Psychology of Money," interviews author, business consultant, and former professional poker player Annie Duke, about the science and strategy of decision-making and Annie's forthcoming book, "How to Decide."Their conversation was recorded at the 73rd CFA Institute Annual Virtual Conference.

In episode #412, Ashby Monk, executive and research director of the Stanford Global Projects Center and a member of the Future of Finance council, talks about innovation and tech disruption in finance, the future of ESG investing, and more.

In episode #411, Rebecca Fender, CFA, and Bob Stammers, CFA, co-authors of the award-winning report "Investment Professional of the Future," discuss the findings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption that has roiled businesses and financial markets.

In episode #410, Andrew Sheng discusses the current and potential impacts COVID-19 will have on globalization, governments, and the economy. What will happen to investors' trust in the finance industry, and who or what will emerge stronger?

In episode #409, Margaret Franklin, CFA, CEO and President of CFA Institute, discusses how CFA Institute is helping the investment management industry during COVID-19, long-term ramifications, and how to lead and build trust during a crisis.

Episode #408. We use the word "trust" a lot, but what does it mean, and why is it important in the investment industry and beyond? How can financial firms and professionals build trust? Can innovation and technology enhance trust? In this episode, Rebecca Fender, CFA, and Bob Stammers, CFA, discuss these questions and more and share some of the findings from the recent Investor Trust Study 2020 published by CFA Institute.

Episode #407. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing widespread concern, fear, and stress. In this episode, Jason Voss, CFA, a lifelong meditator who has spent the last 20 years researching meditation and its benefits, explains how meditation can help reduce stress, especially during times of crisis, and provides listeners with some tips on how to get started.

Episode #406. Pandemic panic has engulfed financial markets. In this timely and wide-ranging episode, financial economist Robert F. Bruner, co-author of The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned from the Market's Perfect Storm, discusses the 1907 panic, what the Spanish Flu can teach us about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, facts versus fiction when it comes to financial crises, how investors can identify signs of recovery, and leadership lessons in times of crisis.

Episode #405. Yanis Varoufakis discusses the lessons he learned during his tenure as Minister of Finance of Greece and how they led to his co-founding DiEM 25, the pan-European movement for the democratization of Europe. In this short interview, he shares his views on the relationship between politics and the investment industry and the role of capital markets within society.

Episode #404. Olof Granstrom discusses the concept of factfulness and his work on helping people understand the world through data. In this short interview, Granstrom talks about dealing with conflicting facts and incorporating them into decision making.

In episode #403, human rights activist Bill Browder discusses the role personal history and timing played in his career trajectory. From the founding of Hermitage Capital Management just after the fall of the Soviet Union, to his current role fighting state-sponsored corruption and human rights abuses through the Magnitsky Act, Browder shares his evolution from rebel capitalist, to activist investor, to full-time human rights activist, detailed in his book, Red Notice.

Episode #402. Stephanie Kelton explains modern monetary theory, a new approach to economics. She explains how to break free of the myths and misunderstandings about money and the role of taxes, debt, and deficits that have hamstrung policymakers around the world.

In episode #401, Kathleen M. Bochman, CFA, discusses the state of the art of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) integration in fixed-income management.

In this 400th episode of the Take 15 Podcast, Mebane Faber, a cofounder and chief investment officer of Cambria Investment Management, and our guest host, Rodney Sullivan, CFA, discuss industry trends and global asset allocation strategy as we head into a new decade of the 2020s. Mr. Faber cautions investors about "home country bias" and recommends allocating investments toward the world market portfolio, particularly with lofty valuation levels in the United States from an historical perspective. Mr. Faber discusses changes to the industry that will affect financial advisers, including the impact of zero commissions and the rise of systematic or quantitative investing. He also shares why he believes financial advisers need to reassess their business risks as we enter the later stages of the economic cycle.

Episode #399. Overconfidence is a behavioral bias that plagues many investors. What does overconfidence mean, and where does one draw the line between confidence and overly optimistic behavior? What are the most common forms of overconfidence? In this episode, Ryan O. Murphy, head of decision sciences at Morningstar Investment Management, provides the answers and offers practical tips on restraining this common bias.

