WEALTHTRACK

“What do we want to own when things are cheap?” is the question driving great investor David Giroux on a daily basis.  Giroux is the Chief Investment Officer and Head of Investment Strategy for T. Rowe Price Investment Management. His reputation as a great investor has been earned as the  Portfolio Manager of T. Rowe Price’s Capital Appreciation Fund, which he has run since 2006.  It’s been a rough year for the markets and Capital Appreciation, although it’s down less than the market and its category. In this weekend’s episode, Giroux will give us his view of the state of the market, its risks, and potential rewards.  WEALTHTRACK #1915 broadcast on October 7, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/award-winning-investor-david-girouxs-laser-focus-on-what-he-wants-to-own-when-things-are-cheap/ Bookshelf: Capital Allocation: Principles, Strategies, and Processes for Creating Long-Term Shareholder Value https://amzn.to/3CFDyWn

Volatility is the name of this market’s game. The Dow and S&P 500 both entered bear markets this week, although they both put up a brief fight with a robust rally on Wednesday. Yields on U.S. Treasury securities also bounced around. These stomach-churning moves are hard to ignore unless you can take a longer view. This week’s guest is focusing on bigger investment themes and identifying cheap global sectors as the market sorts things out. A year ago on WEALTHTRACK, in September of 2021, Research Affiliates’ Rob Arnott made two macro observations. One, he predicted there were “very high odds” of a resurgence in inflation. Two, that the multi-year outperformance of growth over value stocks was probably finally over. He dated the turn to August of 2020. He proved prescient on the inflation call and so far seems to have gotten value’s comeback right. Rob Arnott is Chairman of the Board and Founder of Research Affiliates, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.  Research Affiliates describes itself as a “research-intensive asset management firm that focuses on innovative products.” Among the many funds that Arnott created and now co-manages is the PIMCO All Asset Fund, also celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In this weekend’s interview, Arnott shares his outlook on inflation, value stocks, and his cheap diversifiers strategy. We also have an exclusive EXTRA feature with Arnott, who will discuss his penchant for high-performance motorcycles, including his most recent acquisition. WEALTHTRACK #1914 broadcast on September 30, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/buying-into-fear-a-financial-thought-leader-fund-pioneer-explains-his-cheap-diversifiers-strategy/ Arnott on WEALTHTRACK from September 2021: https://wealthtrack.com/financial-thought-leader-rob-arnott-likes-buying-cheap-assets-where-he-is-finding-them-now/

This episode's guest is a longtime holder of Berkshire stock and has been an avid student of Buffett’s style of value investing since meeting the legendary investor at Stanford Business School in the early 1980s. He is Tom Russo, managing member of the investment advisory firm Gardner Russo & Quinn, where he oversees the Semper Vic Partners Funds, which he launched in 1983 after hearing Buffett address his class at Stanford. The global value manager focuses on owning a small group of exceptionally well-managed, well-known brand name firms, many family-owned, with dominant, almost unassailable positions in their mostly consumer-oriented businesses, and then holding them pretty much forever. Berkshire Hathaway has consistently been one of his largest positions. In this weekend’s interview, we will learn how Buffett’s talk in graduate school made such a huge impression on him. WEALTHTRACK #1913 broadcast on September 23, 2022 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/how-a-concentrated-portfolio-of-global-brand-name-companies-is-faring-in-this-challenging-market/ Part 1 on portfolio concentration: https://wealthtrack.com/how-a-concentrated-portfolio-of-global-brand-name-companies-is-faring-in-this-challenging-market/ The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States: https://www.churchillscholarship.org/ Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://amzn.to/3UxRatE

