Inflation is one of the many things that can erode your investment returns, leaving you with far less than you anticipated. How can you protect yourself from inflation and maximize your yield?

In today’s episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Scott Henderson, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Specialist at Calamos Investments. Being with Calamos Investments since the beginning of his career, Scott has gained a deep understanding of alternative investments and convertible funds. Because of the many hats he wears, he has been part of the company's transformation into a diversified global investment firm today.

Scott talks with Rusty and Robyn about alternative and convertible bond investing, the pros and cons of convertible funds, and what makes a good investment manager and a good investor.

Key Takeaways

[4:14] - Scott's role at Calamos Investments.
[5:38] - What attracted Scott to the world of investment.
[7:06] - How market-neutral funds work.
[7:40] - What sets Calamos’ market-neutral fund apart from other market-neutral funds.
[9:15] - Simple rules for evaluating alternative funds.
[11:26] - The challenge of chasing yield in income funds.
[12:40] - Scott's recommendations for managing investments in alternative and convertible bonds.
[13:59] - The concept of convertible funds.
[17:02] - The pros and cons of convertible bonds.
[18:50] - How financial advisors and investors maximize current yields.
[20:08] - What makes a good investment manager.
[21:33] - The qualities of a good investor.

Quotes

[9:15] - "The problem with alternative investments, many of the firms that do the analytic work try to just compartmentalize a lot of different funds into one category. So my thinking when it comes to market-neutral funds or even alternative funds is to really start by asking the question, what problem is this investment trying to help me solve?" - Scott Henderson

[11:51] - "I think one of the challenges that we tend to see with chasing yield is that we either try to extend our durations in our bond portfolio out very long to get more yield or we dip down into lower credit quality." - Scott Henderson

[17:07] - "Convertibles can be complicated investments. So you need someone that's really looking at the convertibles, looking at the credit quality, or looking at the upside potential. But if they're managed correctly, convertibles can provide an attractive risk/reward as well as that yield advantage over the common stock." - Scott Henderson

[20:18] - "Good managers should possess benchmark awareness. They need to have a strong understanding of the risks in their asset class that they invest in and make a sound decision with those risks in mind, not just increase their portfolio's risk in order to match or exceed the benchmark returns." - Scott Henderson

[21:33] - "A good financial advisor is one that's keeping up to date with the market environment, listens to the needs of their client, provides education to them, does a thorough analysis, and looks into the client's willingness and ability to take those risks." - Scott Henderson

Links

Connect with our hosts

Subscribe and stay in touch

3030-OPS-12/1/2021

CZM Rewind: The Case Against Generative AI (Part 1)

Better Offline

Ad break

The AI-powered Podcast Player