Episode #398. Paula Campbell Roberts leads KKR's efforts to incorporate big data and machine learning into many of its investing and value creation efforts. In this episode, she discusses how data analytics can be used to identify investment themes and talks more broadly about "the new consumer" and the investment implications from the disruption in the renting and sharing economies.

Episode #397. Have Central Banks exhausted their ability to engender growth? Is there an alternative to equities? Will there be a US-China trade deal? In this episode, Jason DeSena Trennert, chairman and chief executive officer of Strategas Research Partners and one of Wall Street's thought leaders on the subject of markets and economic policy, discusses these questions and much more.

Episode #396. Nouriel Roubini, sometimes known as "Dr. Doom" for his gloomy predictions, lays out four "games of chicken" that could crash the global economy and markets: US-China trade war, the US-Iran conflict, Brexit implications, and Argentina. He also shares his views on the US presidential elections in 2020 and why crypto is a "scam" and bitcoin "the most over-hyped technology ever."

Episode #395. We live in disruptive times. But as valuation expert Aswath Damodaran often says, disruption is easy, but making money from disruption is hard. In this episode, the author of five books on valuation discusses the "disruption dilemma," shares his advice for investors trying to value the disruptors, and gives viewers and listeners a preview of what attendees can expect from an extended session on valuation that he will be teaching at the 73rd CFA Institute Annual Conference in Atlanta in May 2020.

Episode #394. There is no shortage of negative headlines, but Lucy Johns, CFA, a vice president at Dodge & Cox, is optimistic about global bonds. In this Take 15 episode, she explains why she believes investors can find real positive yield and have an edge through security selection, being benchmark agnostic, and managing currency exposure.

In episode #393, Hans Humes, founding partner, CEO, and chief investment officer of Greylock Capital, has deep experience investing in distressed debt in emerging markets. In this episode (recorded in mid-October 2019), he discusses the outlook for Argentina, factors that are different about investing in emerging markets that investors should be aware of, and his top pick for a long-term investment.

In episode #392, executive coach and leadership development specialist, Christiane St-Amour, discusses the concept of leadership presence, why it's important no matter one's role, how it changes over the course of one's career, and the linkage with emotional intelligence.

In episode #391, Best-selling author and Paralympic athlete Bonnie St. John shares the story behind becoming the first African American athlete to win medals in Winter Olympics competition and key takeaways from two of her books, Micro-Resilience and How Great Women Lead.

In episode #390, Julie Castro Abrams, chair and CEO of How Women Lead, discusses the sought-after skills and experience for corporate boards, considerations for taking a corporate board role, and progress made and opportunities to move the needle on corporate board diversity.

Episode #389. Former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman completed three trips to space: She flew on two space shuttle missions and spent six months aboard the International Space Station. In this episode, Dr. Coleman discusses critical skills for building and leading teams, including resilience and trust.

In episode #388, Kunal Kapoor, CFA, chief executive officer of Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research, took the helm of the industry giant in January 2017 after joining the firm as a a data analyst in 1997. In this brief conversation, he shares what has changed and what has stayed the same, why Morningstar launched a family of mutual funds, why ESG and sustainability are important to him, and what he would ask prospective employees if he could only ask one question in the interview. **This conversation was recorded near a construction site, so we apologize for any background noise.**

Episode #387. Cryptocurrency is a fascinating but polarizing topic. In this episode, Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares, a digital asset manager, helps explain the broader macro context for the rise of bitcoin including economic, political, and social drivers. She discusses macro tailwinds, whether bitcoin is a risk asset or a flight-to-quality asset, Facebook's Libra, and her top three science fiction book recommendations.

In episode #386, Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and director of intelligence at Quill Intelligence LLC, a research and analytics firm, and author of FED UP: An Insider's Take on Why the Federal Reserve Is Bad for America, tells us what, if anything, has changed since she wrote her book and shares her views on macro risks to global economic growth, the data she watches most closely, and whether millennials can grow the US economy.

Episode #385. Platform businesses are all around us, but not every technology platform is a platform business. What makes a company a platform business, and how is this business model changing the landscape for trust and governance? What does sound platform governance look like? Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University Stern School of Business, helps answer those questions and explains why platforms are not like democracies but rather like benevolent dictatorships.

