Animal Spirits Podcast cover image

Animal Spirits Podcast

Talk Your Book: Matching Longs with Shorts

Dec 9, 2024
Mick Rasmussen, a Portfolio Manager at Wasatch Global Investors specializing in small and mid-cap strategies, shares his insights on constructing effective long/short portfolios. He discusses the key factors that differentiate successful long and short positions, emphasizing the importance of management quality and fundamentals. The conversation also touches on the complexities of stock picking in bear markets and the need for cognitive flexibility in volatile environments. Rasmussen highlights the unique challenges and opportunities in small-cap investing.
28:59

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Successful long-short portfolio management requires cognitive compartmentalization to navigate optimistic and pessimistic market outlooks effectively.
  • Investing in small-cap stocks offers considerable opportunities due to market inefficiencies, allowing for better hedging and potential short-selling candidates.

Deep dives

The Complexity of Long-Short Strategies

Long-short investment strategies require a unique mindset, as managers must navigate both optimistic and pessimistic market outlooks. The discussion highlights the distinct cognitive processes involved in managing long-only and long-short portfolios, emphasizing that successful long-short managers must adeptly compartmentalize their thinking. In particular, the podcast notes that the long-short strategy faced significant challenges in the 2010s, where traditional approaches of going long on low-valuation stocks while shorting high-valuation stocks failed to yield the desired results. This was largely due to the market environment favoring high-valuation stocks, demonstrating the need for adaptive strategies in changing market conditions.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode