The Blunt Dollar

Oswaldo Zapata, a string theorist turned quantum finance expert with extensive research at prestigious institutions, shares his insights on quantum computing's real impact in finance. He demystifies quantum technologies, explaining their relevance to portfolio optimization and cybersecurity risks. Oswaldo critiques the hype around quantum finance, discusses its tangible applications, and warns about potential threats to current encryption methods. He emphasizes the need for financial institutions to prepare for the upcoming quantum revolution.

What does it take to go from fixing cars in Brooklyn to managing billions on Wall Street? In this powerful episode, Chris Thompson shares his extraordinary journey from Automotive High School to JP Morgan, and now to leading impact investments and executive coaching with purpose.Chris opens up about growing up in Crown Heights, the painful loss of his mother, and the quiet identity struggles many finance pros face at the top. This is a raw and deeply honest conversation about resilience, purpose, and what it really means to live in alignment.💡 From food stamps to finance: Chris' incredible path from trade school to Wall Street🧠 Coaching vs. capital: why Chris sees impact investing and executive coaching as two sides of the same coin🏀 Athlete mindset in finance: how high performers can reclaim agency using tools from pro sports🔥 Burnout at the top: the quiet crisis facing senior finance professionals and how to break out of career purgatory📈 Movement, visualization, planning: Chris’ MVP framework for staying intentional, resilient, and fulfilledIf you care about career reinvention, financial purpose, and the power of mentorship, this one's for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

Philippe Gijsels, Chief Strategy Officer at BNP Paribas Fortis and co-author of The New World Economy in Five Trends, shares his unique insights on the market. He discusses how narratives shape investing and why psychology often outweighs traditional models. Philippe introduces a ‘three windows’ framework for market analysis and reveals five critical megatrends impacting the economy, including superinflation and hyper-innovation. He also emphasizes the importance of storytelling in finance and offers engaging metaphors to simplify complex ideas.

Craig Coben, former Global Head of Equity Capital Markets and Vice Chairman at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joins The Blunt Dollar to share insights from a 25-year career at the very top of investment banking.From raising billions in IPOs and rights issues to writing sharp columns for the Financial Times, Craig’s journey is packed with hard-earned lessons on leadership, competition, and reinvention.This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about how to invest, personal finance, or what actually goes on behind major stock market deals. Whether you're an aspiring banker, someone just getting into investing for beginners, or a fan of Warren Buffett investment strategy, you'll take away plenty from Craig’s no-nonsense wisdom.In this conversation, we cover:📈 What ECM bankers really do and how Craig climbed to number one in European dealmaking💡 Why most pitches fail and what great origination looks like in a high-stakes world🤖 How trust, relationships, and emotional intelligence still beat AI in investment banking📉 The rise of private capital, and why public markets are struggling to keep up✍️ Craig’s post-banking pivot to writing, and why angel investing isn’t as easy as it looksIf you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes of a multibillion-dollar IPO, how bankers win and lose deals, or why relationships still matter more than Excel shortcuts, this one’s for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

Dean Smith, Chief Strategist at FolioBeyond and expert in fixed income, shares his unique path from rock guitarist to Wall Street. He discusses market inefficiencies and behavioral biases like recency bias that trip up even seasoned investors. Dean recounts his successful short trade ahead of the 2008 crisis and critiques the reliability of credit ratings. He emphasizes that current market prices often outweigh forecasts during uncertainty. Finally, Dean explores the future role of AI in finance, suggesting it will enhance—rather than replace—human strategists.

In this episode of The Blunt Dollar, we sit down with Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of Research Affiliates and one of the most contrarian thinkers in investing today. With over $160 billion managed using his models, Rob has challenged decades of financial orthodoxy, from the efficient market hypothesis to the myth of stimulus-driven growth. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build a truly independent investing philosophy or what the stock market teaches us about time, risk, and reward, this conversation is a masterclass.We cover:📉 Why fundamental indexing may outperform traditional approaches — and how it challenges everything we thought we knew about how to invest in stocks🔍 What makes the active side of passive investing quietly dangerous, and why blindly following the S&P 500 could backfire💡 Rob's journey from aspiring astrophysicist to quant pioneer, and how curiosity, not conformity, drove his success🧠 Lessons from going against the grain on government stimulus, market efficiency, and long-term value investing📈 How time horizon, patience, and humility can give individual investors an edge, especially when investing for beginners or learning how to save money and build wealthIf you like personal finance, investing strategy, and breaking down complex finance ideas, this one's for you. Whether you're exploring stocks to buy or learning how to budget and invest, this episode is packed with insights.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

