The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing

In episode 301, we welcome our guest, Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions, where he helps organizations understand the intersection of psychology and the market.  In today’s episode, we start by hearing what the 2020 bear market and pandemic looked like from a clinical psychologist’s perspective. Daniel touches on behavioral coaching and why that’s the primary value-add a financial advisor can provide. Then we move onto topics that aren’t discussed much: mental health, social isolation, and depression. He explains why it’s helpful for advisors to have their own therapist to help them handle the day-to-day stresses of the job, and how the increased social isolation over the last year translates to what we’ve seen recently with Reddit, Robinhood and NFT’s.  As we wind down, we discuss the potential for technology to help us become better investors and how some fintech firms are using technology and nudges to encourage bad behaviors.   All this and more in episode 301 with Orion Advisor Solutions’ Dr. Daniel Crosby.   -----This episode is sponsored by Bitwise. The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund is the world’s largest crypto index fund. It holds a diversified portfolio of cryptoassets, including bitcoin, ethereum, and DeFi assets. Shares of the fund trade under the ticker "BITW" and are accessible through traditional brokerage accounts. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value (NAV). For more information: www.bitwiseinvestments.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 300, we welcome our guest, Geoffrey Batt, managing partner and founder of the Euphrates Advisors, where he invests in Iraqi equities. In today's episode, we're covering Geoffrey's best idea: investing in the Iraqi stock market.Geoffrey begins by telling us how learning about Daniel Cloud’s post-Soviet Union Russia fund led him to look around the world to find somewhere he could earn huge returns, which led him to Iraq. He gives us an overview of the market and economy and how it’s rebounded since Saddam Hussein died. Then he walks us through everything he’s had to deal with since he first invested there in 2010 – political instability, a 20% currency devaluation, negative oil prices, and an Iraqi stock market that closed in response to COVID. We talk about the tailwinds for Iraq, including the growth of the banking sector and ESG, which Geoffrey believes is bullish for oil.Be sure you stick around until the end to hear about Geoffrey’s first trip to Iraq, when he was driving to visit with a company and was forced to turn around because of a car bomb.Please enjoy this special “Best Ideas” episode with Euphrates Advisors’ Geoffrey Batt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 299, we welcome our guest, Sundeep Ahuja, a three-time founder-turned-investor, who's currently a General Partner at Duro Ventures, Climate Capital, and DVC. In today’s episode, we start by hearing about Sundeep’s entrepreneurial journey, then dipping his toe in angel investing by making his first investment into Goodreads. Then he shares the differences of using Angel List syndicates and rolling funds, and the benefits of each. We touch on why Sundeep decided to devote his investment career to help solve climate change. He explains what areas currently look attractive, why he places a lot of emphasis on the founder when making an investment decision, and how he thinks about valuations. As we wind down, we talk about specific companies he’s invested in, from food delivery to gaming companies. All this and more in episode 299 with Climate Capital’s Sundeep Ahuja.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 298, we welcome our guest, Boris Wertz, the founding partner of Version One, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on backing mission-driven founders. In today’s episode, we’re talking all things marketplaces. Boris’ knowledge of marketplaces is unrivaled. He started one of the first marketplaces in the late 1990’s and recently released the third edition of A Guide to Marketplaces, a must-read for anyone interested in the business model. We start by going all the way back to the early days of eBay and then talk about how marketplaces have evolved over time, most recently with crypto and the blockchain. Then we dive into one of the hot topics of 2021: non-fungible tokens (NFT’s). Boris shares some broad thoughts on NFT’s and touches on one of his portfolio companies, Dapper Labs, which is behind NBA Top-Shot. All this and more in episode 298 with Version One’s Boris Wertz.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 297, we welcome our guest, Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, a non-profit organization working to increase access to financial education by providing its curriculum and professional development at no cost to schools. In today’s episode, we start the episode with the current state of K-12 personal finance education in the U.S. Then we hear how teaching a personal finance class in a school inspired Tim to start Next Gen Personal Finance in 2014. He shares the curriculum they provide to teachers for free, why the 43,000 teachers that are registered on the Next Gen platform are the champions to get personal finance mandated in schools across America, and how he utilizes arcade games to engage kids ranging from K-12.  As we wind down, we hear about what Tim calls Mission 2030, which is to get every student who graduates high school to complete a one-semester personal finance course.  All this and more in episode 297 with Next Gen Personal Finance’s Tim Ranzetta.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 296, we welcome our guest, Jason Hsu, founder and chairman of Rayliant Global Advisors.  In today’s episode, we get an update from Jason on the Chinese stock market and hear how it differs from the U.S. Then we talk about his new ETF, which gives investors a way to allocate to China A-Shares. He explains why the A-Shares are a great place to seek outperformance due to the large amount of retail involvement. Jason then addresses some of the most commonly cited risks for investing in the Chinese stock market, including accounting issues and the presence of so many state-owned-enterprises.  As we wind down, Jason gives his take on the recent developments with Ant Financial and Jack Ma.  All this and more in episode 296 with Rayliant Global Advisor’s Jason Hsu.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 295, we welcome our guest, Jacob Rubin, founder and Managing Member at Philosophy Capital Management, which focuses on value and distressed credit.  In today’s episode, we start by discussing Jacob’s windy road to end up where he is today, including a stint under Jerome Simon at Lonestar Capital Management. Then we dive into his investment philosophy, which can be described as old school value in a new school world. He shares how he uses pattern recognition to his advantage, how credit and equity investing help one another, and the thesis for some of his top holdings.  As we wind down, Jacob explains how he thinks about the short-side of the portfolio and tells the story of why watching a TikTok video led him to immediately cover a short.  All this and more in episode 295 with Philosophy Capital Management’s Jacob Rubin.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 294, we welcome our guest, Dan Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Advisers, a global investment firm that provides a public market alternative to private equity. In today’s episode, we start with an update on Dan’s private equity replication thesis and hear about the rise of private credit in the past few years. Then we dive into his recent paper on emerging markets crisis investing. While buy and hold investors in emerging markets have experienced higher volatility for disappointing returns, Dan believes learning to navigate these EM crises can provide the ability to reap excess returns. He walks us through the differences between global and idiosyncratic crises and what performs best between both debt and equity in each case. All this and more in episode 294 with Verdad Advisers’ Dan Rasmussen.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 293, we welcome our guest, Ted Seides, host of the Capital Allocators podcast and author of Capital Allocators: How the world's elite money managers lead and invest. In today’s episode, we go all the way back to Ted’s early days working under the great David Swensen at Yale to hear what makes him one of the most respected Chief Investment Officer’s in the world. Then we move on to his famous bet with Warren Buffett and hear how the real winner of the bet was the collateral set aside for the duration of the bet. After touching on what the Chief Investment Officer job entails and sharing the insights he’s learned from speaking with some of the top managers in the world, Ted shares how he invests his own money. We talk about Bill Ackman’s fund, SPACs, and even some crypto.  All this and more in episode 293 with Ted Seides.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 292, we welcome our guest, Tom Barton, famed-short seller and founder and President of White Rock Capital.  In today’s episode, we start with taking a look back at one of Tom’s tweets from September, which said that GameStop was a misunderstood short, and hear why he thought so back then. We also touch on the differences between shorting based on valuation versus because the company is a fraud. Then we turn to what he mostly focuses on these days: biotech and gene-therapy companies. We hear about his brutal two-year experience as an activist and what he learned from the experience.  As we wind down, Tom walks us through some companies he likes in the biotech space, and even shares a SPAC that looks attractive to him at the moment.  Please enjoy this episode with the White Rock Capital’s Tom Barton.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices