Winning Strategies in Macro Hedge Fund Investing: RV Capital and PinnBrook Capital

Sep 9, 2025

Join Ronnie Roy, Founder and CEO of RV Capital, and Zach Kurz, Founder and CIO of PinnBrook Capital, as they explore the thrilling world of macro hedge fund investing. Discover how Zach's pivotal conversation with Stanley Druckenmiller shaped his strategies, while Ronnie shares his success during turbulent times by crafting interest rate products. They also delve into the effects of global tariffs, the implications of AI on investment strategies, and the interplay of President Trump’s policies on Asian economies. Tune in for insightful perspectives on today's macroeconomic challenges!

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ANECDOTE

Born A Trader In India's 1990s Crisis

Ronnie Roy became a macro trader by accident trading Indian government bonds amid 1992 volatility.
He learned crisis trading firsthand and it shaped his focus on rates, FX and credit.

ANECDOTE

Sunday Lesson From Druckenmiller

Zach Kurz recounts being invited by Stan Druckenmiller to learn his macro process on a Sunday.
That early mentorship taught him to prioritize liquidity as the single most important variable.

INSIGHT

Tariffs As A One-Off Shock

Zach sees the tariff shock as a large one-off that markets largely absorbed so far.
He warns pass-through to inflation and slack in real incomes could still make things sluggish.

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Throughout many of our past episodes on the Thematic Investors podcast, we have seen the differences in hedge fund investing strategies when East meets West. Given today’s trade and tariff environment, we wanted to expand the debate with two leading macro investors, pulling their insights on tariffs, U.S. exceptionalism, capital expenditures in areas like AI, and more.

We are honored to welcome Ronnie Roy, Founder and CEO of RV Capital, and Zach Kurz, Founder and CIO of PinnBrook Capital. In this episode, host Kieran Cavanna discusses the following topics with Ronnie and Zach:

What makes mapping the scavenger hunt of macro trends so exciting to these hedge fund investors today?
For Zach, how did a Sunday discussion with Stanley Druckenmiller influence the future of his investing strategies?
For Ronnie, how was he able to ride the wave of volatility by creating interest rate products during times of crisis?
What do each of these investors believe about global tariffs, and why a recession never fully materialized, as reported earlier in 2025?
Given the speed and complexity of AI, how are AI goals impacting macro hedge fund strategies and the CapEx story? What could labor market risks look like in 6-8 months?
How will President Trump’s policies play out for the remainder of the year as it relates to China, Korea, India, and Japan?
And more.

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About Zach Kurz:

Zach Kurz is the portfolio manager of PinnBrook Capital, a New York–based macro firm managing roughly $600 million in its macro strategy. His path runs from Princeton (economics and applied math) to an early stint at Morgan Stanley, then to Duquesne Capital under Stan Druckenmiller, where he absorbed a liquidity-first view of global markets. He helped launch PointState Capital in 2011, building out the macro business, and in 2020 started his own firm. Today, his approach blends macro with thematic equity investing grounded in that training.

About Ronnie Roy:

Ronnie Roy is the co-founder and portfolio manager of RV Capital in Singapore, an Asia-centric macro firm specializing in rates, FX, and credit that was launched in 2011 and now operates with a global footprint. After years in large institutions, he set out to manage his own capital and then external capital, drawing on a career spent across fixed income markets and co-founding RV. He started on India’s government bond desk in the early 1990s and went on to trade through major dislocations, including the Asian crisis and the LTCM collapse, experiences that shaped his risk framework and macro lens.

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