Resolve Riffs Investment Podcast

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. Convexity is one of those concepts that even if you understand it, explaining it to someone can still be hard, especially for a layperson. Unless you are the Convexity Maven, in which case it is second nature and you can apparently explain it to your mom. We had the pleasure of hosting Harley Bassman, creator of the popular MOVE Index, for a wide ranging and truly entertaining conversation that covered topics such as: Sharpening the blade - the value of working with people that challenge your ideas Calculus for everyday use – it’s actually simpler than most people think Policy responses (and mistakes) following the Great Financial Crisis His predictions for Treasury rates, MMT, and what indicators might cause him to change his mind Millennials, Baby Boomers, demography and inflation How fiscal and monetary tools might affect the US dollar How Risk Parity might navigate the coming years Gold as a currency Favorite themes and trade ideas for this environment Harley also brought a slide deck and walked us through some interesting charts as he described his investment thesis, so you might want to check out the video version of this episode. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. Like virtually all segments of the investment industry, the financial advisory business has undergone significant shifts over the past two decades. Gone are the days where a pasteurized, assembly-line approach with catchy branding is enough for a thriving enterprise. In the digital age, investors – like everyone else – want authenticity. They seek a personal touch. They yearn for a real connection. Alex Chalekian (founder and CEO of Lake Avenue Financial) lives by these principles. In our conversation, we explored: His journey: from studying to become an accountant, to investment entrepreneur Allowing others to learn from your mistakes and trying to extricate one’s ego Understanding the unique skill set you and your team members bring to the table The importance of proper communication: staying true to your message while navigating the regulatory landscape The appropriate digital forums and the difference between them Building and giving back to your community Alex also shared some of the investment themes and new projects his team is excited about, and there was even time for a brief discussion on the hottest investment topic of the day – Bitcoin and the world of crypto. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. 2020 has been a year like no other in living memory. Though the global pandemic has obviously been the most important story of the year (and quite possibly of a generation), stocks have rallied to new all-time highs, companies have raised record amounts of capital and the technology sector has minted a handful of TRILLION-dollar firms. Though some investors find this fitting with the ‘new normal’, others are convinced this is the ‘mother of all bubbles’. To make sense of these unusual times, there’s nothing like a good dose of historical perspective. For the final show of the year, financial historian Jamie Catherwood (O'Shaughnessy Asset Management & Investor Amnesia) joined us for a great conversation that included: The origins of capital markets and its countless manias The South Sea Bubble, John Law and the Mississippi Company Why the history of the Dutch Tulip Mania has been widely exaggerated Charlie Munger’s three I’s – innovators, imitators and idiots How wars invariably lead to periods of low interest rates (and eventually bubbles) Yield-seeking in the 18th and 19th century – and plenty of sovereign debt defaults Jamie shared numerous interesting anecdotes that seem to draw clear parallels to the current environment – which has been described by some as ‘the golden age of fraud’. You can find more of these in his new course. Happy Holidays! Thank you for watching and listening. See you in January.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. Most investors have 30 - 50% or more allocated to bonds. With U.S. equities at nosebleed valuations, investors need to wring the most efficient returns out of every sleeve of their portfolio. Brian is the Associate Director, Fixed-Income Strategies, Manager Research at Morningstar so we focused on the fixed income sleeve of portfolios. Specifically, we wanted to know how investors can generate the returns they need in a near-zirp world. Brian offered great color on the flawed construction of credit indices, and why this opens the door for outperformance by active credit managers. We discussed the most durable credit strategies and what looks especially attractive now. Brian also filled us in on the differences between different types of structured credit, such as CLOs, CDOs and CMOs, and how to approach the sectors at the moment. Run don't walk to learn what to do with all those bond funds in your portfolios!  

