The Investors First Podcast

Our guest today is Zach Conway, Founder and CEO of Seeds Investor. Seeds Investor is a new wealth technology platform designed to empower advisors to better understand investors and deliver the personalized portfolios that align. In addition to Seeds, Zach is a Managing Director with the Conway Wealth Group, a private advisory firm based in Parsippany, New Jersey. Prior to the Conway Group, Zach served as Editorial Manager at Standard & Poor’s. Zach is a contributor to Forbes, Founder of the Leader Board and Co-Founder of the Life & Health Network. Zach earned his bachelors degree from Gettysburg College. In today’s episode, we discuss current headwinds in ESG, actor Adrian Grenier’s involvement with Seeds Investor, tailored portfolios with values based investing and eliminating Fund/ETF wrappers from client conversations with direct investing. Our host today is Steve Curley, CFA, board member & past President of CFA Society Orlando, as well as co-founder of the Investors First Podcast. Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Andrew Beer, Managing Member and Co-Portfolio manager for Dynamic Beta Investments, an investment firm founded in 2012. Over the past decade, Andrew’s singular focus has been to identify strategies to match or outperform portfolios of leading hedge funds with low fees, daily liquidity, and less downside risk. Andrew has been in and around the financial services and hedge fund industry in particular for more than 25 years. In today’s episode, we will discuss Andrew’s journey to starting dynamic beta, democratizing access to hedge fund strategies at a reasonable costs, the benefits of replication and managed futures for portfolios, and building investment solutions to solve for client needs. My name is Frank Garcia and I currently serve as the president of CFA Society Orlando and will be your host today. Please enjoy the episode.   https://www.dynamicbeta.com/ Follow Andrew on Twitter: @Andrewdbeer1 FranklyFinances.com Follow Frank on Twitter: @franklyfinances

Our guest today is KC Joyner, a fantasy football guru and pioneer of the football analytics revolution, featured on ESPN and The Athletic. He is Founder of the Football Scientist, a data analytics subscription service designed to help you win your fantasy football league. KC left his career in telecom to pursue a lifelong dream of writing a Bill James-style book about football. 19 months later, his detailed tape breakdowns of the 2003 and 2004 season led to the self-publication of Joyner’s groundbreaking book Scientific Football in 2005. Since his first book was released, he has joined forced with the likes of ESPN and most recently the writing team at The Athletic. KC is a nationally published author and his other books include Blindsided, Why the Left Tackle is Overrated and Other Contrarian Football Thoughts. In today’s episode, we discuss KC’s background and how the The Football Scientist publication came to be. We then dive in to the quant approach he uses for fantasy football and how it could help you win your league this year, with several stops in between. Our hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA and Colby Donovan, current board members of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Social Media: LinkedIn Post (and Facebook): New episode w/ KC Joyner, Founder of Football Scientist, hosted by Steve Curley, CFA and Colby Donovan. *KC’s background and the research and book that put him on the map *His pursuit of a Bill James style of advanced analytics for the National Football League *Time w/ ESPN, the Athletic & more *How to win your fantasy football league this year, with actionable ideas for this year’s draft Enjoy! Insert link here (and please add KC’s twitter handle to below) Twitter Post: New episode w/ the Football Scientist KC Joyner, his background & the book that put him on the map, his pursuit of Bill James style analytics for NFL, time w/ ESPN, & how to win your fantasy football league this year. Show Notes:thefootballscientist.com (use code “CFA” to save on draft guide)https://theathletic.com/3359667/2022/06/23/warren-buffett-fantasy-football-strategy/

