The Investors First Podcast

Our guest today is University of Florida Professor Jay Ritter, who is known as “Mr. IPO” for his work on initial public offerings. He received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in economics and finance from the University of Chicago.  In this episode, we discuss all things IPO. Professor Ritter gives an overview of the IPO process and why so many companies are being underpriced in 2020. He also explains why direct listings may be favorable to the traditional IPO process, and what has led to the popularity of SPACs in 2020. He finishes the episode with what he expects in the rest of 2020 and 2021 with companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Robinhood all possibly going public. Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CFA, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  For more information on topics covered into the episode, see below: IPOs: Presentation: Jay Ritter’s presentation titled Why Don’t Issuers Get Upset About Leaving Money on the Table in IPOs? Podcast: Ben Thompson’s Exponent Podcast on the IPO process Article: WSJ on IPO Market Parties Like It’s 1999   Direct Listings: Podcast: Invest Like the Best with Bill Gurley on why he prefers direct listings to a traditional IPO Podcast: a16z Podcast with Barry McCarthy, former CFO of Spotify (and former CFO of Netflix); and Stacey Cunningham, president of the NYSE, on the process and decision for Spotify to use direct listing. Article: a16z on Direct Listings   SPACs: Podcast: Odd Lots Podcast on Why Blank Check Companies Are The Hottest Thing This Year Podcast: Village Global’s Venture Stories on Everything You Need To Know About SPACs with Anuj Abrol Article: WSJ on Why Finance Executives Choose SPACs: A Guide to the IPO Rival   Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Stuart Lucas, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Wealth Strategist Partners, a firm that advises complex family enterprises. He also co-founded the University of Chicago's Private Wealth Management program, now in its fourteenth year. Our conversation today focuses on his book, The Taxable Investor’s Manifesto: Wealth Management Strategies to Last a Lifetime. We discuss why investors typically treat taxes as an afterthought, his analogy of taxable and non-taxable investors playing the same game by two different rules, what his thoughts are about how to position your portfolio based on a possible Biden victory in November, and how he perceives the different alternative investments from a tax perspective.  Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CFA, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL  

Annie Duke, former top poker player turned author and speaker, dives into decision-making with topics like tracking error, career risk, and combating memory creep. She discusses enhancing predictions, group decision-making, and the importance of process-focused mindset. Listen for valuable insights on making better choices.

Our guest today is Mark Yusko, Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, which manages close to $2 billion. He is also the Managing Partner of Morgan Creek Digital Assets. Prior to founding Morgan Creek, he was CIO and Founder of UNC Management Company (UNCMC), the Endowment investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   In this episode we discuss his transition from running UNC’s endowment to starting Morgan Creek with the help of Julian Robertson, why his recent road trip across the country leads him to believe the U.S. recovery is not going well, the benefits from using Twitter, and his elevator pitch to advisors on why bitcoin belongs in everyone’s portfolio.   Our local co-host today is Chris Cannon, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at FirsTrust and board member for CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Morgan Housel, Partner at Collaborative Fund, a former columnist at The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal, and arguably the best financial writer of our time. In this episode, we discuss his writing process, his advice to those in the finance industry looking to start or improve their writing, and his new book, The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness. Some of the topics he touches on include what his goal of personal finance is, how we can use money to make us happier, and the different muscles required to build wealth and maintain wealth. Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CFA, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  To read his article that was the original idea for the book, click here. To read his article about tail risk mentioned at the end of the episode, click here. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is John Streur, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calvert Research and Management, an investment management firm that specializes in responsible and sustainable investing across global capital markets. Our episode today focuses on all things Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG). We discuss John's background and what led him to his position as CEO of Calvert, the history of ESG investing and how they implement ESG factors into their research, and the difference between exclusionary passive strategies relative to alpha seeking active management strategies. We also discuss ways you can learn more about the ESG space, as well as the new CFA Institute ESG certificate (born out of CFA United Kingdom), which will be helpful for anyone, whether you are an investor, advisor or consultant. Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CFA, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Tyrone Ross, CEO of Onramp Invest, a fintech platform designed for the next generation of advisors and investors.   The majority of our conversation today focuses on Tyrone's passion: lifting up Americans out of poverty and expanding the reach of financial education. Tyrone explains why the current state of financial education in schools is lacking and what he is doing to help fix it, why he believes bitcoin will be beneficial to inner city communities, and the exciting platform he is working on with Onramp Invest.  Our guest-host today is Frank Garcia, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Resource Consulting Group and Vice President of CFA Society of Orlando.    You can follow Tyrone on Twitter @TR401 and click here to see and support his work on financial education. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL  

Our guest today is Christine Benz, Morningstar's Director of Personal Finance and recently named one of Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in Finance. As so many people have been put into tough financial circumstances due to COVID, the topic of personal finance is more important than ever. In this episode, we discuss Americans' lack of retirement preparedness, the need for more personal finance education for the demographic advisors don't serve, what she thinks young investors will learn from trading on Robinhood, and if the future of the 60/40 portfolio is dead. Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.  You can follow Christine on Twitter @christine_benz, read her work here, and subscribe to her podcast, The Long View. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

If you are a CFA candidate or life-long learner, this episode is for you. Our guest today is Scott Young, who garnered notoriety when he completed MIT's four year computer science program in just 12 months without taking classes, and later wrote the book Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career. To say Scott has become an expert on self-directed learning is an understatement, and in this episode he shares the lessons he's learned that directly apply to you while studying for the CFA exam. He also explains common pitfalls people make while studying. Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode.    Click here to learn more about Scott and his work. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Our guest today is Michael Falk, CFA, CRC. Michael is a partner at the Focus Consulting Group. Michael has authored 2.5 books: the 2016 CFA Institute Research Foundation Monograph “Let’s All Learn How To Fish… To Sustain Long-Term Economic Growth”, the 2019 Monograph follow-up “Get to Work… on OUR Future” and he co-authored the 2017 “Money, Meaning and Mindsets.” Our local co-host is Chris Cannon, who is the Chief Investment Officer of FirsTrust, an RIA in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is also a board member and the Advocacy Chair for the CFA Society of Orlando. In this episode, we discuss Michael’s six deadly sins of investing: 1) we interact too much with our money, 2) we actually think we know more than we do, 3) we do the opposite of what generally works, 4) we do not rebalance properly, 5) we don’t define risk, and 6) we fall for good stories. Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL