The Exchange by EW&L Private Wealth

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!Our partners, Craig, Tim, and Ryan regroup after staging their mid-year leave. It’s been another eventful financial year, with Wall Street analysts forced back to their drawing boards. Equity markets have rallied strongly, particularly year to date - despite lower earnings, and challenging economic conditions. Indicators increasingly suggest that inflation has, or is about to peak, with the potential for 1-2 rate increases locally and in the US before settling. What does this mean for markets? We cover the US Credit rating downgrade, China’s slowing growth, opportunities in fixed income, household financial health, SEC vs. Crypto developments, and personal investment interests.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!Today’s podcast is a recording of a webinar we hosted for clients in late July 2023. On the recording, we discussed everything from what is Bitcoin and Ethereum, how they translate to investment opportunities in the real world and the significant investment potential they offer to a balanced portfolio by adding their institutional-grade Digital Asset Fund.Trovio is a diversified business founded in 2017 offering three main services. The first being technology solutions, this actually allows them to consult with industry and government and be at the forefront of change in the digital sector for Australia. The second being physical digital asset management and the third being strategic investment in digital asset businesses.We were joined by both Vimal Gor and Thomas Ciszewski. Vimal is one of the Co-Portfolio Managers for the Digital asset fund and has over 28 years of asset management experience. Prior to joining Trovio, he spent 13 years at ASX listed Pendal Group as the Head of Bond, Income & Defensive Strategies (BIDS). At Pendal he raised over $10billon in FUM to manage a total of $22billion in assets. Prior to Pendal, he spent 10 years at Aviva Investors in London and Scottish Mutual and Murray Johnstone in Scotland. Thomas is the Co-Portfolio Manager for Digital Asset Fund. He has over 25 years of experience in portfolio management and strategy development, having previously worked at Pendal Group, SouthPeak Investment Management, Macquarie and Deutsche Bank.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In this episode, we have a special guest Dan Roberts, the co-founder and co-CEO of Iris Energy. Iris Energy is one of Australia’s first crypto mining and infrastructure plays having listed on the Nasdaq in November 2021. Iris Energy is a unique player in the market in that they only use renewable energy during off-peak periods to mine their Bitcoin resulting in what is referred to as “green Bitcoin”. They play a very important part in the renewable energy network as they take and pay for the energy when no one else wants it which brings down the cost of production and increases profitability for renewables. We discuss everything from what is bitcoin and bitcoin mining to the opportunity in the space and what else can be done with the infrastructure they are building.Daniel has 15 years of experience across finance, infrastructure, and renewables, he was previously the 2nd largest individual shareholder in Palisade investment partners which has 6bn in assets across direct infra projects. Dan has extensive board experience spanning from airports, ports, gas pipelines, bulk liquid storage, waste treatment facilities, and wind and solar farms. Prior to founding Iris Energy Dan worked for both Macquarie and PWC.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!The Year was 2022: No asset class globally escaped the enormous price resetting created by the most aggressive tightening cycle seen in history. Fixed interest markets felt the most pain: US 10-year bonds fell 39.7% for the year. If we were lucky enough to be Marty McFly and set our dash clock back to 28 December 2021 (the market high), how would you manage a bond portfolio differently?During this podcast, Craig discusses topics such as how Anthony and Western Asset Management adopt such a hugely successful fixed interest strategy to remain ahead of the market. How do you position fixed interest during an economic cycle? How do you reshape a bond portfolio given the frequently changing central commentary? Most importantly can bonds still act as a core defensive asset class – for all investors?Craig sits down with Anthony Kirkham, the Head of Melbourne Operations and Investment Management for Western Asset Management. Anthony personally manages in excess of AUD$18 billion in fixed interest, spanning across more than 33 years of experience. Anthony is the Head of the Australian Investment team, Head of Australian Operations, and Portfolio Manager at Western Asset since 2007. Mr Kirkham holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne, a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and a Graduate Diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia. Anthony also holds the CFA designation.Founded in 1971, Western Asset Management is one of the world’s leading fixed-income managers. With a focus on long-term fundamental value investing that employs a top-down and bottom-up approach, the firm has nine offices around the globe and deep experience across the range of fixed-income sectors. Western Asset Management’s parent company, Franklin Templeton, operates in 155 countries. Franklin Templeton offers boutique specialisation on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternatives. With offices in more than 32 countries and approximately 1,250 investment professionals, the California-based company has 75+ years of investment experience and approximately A$2.1 trillion in funds under management as of 31 March 2023. Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In today’s episode, we speak with Todd Warren, a Portfolio Manager of Tribeca’s 2050 fund, which invests its focus on decarbonisation beneficiaries such as carbon credits, green chemicals, green metals, green food and industrial innovation. As a senior member of the Tribeca Global Natural Resources investment team, Todd also leads research coverage of key sectors such as energy and bulk commodities, drawing on over two decades of specialist research and portfolio management experience in the natural resources sector having previously worked with Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) in London and Sydney. We dive deep into what Carbon Credits are, how to invest in them and the huge investment opportunity that they present.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In this episode, Tim catches up with one of Australia’s most successful investment bankers Trevor Rowe. Mr Rowe is currently a Senior Advisor and was Executive Chairman (to 2019) of Rothschild & Co Australia Limited since November 2005. Prior thereto Mr Rowe was at Citigroup Global Markets and held numerous senior positions with Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers over a period from 1982 to 2005 living and working in New York, Asia, and Australia. He established Salomon Brothers offices in Australia in 1983. He has held numerous positions on the boards of listed companies and institutions including a stint as Chancellor of Bond university. He has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and an Officer of the order of Australia for his services to the financial sector. Tim & Trevor covered a number of topics spanning from Trevor’s upbringing to sharing stories of some of the deals he did and interesting people he has met along the way. Trevor also shares his insights as to the direction we should be taking in regard to our closest trade partners and his views on what will happen in markets this year.