Enterprising Investor

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.

Aligning Client Objectives with Portfolios Demand for impact investments has never been higher among high net worth clients, but capital allocation to impact strategies is still a small fraction of demand.  How can advisors help their clients align objectives, build portfolios and invest in solutions to societal and environmental challenges and provide attractive returns?  Adam Rein, Co-founder, President and CIO of CapShift discusses the tools, platforms and frameworks for advisors to help navigate the impact investment landscape.

Matthew Hougan and David Lawant from Bitwise, the world's leader in crypto index funds, join Mike to talk about the current state of crypto currencies in 2022. They talk about market fundamentals, valuing crypto assets in the current volatile market, what has changed, and how to approach these assets going forward. -show notes- Link to Matt's paper for the CFA Institute Research Foundation "Cryptoassets: The Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency for Investment Professionals" https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/research/foundation/2021/cryptoassets   Bitwise Investments: https://bitwiseinvestments.com/

Financial advisors quickly embraced and implemented new technology and tools to bridge performance reporting and communications with clients during the pandemic. But as our guests, Ian Robertson, CFA and Sameer Somal, CFA tell us, continuing to build on relationships, fostering trust, providing superior communication, and more comprehensive advisory services are now premium differentiators for advisors. Join us to discuss the future of work in financial advisory services and learn how you can skill up to better serve your advisory clients. Bios: Sameer Somal, CFA, CFP, CAIA  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sameersomal/ Sameer serves as Chief Executive Officer for Blue Ocean Global Technology and is co-founder of Girl Power Talk. He is an active member of the Future Business Leaders of America, the Society of International Business Fellows, and is a board member for the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, and formerly a member of the CFA Institute Seminar for Global Investors Board of Regents. He is a key contributor to numerous volunteer agencies across a wide range of initiatives, and he has dedicated countless hours to developing leaders across the globe. Adding to his long list of competencies, he is a compelling author and keynote speaker. Ian Robertson, CFA, MBA, MA  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-robertson-0636901/ Ian is a Vice President, Director, Portfolio Manager and member of Odlum Brown Limited’s Executive Committee. He is a regular speaker and writer on investment issues. Ian holds the CFA designation, which focuses on global investment knowledge, professional standards and ethics, as well as the Responsible Investment Advisor Certification (RIAC), which focuses on the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the selection and management of investments. Combining his strong interest in the impact of ESG on corporate strategy and valuation, and his commitment to providing clients with leading-edge investment insight, Ian is pursuing his DPhil (PhD) in responsible investment on a part-time basis at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Odlum Brown in 1997, Ian spent five years with the federal government, where he held several positions with a financial or economic focus – including postings in Ottawa with the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs Related links: Explore a wide range of courses specifically designed for investment professionals such as Data Science and DeFi. Explore online, self-paced learning that fits around your day. Courses are open to the public and member discount is available. https://cfainst.is/GAPod https://girlpowertalk.com/ Girl Power Talk--We believe that achieving true gender equality requires a radical shift in the way young women are mentored in the workplace. At Girl Power Talk, we are passionately dedicated to empowering women–as well as men and nonbinary individuals–with opportunities to learn confidently, feel valued, and build a career full of purpose. Vision: Girl Power Talk is passionate about elevating young women to become global leaders who are recognized for their myriad of talents and contributions. We believe that through education, opportunity, and the support of empathetic male allies, girls and women will advance beyond gender roles, aspire to new levels of achievement and reshape our society. Through our innovative ecosystem, we are changing the world of work for the better and providing all voices equal weight in a new narrative defining the future.

Ever considered investing in art as an alternative asset class? Allen Sukholitsky, CFA, joins us to discuss his role at Masterworks — an asset management firm that specializes in art as an investment vehicle. From how the concept of fractional shares of art really works to why it can be a great inflation hedge, this episode is a fascinating look into an often mysterious asset class.