In episode #384, Vanguard Center for Investor Research's head of research, Jane E. Henshaw, discusses insights gained through her work and how it may be used to improve investment clientele's customer experience.

In episode #383, world-renowned and best-selling author of the books When, Drive, and a Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink provides insight into how he times key decisions, anticipates possible futures, and simplifies complex subjects. Each subject is also shared by active investment managers.

Episode #382. Named one of the Top 100 Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine for four consecutive years, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, discusses his top three concerns with respect to the global economy. Touching on unpredictability, divergence among advanced economies, and the interplay of politics and economics, El-Erian also brings in relations between the U.S. and China. Finally, he shares his unique career trajectory and the most important advice he ever received.

In episode #381, Clare Flynn Levy, founder of Essentia Analytics, discusses why solely focusing on performance misses an important point; how top managers are competing for survival of the fittest and why others are missing a trick; and how to mitigate behavioral bias in your own investment process.

In episode #380, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses why he believes that data isn't just the new oil, but an even more important commodity. He believes that it not only greatly enhances markets, but also reshapes the economy. Last, he discusses data's new role and how he believes it has profound implications for the financial services sector and for finance capitalism more generally. The biggest challenge for the data economy is structural, and competition rules are ill suited to address this challenge.

In episode #379, Malcolm White, CFA, discusses the benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence (AI) in active investment management. Subjects include whether AI should be feared or embraced by investment professionals; things AI is good and bad at doing; neural networks; and how to avoid programming bias into algorithms.

In episode #378, Peter Zeihan discusses major geopolitics trends occurring currently, as well as the importance of geopolitics for financial professionals. Specifically: 1. The more than two decades breakdown in the world order, including the United States returning to isolationism and indifference about what happens in the rest of the world. 2. What reality that is worse that the Global Financial Crisis that is just around the corner? 3. Why finance pros should pay greater attention to geopolitics. 4. Zeihan's approach to geopolitical analysis. 5. The importance of intuition in his work.

In episode #377, Pete Ronayne offers practical insights on how professionals in demanding environments can optimize performance by focusing on keeping their brain refreshed and renewed.

In episode #376, we cover cover some of the basic terminologies and then chart a map of the AI-driven landscape. From small data to big data, from desktops to the cloud, and from simplistic programming to machine learning, the world has been moving at a rapid pace.

In episode #375, Professor Laurie Santos developed and taught Yale University's most popular course ever in which she introduced the science of happiness. Building on that experience, Dr. Santos appeared at the 72nd CFA Institute Annual Conference to help professionals in our demanding, dynamic profession learn what science teaches us about being happier at work—and in all facets of our lives.

In episode #374, we discuss how emerging markets have been the place where the action is and the future will be. How near is the future for emerging markets? Does investing in emerging markets translate into a superior risk-adjusted performance?

In episode #373, recorded at the 72nd CFA Institute Annual Conference in London, Sartaj Garewal, an actor and coach, discusses innate and acquired traits of good leaders. Having started his career as a financial analyst before moving into acting, he uses his unique background to offer useful tips on leadership development as well as practical advice on commonly encountered workplace anxieties, such as dealing with stage fright.

In episode #372, recorded at the 72nd CFA Institute Annual Conference in London, Adam Tooze, a professor of history and director of the European Institute at Columbia University, discusses his most recent book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. Crashed has been described as "an eye-opening reinterpretation of the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath, leading to the political shock waves you are feeling in the world today." In this short conversation, Professor Tooze discusses his main purpose in writing the book, connects the dots from 2008 to Brexit, and reflects on whether the global financial system is more resilient now.

In episode #371, recorded at the 72nd CFA Institute Conference in London, Amanda Young discusses a wide range of general ESG topics including "are oil companies bad but wind farm companies good?" and "who/what are the drivers pushing ESG into the mainstream?" The answer to the first question is that it is not that simple (!), whereas the second question considers large vs. small companies, the demand from retail investors, and effecting change through engagement.

In episode #370, recorded at the 72nd CFA Institute Annual Conference in London, Daniel J. Levitin, an award-winning scientist, musician, writer, and record producer, discusses his book, The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Overload, why multi-tasking is a myth, how music affects the brain, and much more.