
The Phil Bak Podcast
The Phil Bak Podcast takes you deep into the worlds of economics, investing and entrepreneurship as Phil talks to the innovators who challenge conventional thinking and exploring the narratives that are driving market moves.
Latest episodes

Jun 5, 2021 • 43min
Epsilon Theory: Part Two
This is the second part of a breathtaking conversation between Ben and Phil about how the financial markets are being turned into political utilities right before our eyes. Ben Hunt is Co-Founder at Second Foundation Partners & author at Epsilon Theory. (Replay from The ETF Experience)

Jun 4, 2021 • 39min
Epsilon Theory: Part One
This is the first part of a breathtaking conversation between Ben and Phil about how the financial markets are being turned into political utilities right before our eyes. Ben Hunt is Co-Founder at Second Foundation Partners & author at Epsilon Theory. (Replay from The ETF Experience)

May 25, 2021 • 50min
Michael Ashton: Inflation
Michael Ashton, Founder of Enduring Investments, joins the podcast to discuss all things inflation: how it is measured, how to analyze it, how to protect your portfolio from it, and how to profit off of it.

May 18, 2021 • 51min
Cathie Wood: Conviction
Catherine Wood and Tom Staudt from Ark Invest join Phil to talk about the early days of Ark Invest and how they built their business. Cathie tells the story of her eureka moment when she had the idea for disrupting the asset management industry. Tom tells us how he met Cathie and ultimately got an offer letter filled with exclamation points!!! Cathie and Tom talk about the early lean years, how the firm pivoted, and how her conviction and confidence in the firm and in her bold calls has never wavered. [Replay from The ETF Experience]

May 7, 2021 • 42min
Darren Schuringa: Recovery
Darren Schuringa, Founder and CEO of ASYMmetric ETFs, talks about battling his personal demons and persisting through an early career rise-and-fall to re-emerge wiser, healthier, happier, and with a new asset management firm.

Apr 29, 2021 • 36min
Dan McCabe: Market Structure & Innovation (ETF Experience Replay)
Dan McCabe shares his story that began as CEO of a high frequency trading firm to starting product development shop Precidian, including an excruciating twelve year regulatory pause before launching non-transparent ETFs. This episode takes you through decades of innovation in the capital markets.

Apr 23, 2021 • 51min
Adam Butler: Systematic Investing
Adam Butler, CIO of ReSolve Asset Management, tells stories of his career progression and how his investment approach evolved through the years, culminating in a transition to systematic quantitative investing.

Apr 16, 2021 • 42min
Aaron Brown: True Quant (ETF Experience Replay)
Famed quant Aaron Brown, Phil’s former professor, joins the show to discuss a wide range of topics, from his teaching style to poker to bitcoin, and more. Highlights include: Professor Brown’s unique teaching style How to have an edge at poker Whether factor investing still works Lack of creativity in quant factors The case for bitcoin The disconnect of intrinsic value Pulling the goalie, in hockey, life and business

Apr 13, 2021 • 46min
Vance Barse: The Freedom Ride
Vance Barse joins the podcast to tell the story about how he left the hedge fund world to ride a Harley Davidson across the country, and how he found meaning, purpose, and formulated the vision for starting his company Your Dedicated Fiduciary on that journey.

Apr 5, 2021 • 40min
Amanda Agati: Repo Madness
Amanda Agati joins the show to talk about her recent promotion to CIO of PNC Bank and to give a macro overview of the markets. She explains what is going on in the Repo markets and across the macroeconomic landscape. She discusses what alternative data she uses to understand the markets, what the Fed is doing to depress volatility, whether equities are historically expensive, and more.
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