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!Investing in the current climate is not at all easy. Particularly given the events of 2022, coupled with the enormous list of investor concerns. There weren’t many fund managers who made a positive return during 2022. Aspect Capital was one of those very rare funds on the planet that was able to. In this episode, Craig Emanuel holds an in-depth discussion with Anthony Todd, the Founder of one of the World’s largest, longest running and most prominent hedge funds (via managed futures), managing more than AUD$12 billion. Aspect Capital actively trades and invests and investing across more than 200 markets globally, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Anthony co-founded Aspect Capital in 1997 and is headquartered in London. Anthony is the CEO of Aspect, the Chair of Aspect’s Executive Board and the Chair of Aspect’s Investment Committee and takes Board level responsibility for investment risk and model risk management.  Before establishing Aspect, Mr Todd worked for five years (from March 1992 to October 1997) at Adam, Harding and Lueck Limited (AHL) initially as Director of Financial Engineering and Product Development, before moving to Switzerland as Director of Marketing and Institutional Sales.  Prior to this role, Mr Todd was a strategy consultant at Mars & Co., a Paris-based consultancy, from September 1990 to March 1992. From July 1989 to July 1990, Mr. Todd studied at INSEAD in France, and from September 1982 to June 1989 he was with UBS, an international investment bank, in London as Assistant Director in the International Government Bond Group.  Mr Todd holds a B.A. in Physics from Oxford University and an M.B.A. from INSEAD in France.During this podcast, Craig discusses topics such as the hugely successful philosophy and trading strategies employed by Aspect, through to the importance of behavioural finance and how herd mentality (emergence of trends) can create amazing opportunities in markets. It is these dislocations in valuations which creates those opportunities which Aspect has very successfully exploited over almost three decades to generate high returns. No matter what traditional markets or other asset classes return. Key to Aspect’s strategy is the thesis that investment markets are in fact, not efficient. Anthony’s podcast was very kindly coordinated by CFS, who are responsible to manage Aspect Capital’s distribution in the Australian market.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In this episode, Craig Tim and Ryan discuss what has transpired in the past 6 weeks in the market. They discuss their views on where interest rates and markets are heading, the implications on the debt ceiling, the recent earnings season and the Annual EWL Investor luncheon they recently hosted at the Calile Hotel in Brisbane (Sydney to follow).Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In today’s episode, we speak to the Co-Founder of Ophir Asset Management about investing in small cap market. We talk about Andrew’s path to lead one of Australia’s most successful small cap funds, the importance of having skin in the game for an asset manager and how they identify and invest in the best companies of tomorrow.  Ophir manages over 1bn dollars in client capital in small cap strategies both in the US and Australia. Andrew has over 20 years of experience in financial markets covering portfolio management, investment research and economic analysis. Prior to co-founding Ophir ‘Andrew worked as a portfolio manager at Paradise investment management which is another small cap manager covering stocks outside the ASX 150. Prior to this Andrew worked at Commsec as an institutional small cap manager and prior to that he worked as an economist for the Department of Treasury.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

Let us know your thoughts, questions, and who you want to hear from next!In this episode, Ryan Loehr speaks in detail with Frank Danieli, Head of Lending and Credit at MA Financial, formerly known as Moelis Australia. Frank has been with the firm for over a decade and responsible for MA’s Global Credit Solutions platform – covering asset-backed lending, corporate debt, bonds and credit opportunity verticals. Frank also has strategic oversight of the firm’s lending businesses, which include non-bank lending and financial technology platforms and its principal credit initiatives. Frank has a substantial background in corporate advisory, focused on special situations, M&A and financial services transactions.For those not familiar with MA Financial, it's one of the most interesting financial services businesses in the country. It has earned a strong reputation in local investment banking ranks, which should come as little surprise given this business is a legacy of veteran investment banker and Billionaire Ken Moelis, and Andrew Pridham who at only 28 went on to become a UBS Head of Investment Banking, and thereafter Executive Chairman of Investment Banking at JP Morgan. Then UBS colleagues Chris Wyke and Julian Biggins coming together to now co-lead the firm. Both the founders and senior executives in the MA business have deep expertise in real estate, with several local pioneers in what A-REITs are today, and by nature of that, private credit and lending which complements it.We talk to the types of investments and opportunities that the MA Business focuses on and reflect on how its team has delivered strong returns for investors – often by leveraging their operational expertise to drive additional returns. Examples include how the Redcape and MA Hotels business, owned by MA Financial have helped improve pubs and hotels operations and profitability; how acquiring Finsure a mortgage aggregator, has given the MA credit arm a unique set of data to monitor the health of Australia’s lending ecosystem; or how Retpro has given it’s real asset investments an operational expertise in managing retail property.We touch on macro and financial conditions, MA Financial’s expected returns across different types of credit; and recent acquisitions including of US Credit Manager Blue Elephant; and the largest set of Marina’s in the Australian east coast from Balmain and Goldman Sachs. It’s a well-rounded and in-depth conversation for anyone learning about MA, particularly the history it has in driving operational value of assets and investments, but also, for those wanting to understand some of the benefits – and key considerations across the MA asset management product suite.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.