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. As life expectancy increased throughout much of the past century, so did the importance of saving and growing one’s nest egg for retirement. Though most who retired during the last 40 years enjoyed a massive tailwind from stocks and bonds, those that switched from accumulating to drawing down their savings between 2000 and 2002 suffered a rude awakening. Currently, there is widespread concern that typical stocks-and-bonds heuristics will not suffice. Ben Carlson (Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management) has given this a lot of thought. He joined the ReSolve crew to talk about his recently launched book, covering topics that included: Investment principles as a distant and foreign language outside of finance: the importance of narrative to bridge the comprehension gap (which can often be a chasm) The dual role of financial advisors: fiduciaries and behavioral psychologists Incentives to create and nurture a savings habit: mindset is key The myths surrounding risk tolerance: willingness vs ability Savings rate, lifestyle and portfolio returns: understanding the levers we can actually control A crucial yet often overlooked factor: sequence of returns CPI inflation vs the inflation that individuals experience: the blind spot for most portfolios We also discussed how remaining active into an older age is correlated not only with a longer lifespan, but also with prolonged health and mental acuity. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. Our guest this week was none other than Meb Faber (co-counder and CIO of Cambria Investment Management), a well-known quant and prominent member of the FinTwit community. In addition to being an asset manager, he is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, not to mention host of a popular podcast – and therefore an entertainer at heart. We enjoyed a wide ranging conversation including topics such as: The ‘mental gymnastics’ of contemplating ideas that are likely being ignored by most investors Crowded vs contrarian trades Preference falsification in polling, the role of inertia and the endowment effect North America’s impossibly complicated retirement systems vs Australia’s superannuation Financial education, incentives, and the enormous room for policy improvements We also discussed the importance of properly framing conversations, especially in the realm of policymaking (Universal Basic Income vs Freedom Dividend), some of Meb’s recent venture capital investments and a whitepaper that’s coming down the pipe. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

Today’s conversation is with Alexander Mende, Senior Investment Analyst and Head of Investment Research at RPM Risk and Portfolio Management in Stockholm, Sweden. RPM is an alternative investment firm, focusing on directional investment strategies, specifically Managed Futures and Global Macro. Alex is responsible for portfolio management, quant and macro research, manager screening and selection at the firm. We spend the first few minutes discussing the experience of living with COVID-19 in Sweden before moving onto the technical discussion. We explore the evolving role of managed futures and trend following both in terms of client expectations and how managers have adapted strategies to deal with the current macro-environment. In contrast to many similar firms, RPM takes an active approach to manager risk exposure. Alex describes how the firm manages risk both “horizontally” – by changing relative manager allocations through time – and “vertically” – by scaling exposure to the overall portfolio in response to proprietary models. Alex “opens the kimono” on two of RPM’s most useful indicator suites, the CoMaSe model designed to identify conditions that may lead to coordinated market selloffs; and the MDI model that measures the aggregate “trendiness” of market conditions. We walk through case studies to better understand how RPM uses the tools in practice and their potential value-add. Alex is clearly a passionate, no-nonsense quant and it’s clear RPM thinks about the problem in a novel way, with commensurately attractive results.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. The year that saw the fastest decline, followed by the steepest recovery in market history has left one topic top of mind for most investors – volatility. Though down from its eye-watering spike in the first quarter, the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index) has remained significantly higher than in previous years, and not without good reason. The ongoing pandemic, a bifurcated and fragile economic recovery, the most polarized US presidential election in living memory, continued geopolitical saber-rattling between China and the US, and the list goes on… We had the pleasure of hosting one of the foremost volatility experts in the industry – Wayne Himelsein (President and CIO of Logica Advisors) – for a deeply insightful conversation that covered: His background in the industry, and how he met and partnered with Mike Green Why “absolute” doesn’t mean steady returns – the lumpy nature of positive convexity Why Logica loves gamma and how to “scalp” it Unknown unknowns, unrealized vol and protecting against events that are by definition, outside of your sample distribution The difficulty in sizing a long-volatility strategy within a broader portfolio Wayne also delved into his investment process in some detail, including how Logica measures and adapts to market phase-shifts. You should probably just stop what you’re doing and press play. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day. As US equities and bonds continue their apparently unstoppable rally, their expected return over the coming years grows vanishingly small, Especially if markets are faced with anything other than the goldilocks environment of growth, deflation and abundant liquidity that has ruled the past 12 years. Readers of our research (as well as any student of history) will know that stocks and bonds can go through prolonged periods of synchronized underperformance, while Risk Parity can navigate virtually any form of inflationary or growth shock. But when executed properly, with periodic rebalancing, Risk Parity can benefit from a substantial tailwind, as we showed in our recent paper – Maximizing the Rebalancing Premium. Our discussion of the rebalancing premium and its implications for investors included: The traditional thinking on rebalancing is likely outdated – adjusting for drift is not enough Defining the rebalancing premium and how it can be maximized The benefits of rebalancing for different implementations of Risk Parity Why buy-and-hold investors are paying this premium Risk Parity vs the ubiquitous 60/40 The debate also delved into the importance of reducing volatility drag to smooth out the path portfolios take and improve geometric returns. Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day