BlackRock’s Rick Rieder Asks ‘What Is Money’

In Episode 11, which was recorded live at the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, Julie Segal talked to BlackRock’s Rick Rieder, who created THE buzz at the conference after his morning presentation, which he boldly called ‘What Is Money’ (and which included a prediction that AI would create a 15-hour work week.) Julie got Rick, the CIO of $3 trillion in global fixed income, to finish — at least for now — the conversation he started. The discussion ranged from the existential questions about money, market structure, and the changing nature of global investing to reimagining the 60/40 portfolio. The episode is a masterclass in long-term, contrarian thinking. Oh, and Rick gets to revisit his 2016 interview with Julie where he warned that Investors need to “stay away from the soup of the day.”

Take a listen and email me with your thoughts and ideas at jsegal@institutionalinvestor.com.

The roadmap:
 

What is money today and tomorrow? Social media and (real) media's role in amplifying noise and shortening time horizons. Explosive growth of financial assets over the last decade. Are we still clear on what money is and what it does? (1:40)

Too Much Wealth, Too Few Assets - There are $218 trillion in net worth in the U.S. today and $530 trillion globally today. How can this money be invested? Using the credit markets to create more assets. (4:36)

Inflation and Tariffs - The short to medium term of tariffs and deglobalization. And the impact of tariffs and the world of automation. By 2050, we will be going down to a 25-hour week. (7:50)
 

What does that mean for the markets and why we are not going into a recession? (9:50)
For the first time in 20 years, we can get yield in fixed income and private credit has firmly taken its place in the fixed Income sector. Creating the balanced and stable portfolio.
 

What are my institutional clients asking me? (18:45)
Internationally, they are asking about the dollar for the first time in a long time. In the U.S., investors are looking at diversified portfolio in a very different way today.

An alternative to 60:40 (21:00)