Quant meets code meets capital in this sharp conversation with Cyril Bosch, a seasoned investment strategist with a rare blend of quant experience, AI expertise, and institutional rigor.Formerly CIO at Sidekick and with a deep background across JP Morgan, USS, and Polar Capital, Cyril unpacks how AI is fundamentally changing the investment game, and why it’s about much more than just automation.We dive deep into Cyril’s vision of an AI-first investment process, his own tools for automating ripple intelligence, and how he’s helping fintech startups build real-world AI applications. And yes, we also get into drones, Japan, and why behavioral finance still matters.Here’s what we cover:🤖 Why AI in investing isn’t just a tool — it’s a new mindset🛠 How Cyril built a portfolio-aware AI alert system that beats Bloomberg🇯🇵 Unique challenges (and megatrends) in Japanese equities📉 How behavioral biases quietly cost investors 300bps per year🧠 Advice for younger professionals: learn, code, and stay curiousIf you’re into applied AI, portfolio strategy, and how tech is reshaping capital markets, this one’s for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

Cole Wilcox, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Longboard Asset Management, joins The Blunt Dollar to unpack the core ideas behind his 25-year investing journey rooted in disciplined risk management, long-term thinking, and trend following.If you're exploring how to invest, curious about what it means to have a sound investment strategy, or simply want to understand personal finance through a deeper lens, this episode delivers timeless insights you can actually use.We discuss the highs and lows of the stock market, how to protect your portfolio from catastrophic loss, and what investing for beginners should really look like in a world full of noise. In this conversation, we cover:📉 Why “avoiding the double zero” is the cornerstone of Cole’s approach to investing📚 How early market cycles and losses shaped his take on how to invest in stocks and build lasting wealth📊 What most get wrong about trend following and how it beats buy low sell high thinking🧠 Why budgeting, patience, and emotional discipline matter more than stock picking🔮 The rise of liquid alternatives, freenvesting, and what the future of retire stock market strategies may look likeIf you're into stocks to buy, how to save money, and building a strategy that actually compounds, this one’s for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

Few people have shaped the way we think about long-term investing and finance like Laurence Siegel. From his early collaboration with Roger Ibbotson on the landmark "Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation" study to leading investment research at the Ford Foundation and the CFA Institute Research Foundation, Larry has spent decades connecting financial history, data, and practical insight into how markets truly work.In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore what centuries of economic and stock market history can teach us about the future, how seemingly obscure ideas like tontines and medieval water mills reveal deep investing truths, and why indexing, once a fringe idea, changed everything from the NYSE to global financial education.🎯 Here's what we cover:🏛️ Discovering 14th-century share trading in a Toulouse watermill, an early example of stock market investing📉 The real lessons foundations and endowments learn about risk and profit📘 What most investors miss about the early days of index funds and quantitative analysis🧠 How to build a true long-term mindset in a short-term world dominated by CNBC headlines and stock market news🧭 Why economic history is still the best forecasting tool we have, from forex markets to interbank lending dynamicsIf you’re into deep market wisdom, financial education, and no-nonsense investment thinking, this one’s for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.

In this episode of The Blunt Dollar, we sit down with Marcie Frost, CEO of CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the U.S., managing over $500 billion in assets for more than 2 million public sector workers.From a childhood marked by poverty to the pinnacle of public finance, Marcie’s journey is a masterclass in grit, purpose, and principled leadership. She opens up about the personal experiences that shaped her view of retirement security and the operational pressures of leading a fund under constant political and media scrutiny.We cover a wide range of topics, including the future of public pensions, the impact of AI, and how to lead with clarity under pressure.🔹 From food banks to a finance titan: Marcie's remarkable rise without a college degree🔹 What it takes to lead CalPERS: Balancing fiduciary duty, politics, and performance🔹 Inside the $100B climate strategy: Myth-busting ESG misconceptions and redefining impact🔹 The Pathways initiative: Empowering women to step into leadership with confidence🔹 AI at CalPERS: How the fund is embracing tech without compromising its human touchIf you like stories of bold leadership, sustainable investing, and what it really takes to manage generational capital at scale, this one's for you.Oh, and if you haven't already... subscribe to The Blunt Dollar for more raw and honest finance conversations. New episodes drop every other week! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.And last, but not least, don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-ramirez-moreno-cfa/ Enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Listeners should consult a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.