Our guest today is Drew Dickson, founder of Albert Bridge Capital and CIO of the Alpha Europe funds. Our conversation today focuses on Drew’s application of behavioral finance and fundamental analysis. We start with his time at the University of Chicago and learning from people like Merton Miller, Gene Fama and Richard Thaler, and then hear how he applies those behavioral principles when analyzing the market today. We talk about the valuation differences between the US and Europe, and then specifically the differences between value and growth in both regions, and get his thoughts on some of the speculation we’re seeing in the market today. As we wind down, we talk about some of Drew’s posts about the intersection of investing and sports. We cover James Harden & the paradox of skill and Rick Barry and being willing to look different. Our co-hosts today are Frank Garcia, CFA, and Colby Donovan. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL   Resources: Drew’s Writing James Harden and Alpha Bill Sharpe and Hank Aaron Rick Barry and Lewis Carroll A Memo to Investors Should Europe Be Cheap   Malcolm Gladwell’s Podcast on Rick Barry: The Big Man Can’t Shoot

Our guest today is Anthony Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Vinovest, the first of its kind investment platform where individual investors of all kinds can own fine wine (investment grade). He dropped out of the University of Southern California at the age of 20 when he was selected for the prestigious Thiel Fellowship, a two-year program that provides entrepreneurs under 23 a $100K grant to pursue their startups. Other companies he has held leadership or board positions include RateMyInvestor, Blockfolio, JOANY & JoyRun. He is also an active angel investor (portfolio holdings listed on LinkedIn profile). In today’s episode, we begin with discussing Anthony’s background as a serial entrepreneur, starting with the Thiel Fellowship, his pitch to Mark Cuban, and what led him to dropping out of USC. We quickly move to the life changing accident that Anthony experienced, including his painful rehab and his incredible return to save his company. We then discuss how his interest in wine led him to starting Vinovest. Then we get into the case for investing in wine, beta exposure and how you can generate alpha buying and selling wine. We also compare investing in wine vs. whiskey, storage, and most importantly, what success will look like for a Vinovest investor (performance vs. the U.S. stock market). Last, we discuss fundraising for a startup, his heavy hitter investors and the future of his company. Our host today is Steve Curley, CFA, Co-Founder of the Investors First Podcast and former President of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the Investors First Podcast & CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Eric Clarke, Chief Executive Officer for Orion Advisor Solutions (Orion). Eric is shaping the future of advice delivery with the organization's brand entities (fintech and investment management solutions), which include Orion Advisor Tech, Orion Portfolio Solutions, CLS Investments and Brinker Capital Investments. Eric is a thought leader in the industry, writing numerous articles, as well as receiving multiple awards, most recently receiving the Investment News's Icon & Innovators Award in 2019. Eric holds a B.S. in Accounting from BYU and a MBA from Utah. In today's episode, we start with Eric's passion for entrepreneurship, the origin of Orion and what he is most excited about regarding industry consolidation and recent Orion acquisitions. We then discuss the future of the wealth management industry, including fee compression, private equity in the wealth management space & what advisors should be discussing (and are afraid to discuss). Our local hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA and Chris Cannon, CFA, both board members and former Presidents of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter & LinkedIn.

Our guest today is Cliff Asness, Founder, Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital Management. He has authored articles on financial topics in almost every major financial publication and his awards are too many to list. He received his Ph.D. from University of Chicago while learning under Nobel Laureate Gene Fama. Notably, his bio states that “he still feels guilty trying to beat the market” after all these years because of his work with Gene. In today’s episode, we start with Cliff’s education background and how his father’s aim for diversification in education paid off for him. We then pivot to the Avengers and discuss the heir apparent to Captain America, before quickly diving into a variety of topics, ranging from his work under Gene Fama at University of Chicago, momentum investing, and then pulling the goalie in hockey. Then we discuss whether size is a factor, if price to book is a good value measure, his take on ESG investing, expected returns and much more. Our local host today is Steve Curley, CFA, board member and a former President of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our guest for this episode, is Bill Kelly, CEO of the CAIA Association, a position he has held since 2014. Previously, Bill was the CEO of Boston Partners and one of the seven founding partners of Boston Partners Asset Management.  He is a tireless advocate for shareholder protection and investor education and a frequent industry speaker, writer, and commentator on alternative investment topics around the world. In this episode, we explore the specialization of credentialing in the investment industry,  the relevance of the chartered alternative investment designation (known as CAIA), the stackable program available to CFA charterholders, and the prospect of broadening investor access to alternatives to meet individual retirement needs.