Our guest today is Ranji Nagaswami, Managing Director, Chief Strategy/Commercial Officer at SVP Global. Headquartered in Greenwich, CT. SVP is a global investment firm focused on distressed debt and private equity opportunities. Founded in 2001, SVP has over $18 billion in assets under management, 4 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia and has ~140 employees and over 60 investment professionals. Ranji is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and is also the Founder and Lead Moderator of the Aspen Institute Finance Leaders Fellowship program. She has served as trustee and member of several boards, including the Yale University investment committee with David Swenson, the UAW VEBA investment advisory council and the Curtis Institute Investment Committee. Last, but certainly not least, she is a CFA Charter Holder. In today’s episode, we start with Ranji’s experience as the youngest ever MBA student at Yale, discussing the positive impact that studying dance as a child had on her. We then discuss some of her career highlights, including her time at Alliance Bernstein, Mayor Bloomberg and as the CEO of Hirtle Callaghan. We then take a deep dive on private credit investing. Last, we discuss her involvement with the CFA Institute and the wonderful work she is doing at the Aspen Institute. Our hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA and Chris Cannon, current board members (and Past Presidents) of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Samir Vasavada, co-founder & CEO of Vise. Samir came up with the idea for Vise when him and Runik Mehrotra (fellow co-founder) were teenagers. Samir is responsible for Operations, Business Development and managing a team of Engineers and Ph.D. AI and Quantitative Finance Researchers at Vise. Vise is a venture-backed FinTech startup using Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize Portfolio Construction and Management for Financial Advisors. Vise has raised enough capital to be considered a unicorn (valuation greater than $1B) and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, & the Wharton School of Business (among other investors). Samir is one of the youngest FinTech founders I have ever met and was named in the 2021 Forbes list for top 30 under 30. In today’s episode, we go back to Samir’s time in high school and how he met his business partner and fellow co-founder Runik Mehrotra. We discuss what Vise is, what is unique about them and the venture backed fundraising process. We also talk about the all in cost of advice for investors, the future of the wealth management profession and much more. It is worth noting that this episode was recorded a short time ago and both the market environment and Vise’s strategy have shifted substantially since recording this episode. That said, it will be exciting to watch what Samir and Vise do next as they attempt to shape the future of investment management. Our host today is Steve Curley, CFA, current board member & most recent President of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Eduardo Repetto, Chief Investment Officer for Avantis Investors. Avantis was established to help clients achieve their investment goals through a persistent focus on providing well-diversified investment solutions that fit seamlessly into asset allocations and combine the potential for added value with the reliability of indexing. Eduardo is responsible for directing the research, design and implementation of investment strategies, providing oversight of the investment team and the firm’s marketing initiatives and interacting with clients. He is former co-Chief Executive Officer and co-Chief Investment Officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors and holds a doctorate in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Engineering from Brown University, Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Eduardo is a Trustee of the California Institute of Technology. In todays episode, we will discuss Eduardo’s journey from engineering to finance, the influence of great mentors, how to think about market prices, building investment solutions, and advice for young professionals. Our local co-hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA, and Frank Garcia, CFA, both of which are board members of CFA Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Chris Arnade, author of the best seller Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America. A Florida native, Chris was one of the first quants on Wall Street and spent 20 years as a trader before becoming disenchanted in finance’s role in the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, leading him to walk through the South Bronx and all over areas of the country that he describes as “left behind.”   Chris has a way of putting the current bipolarization in the US into words as well as anyone I’ve come across. We talk about our country’s focus on quantifiable things like GDP and efficiency and lack of focus on intangible things like community, connection and religion. We also touch on the role of McDonald’s in the country, why you may need to change what you think of McDonald’s, and what he thinks is behind the mistrust of authority and others.     Our local co-hosts today are Chris Cannon, CFA, and Colby Donovan, both of which are board members of CFA Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL Resources: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Paperback by Matthew Desmond Walking America: Orlando by Chris Arnade

Our guest today is Rick Bookstaber, co-founder and Head of Risk for Fabric, which provides factor-based risk management applications for investment advisors. Rick resume is as impressive as you can come across. He’s held Chief Risk Officer roles at Morgan Stanley, Salomon, Bridgewater, and the University of California pension. He also worked at the U.S. Treasury post-2008 and helped write the Volcker Rule. He’s the author of The End of Theory and A Demon of Our Own Design.   In today’s episode, we start with Rick’s framework for looking at risk and what the cockroach can teach us about sound portfolio construction and risk management. Then Rick shares what he thinks are some of the biggest risks in the market today, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising inflation and interest rates and QT.   Finally, we get into his newest venture and why he chose to start a firm on helping financial advisors and individuals with risk management.     Our co-hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA, and myself, Colby Donovan. Please enjoy the episode.    Please enjoy our episode with Fabric’s Rick Bookstaber.     Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Roger Urwin, Global Head of Investment Content with Willis Towers Watson. Roger joined Watson Wyatt in 1989 to start the firm’s investment consulting practice and, under his leadership, grew to a global team of over 600. Roger has been influential with the CFA Institute and their Future of Finance initiative, as well as co-founder of the Thinking Ahead Institute. His investment innovations include three global firsts, one of which is the creation of the first target date and lifestyle defined contribution funds (1988). Roger is also Advisory Director at MSCI Inc. He has a degree in Mathematics and a Masters in Applied Statistics from Oxford University. In today’s episode, we speak with Roger about his personal background, including a personal tragedy he experienced, followed by his professional background and his work at the Thinking Ahead Institute. We then do a deep dive on the current state of sustainable investing, which includes greenwashing, comparing investors globally, net zero, proxy voting, benchmarking and more. Our host today is Steve Curley, CFA & his guest host is James Sellon, CFA (Managing Partner, Maseco). Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Matt Brown. Matt is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of CAIS. Found in 2009, CAIS, a fintech leader, empowers over 4,000+ unique advisor firms/teams who oversee more than $2T+ in network assets. Founded by a financial advisor, CAIS considers itself the first truly open marketplace for alternative investments, where financial advisors and asset managers can engage and transact directly. CAIS offers access to alternative strategies ranging from hedge funds to private equity/credit to real estate, digital assets, structured notes and more. CAIS is unique in that all funds on the platform undergo Mercer’s due diligence and ongoing monitoring. They also offer an education platform called CAIS IQ, which helps educate advisors on alternative investments. In today’s episode, we start in 2009 and discuss how difficult it must have been to launch CAIS during the great financial crisis. We then discuss the CAIS platform, competition, the democratization of alternatives and CAIS’s value proposition. We later get into distribution (and why it isn’t a negative term), their recent high profile fundraise and what they plan to do with the money to grow. Other topics range from artificial intelligence to the power of data, the accredited investor rule, CAIS IQ education platform, the importance of reporting and the value of soft skills. Our hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA & John Bowman, CFA of CAIA Association. Please enjoy the episode. Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn.