Enterprising Investor

One approach that can help investment advisors go beyond the familiar “Know Your Client (KYC)” information gathering is to use a genogram to map a client's family history. The genogram looks like a family tree, but also provides detailed information about current and past family relationships and helps identify financial patterns and family values over generations. Mike Wallberg, CFA, speaks with Kim Curtis, CFA, CEO of Wealth Legacy Institute, Inc. and best-selling author, about the genogram technique to help advisors better understand a client’s family dynamics that can lead to more productive wealth management planning and deeper client relationships. Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed this episode please tell a friend and be sure to leave a review. To find the full line-up of CFA Institute podcasts, visit https://cfainst.is/podcasts.

The tried and true rules of the formal debate model can be useful to learn the skills needed to disagree productively, find common ground, and influence decisions, whether you’re presenting an analysis to colleagues in your firm’s security selection process or fielding portfolio performance questions from clients. Mike Wallberg, CFA, speaks with Julia Dhar, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group, about debate model techniques and other behavioral insights to help investors sharpen investment ideas and improve client relationships. Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed this episode please tell a friend and be sure to leave a review. To find the full line-up of CFA Institute podcasts, visit https://cfainst.is/podcasts.

In the wake of the FTX debacle, investors in cryptoassets have seen the need to critically reassess and strengthen their due diligence and risk management processes, and for regulators globally to provide greater clarity and consistency in regulating the space. In this episode, Mike Wallberg, CFA, and Martin Leinweber, CFA, Digital Asset Product Strategist at MarketVector Indexes, discuss the  lapses in investors’ due diligence with regard to FTX, the role and valuation of cryptoassets in balanced portfolios and diverse ways in which investors can invest in the space, beyond cryptocurrencies. Read the Report: Cryptoassets: Beyond the Hype Online Course: DeFi: Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed this episode please tell a friend and be sure to leave a review. To find the full line-up of CFA Institute podcasts, visit https://cfainst.is/podcasts.

Geopolitics, demographic trends, and geography are re-shaping the world order and driving changes in global economic power and the free trade system we have known in the recent past. Our host, Mike Wallberg, CFA, sits down with geopolitical strategist, Peter Zeihan, to discuss his new book, The End of the World is Just the Beginning.  In this wide-ranging conversation, Zeihan maps out what the next world order will look like, explores how global shifts will shape investment opportunities and risks over the short and medium term, and discusses why inflation is rooted in the labor situation and is likely to persist longer than many expect. Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed this episode please tell a friend and be sure to leave a review. To find the full line-up of CFA Institute podcasts, visit https://cfainst.is/podcasts.

A Three-Component Approach to Stock and Bond Picking. As central banks swung from QE to QT this year, the withdrawal of liquidity has been a major component in exacerbating stock market declines and bursting of bond market bubbles. Mike Wallberg, CFA, speaks with George Cipolloni, CFA, Portfolio Manager and co-leader of the balanced income strategy at Penn Mutual Asset Management, about the role liquidity has played in recent years to raise stock and bond market valuations. George also discusses his firm’s three-lever methodology to identify fundamentally strong investments that will thrive as the liquidity tide goes out.

“Risk” in investment management has many definitions and dimensions. For investors, it’s not only important to quantify total portfolio risk, but also to go beyond to determine the portfolio’s risk and return drivers and different sources of risk. Mike Wallberg, CFA, and Reshma Rajagopalan, CFA, Quant & Analytics Specialist at FactSet, discuss how risk budgeting, risk modeling, and risk assessment tools add value in the portfolio management process and can help investors stick to their investment plan and allocations, especially through turbulent periods, to achieve better performance outcomes.

ETFs have been popular among investors for many years given the tax advantages, efficiency, and transparency afforded by the ETF structure, but it was regulatory changes implemented in 2019 that leveled the playing field for the issuance of active ETFs. Since then, more active managers, including traditional mutual fund firms, have been bringing actively-managed ETFs to market. Our host, Mike Wallberg, CFA, speaks with Steve Cook, Managing Director and Head of ETFs at Harbor Capital Advisors, about the evolution of active ETFs in the marketplace and discusses the firm’s process of creating ETFs that solve investors’ problems, using the firm’s inflation-hedging ETF as an example. 

An emerging and critical application of data science in the asset management industry is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to support both the art and science of fundamental investing. Arezu Moghadam, Managing Director and Global Head of Data Science at JP Morgan Asset Management, speaks with host, Mike Wallberg, CFA, about how her team applies AI and ML to help the firm’s portfolio managers make faster and smarter decisions by separating signal from noise in the massive volumes of structured and unstructured data they analyze. She discusses how AI and ML can create efficiencies, reduce bias, and uncover new investment opportunities and offers advice to early career investment professionals aspiring to master ML and AI applications in the field of investment management.

The Journey to Leading a Global Investment Firm Leading an investment firm, regardless of size, requires a combination of soft skills — empathy and understanding of what motivates people — and a breadth of management experiences built over time. In this episode, Mike talks with a respected leader of a global investment organization, Richard Brandweiner, CFA, CEO of Pendal Australia, about his unique career path and the important leadership characteristics he honed along the way, including service to others, showing humility, building trust and relationships across an organization, bringing diverse teams together for better decision making, and always trying to see the world through the lens of the client. Richard also discusses the recent proposal from Australian fund manager, Perpetual, to acquire Pendal and his priorities as CEO in managing the firm through this combination.

How Asset Owners are Using DEI Metrics in Manager Selection and Investment Decision Making Diverse investment teams outperform on many levels.  Having a dedicated DEI strategy and culture at your investment firm can not only enhance investment performance, but also can contribute to significant improvements in risk management, talent acquisition, and employee retention. Jason Lamin, Founder & CEO, Lenox Park speaks with host Mike Wallberg, CFA, about what asset owners are asking for in terms of DEI metrics and benchmarks and the up-and-coming analytical tools available for peer comparisons by asset classes, regions, and more.