Gerard O’Reilly serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and has been with Dimensional since 2004. Since joining the firm, Gerard has been instrumental in the evolution of Dimensional’s systematic approach to creating and implementing investment solutions. He is Co-Chair of the firm’s Investment Research Committee and a member of the Investment Committee, which oversees portfolio and account management. Prior to joining Dimensional, Gerard obtained his PhD in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. He holds a Master of Science degree in high performance computing from Trinity College Dublin in his native country of Ireland. In today's episode, Gerard shares his journey to DFA and what makes DFA unique. We spend some time discussing the pros and cons of index funds, DFA’s recent launch of ETFs and conversion of Mutual Funds into ETFs, and their upcoming launch of SMAs. We also discuss expected returns, the need to account for the unexpected, and the longer-term viability of the size, value, and profitability premiums, along with the discipline needed to capture these premiums over time. Our local co-hosts today are Frank Garcia, CFA, president of the CFA Society of Orlando, and Steve Curley, CFA, board member and former president of the CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL  

Our guest today is Jerry Parker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake Capital and long-time trend-follower.   In this episode we start by going back to Jerry’s days as a “Turtle Trader” under Richard Dennis and the lessons he learned from the experience. We walk through some of the keys to trend-following, what 2020 looked like from his point of view, and the benefits of a rules based approach. In a world of Dogecoin and meme stocks, Jerry provides a rational perspective on the markets.   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  

Our guest today is Dr. Vincent Milhau, who is a Research Director of the EDHEC-Risk Institute. Vincent is in charge of several research projects at the Institute in the fields of portfolio optimization and asset allocation for institutional and individual investors. Most of these projects are funded by large industry players interested in the latest advances in risk management and asset allocation. His main focus is on goal-based investing or GBI and it is what we focus on in the episode.   Vincent has a diverse academic background that ranges from his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at University of Paris to graduate work in modeling, statistics and finance. He finished his academic studies with his PhD in Finance from University of Nice, where the EDHEC Risk Institute is located.   In this episode, we discuss a variety of topics centered around GBI, with the focus on retirement investing for individuals. Our listeners will receive a primer on GBI, flaws with existing strategies, new ways we can address the retirement problem and more.   Please enjoy the episode.    Our local co-hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA (President of CFA Society Orlando) & Sebastien Gault, CFA (Member of CFA Society Orlando, who is originally from Nice).   Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL   Links:   Website: https://risk.edhec.edu Papers/Books: Advances in Retirement Investing (2020, Martellini, Milhau) https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/advances-in-retirement-investing/E097D7D585051A8BFCEDE518F40562DC Securing Replacement Income with Goals-Based Retirement Investing Strategies (2020, Martellini, Milhau, Mulvey) https://risk.edhec.edu/publications/securing-replacement-income-goal-based-0 “Flexicure” Retirement Solutions: A Part of the Answer to the Pension Crisis? (Martinelli, Milhau, Mulvey) https://risk.edhec.edu/publications/flexicure-retirement-solutions-part-answer-0   About EDHEC Risk Institute: In 2001, EDHEC Business School created EDHEC-Risk Institute, a premier academic centre for industry-relevant research in investment management, which has developed a portfolio of research and educational initiatives in the domain of investment solutions for institutional and individual investors. The institute, in partnership with industry leaders, boasts a team of permanent professors, engineers and support staff, as well as affiliate professors and research associates. Their collective work has a particularly significant footprint in the areas of risk premia harvesting, retirement investing and sustainable investing. Its philosophy is to validate its work by publishing in international academic journals, as well as to make it available to the sector through position papers, published studies, online courses, on-campus workshops and global conferences. To ensure the dissemination of its research to the investment industry, EDHEC-Risk also provides professionals with access to its website, https://risk.edhec.edu, which has more than 120,000 visitors and is devoted to asset and risk management research, with a focus on investment solutions. Finally, its quarterly newsletter is distributed to over 100,000 readers.  

Bill Brewster, CFA is the Founder and Portfolio Manager of Sullimar Capital Group. Bill hosts the popular podcast, The Business Brew, and is also a co-host on the very popular series, Value After Hours, with Tobias Carlisle and Jake Taylor.   In today’s episode, Bill starts by explaining his windy road to be the value investor he is today. Then we spend some time talking about Robinhood and the gamification of the app. Bill shares the tragic story of his cousin-in-law who took his own life after Robinhood incorrectly showed he owed over $100,000 in his account and did not respond to his messages until after he passed. As we see more and more younger individuals start to trade on platforms like Robinhood over the past year, this is a really important conversation to be had.  Finally, we talk about Bill’s personal journey to be open minded and talk with people who have opposing views, and share his conversations publicly through both podcasts he hosts.     Resources Discussed: Freetrade podcast   Today’s episode is co-hosted by Chris Cannon, CFA, and Colby Donovan.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Mike Welker, CFA, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee at AndCo Consulting.   In today’s episode, we begin with Mike’s background, hearing how playing basketball at Rollins College brought him from Indiana to Central Florida. Mike shares the story of how he joined AndCo soon after the firm was founded in the early 2000’s and what led him to become the majority owner in 2015. Then we dive into AndCo’s consulting business. He shares the profile of a typical AndCo client, how the firm evaluates active managers, and how clients are handling lower return expectations by increasing their allocation to alternatives.     Our local co-hosts today are Steve Curley, CFA and Colby Donovan. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL