The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing What the Data Says About Founder-Led Outperformance (w/ Jack Ablin of Cresset Asset Management) | #611
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Dec 26, 2025 Jack Ablin, Chief Investment Officer at Cresset Asset Management, shares his extensive expertise on founder-led companies, noting their historical outperformance due to strong ownership alignment. He discusses innovative asset allocation strategies based on cash-flow time horizons rather than conventional classes. Ablin also shares insights into equity and fixed income forecasts, emerging private market opportunities, and potential benefits from investing in Opportunity Zones. Plus, he reflects on his most memorable investment experience!
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Time-Horizon First Allocation
- Crescent builds portfolios by time-horizon buckets rather than traditional asset classes.
- This aligns investments to cash-flow needs from 0–3, 3–7, 7–15, and 15+ years for lifestyle certainty.
Founder-Led Firms Outperform As A Factor
- Founder-led companies show a persistent performance edge across small- and mid-cap universes.
- Doubling a founder-led tilt in S&P 400/600 added roughly 1–2 percentage points annualized in their analysis.
Use Founder Tilt As A Complement
- Treat founder-led tilts as a spice, not the main ingredient in portfolio construction.
- Start with a legitimate index portfolio, then apply modest factor tilts like founder leadership.