How times have changed. It wasn’t many months ago that the entire financial world was singing the praises of inflation. The greatest fear among Wall Streeters and other financial lights was lower prices that might actually decline more and turn into that monster known as deflation. The thought conjured up nightmarish scenes of bread lines and bank runs. Ever since the global financial crisis of 2008 and especially since the Covid pandemic, central banks and governments around the world have pulled out all stops to prevent such an occurrence. And guess what? It finally worked. After declining since the early 1980s, inflation has roared back to life, recently hitting 40-year highs. But no one is celebrating. In fact, now central banks around the world have declared war on inflation, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is leading the charge. The Fed has dramatically raised the federal funds rate several times this year, with more action to come. This week’s guest has long been an avowed enemy of inflation and an outspoken critic of the Fed’s inflation-boosting policies. How is he feeling now? He is financial thought leader James Grant, the Founder, and Editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer. Grant is also the author of 9 books. Several are financial histories, including the prize-winning The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself. Grant will discuss the Fed’s about-face on inflation, the battle it faces to bring it under control, the implications for financial markets, and two investment ideas for this new investment era. WEALTHTRACK #1912 broadcast on September 16, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/inflations-damage-financial-consequences-investment-strategies-with-historian-james-grant/ In his WealthTrack interview and a recent issue of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer Jim Grant highlighted the small-cap equity fund Palm Valley Capital Fund (PVCMX) which holds mainly cash “awaiting the return of valuations at which an unbending, unconventional, uncompromising, value-seeking investor can put other people’s money to work”. Grant also recommended reading the firm’s quarterly letters to shareholders, “some of the best and wittiest financial-markets commentary on the web.”  Here is a link to the firm’s most recent missive. https://www.palmvalleycapital.com/fundletter Bookshelf: The Trouble With Prosperity: The Loss of Fear, the Rise of Speculation, and the Risk to American Savings: https://amzn.to/3ds0azQ Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken: https://amzn.to/3qGuSIK The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash that Cured Itself: https://amzn.to/3RQixO9

The bond world changed dramatically in 2022.  From several years of historically low to negative interest rates, as far as the eye could see, the horizon is now filled with rising rates across the globe. It’s a welcome change for yield starved investors and fixed income managers who have been coping with a record breaking yield drought.  One of them is this weekend’s guest who recently reopened his fund to new investors because of the “improved opportunity set.” He is Tom Atteberry, now Senior Advisor to FPA New Income Fund having just retired, as planned, from his portfolio manager duties in July of this year.  He had been Portfolio Manager of the fund since 2004.  Atteberry will discuss why they have reopened the fund and where they are investing now. He will also share his current preference for asset-backed bonds over Treasuries and corporates.  WEALTHTRACK #1911 broadcast on September 09, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/the-new-investment-opportunities-being-discovered-by-award-winning-fpa-new-income-fund/

Global bond manager Jack McIntyre says central banks around the world are determined to stamp out inflation. Their success will determine the direction of markets and economies. He explains how he is investing for several outcomes. WEALTHTRACK #1910 broadcast on September 02, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/why-inflation-is-now-key-to-investing-with-brandywine-globals-jack-mcintyre/ Bookshelf: Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice, https://amzn.to/3CWQho7

We are joined by ClearBridge’s Investment Strategist Jeff Schulze. He will explain why he now believes that there is a 55% chance of a downturn, why a recession is not inevitable but what conditions could push it one way or the other. He will also discuss market implications and strategy. WEALTHTRACK #1908 published on August 20, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/a-widely-followed-investment-strategists-indicators-now-signaling-heightened-recession-risk/

A special WEALTHTRACK podcast with influential economist and Fed watcher turned professor Paul McCulley. McCulley is an adjunct professor at Georgetown Business School and a very much in-demand speaker in financial circles because of his deep understanding of Fed policy, honed at bond giant PIMCO, where for many years he was Senior Partner, author of the influential Global Central Bank Focus and manager of its huge short-term trading desk. In this week’s podcast, McCulley shares his thoughts on where we are in the Fed’s tightening cycle, economy, and markets. WEALTHTRACK 1907 published on August 14, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/influential-economist-and-fed-watcher-paul-mcculley-on-fed-policy-recession-prospects-and-the-markets/

Global value investor Tom Russo says today’s investment environment is the most challenging of his 40-year career. He explains why his core companies are up to the challenge. WEALTHTRACK episode 1906 broadcast on August 05, 2022 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/how-a-concentrated-portfolio-of-global-brand-name-companies-is-faring-in-this-challenging-market/

Making money by losing less is how legendary small-cap value manager Charlie Dreifus has succeeded for over 50 years of investing. It's even more important now as he expects more economic and market pain ahead. WEALTHTRACK 1905 broadcast on July 29, 2022  More info: https://wealthtrack.com/making-money-by-losing-less-in-this-bear-market-with-legendary-value-manager-charlie-dreifus/