Merryn Talks Money
Bloomberg
Merryn Talks Money with Bloomberg senior columnist Merryn Somerset Webb is your key to understanding how markets work – and how you can make them work for you. Every episode features a relaxed but in-depth conversation with a fund manager, a strategist, a Bloomberg expert or just someone Merryn finds particularly interesting in any given week. Listen in for the kind of insights and explanations everyone can use to help them make better saving and investing choices.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 13, 2026 • 20min
The Nvidia Shock and Britain’s Housing Problem
Nvidia’s founder dependence, succession concerns and a turbulent AI valuation landscape take center stage, alongside the hidden risks facing index investors. Britain’s housing market is also under pressure from higher rates, costly construction and questionable policy, with falling home equity threatening household wealth and the Bank of Mum and Dad.
Nov 9, 2026 • 48min
The Emerging Markets Everyone Else Is Missing
Vera German and Juan Torres, Neuberger Berman portfolio managers specializing in contrarian emerging-market value investing, look beyond the AI-driven index rally. They explore discounted consumer stocks in Mexico, distressed mining assets in Brazil, cheap Chinese tech, and why India may still be too expensive. Frontier-market opportunities in Kenya, Vietnam, Nigeria and Central Asia also take center stage.
Nov 6, 2026 • 20min
Bad News Is Good News — Until It Isn’t
The Bank of England raises rates as inflation persists, while the FTSE 250 hits a record high amid a shrinking UK small-cap market. US midterm results put data-center expansion and AI stocks under scrutiny. The discussion explores whether the “bad news is good news” trade is losing steam, the UK’s hidden AI exposure, and the elusive productivity boost.
Nov 4, 2026 • 30min
Episode 4: Your Questions On Rebalancing, Investment Gurus, And Ready-Made Portfolios Answered
Listeners’ investing questions take center stage, from when and how to rebalance without excessive trading to whether ready-made funds are truly diversified. The discussion explores concentration risks in index funds, the role of active strategies, and enduring lessons from Graham, Buffett, and Lynch. It also tackles investment regret, inherited cash, fees, technology exposure, and the challenge of getting started.
16 snips
Nov 2, 2026 • 37min
Where Do You Hide From an AI Bubble?
Chris Clothier, co-chief investment officer at CG Asset Management, examines the fragile economics behind the AI boom and what might end its spending spree. He explores recession risks, persistent inflation, fiscal stress and the case for inflation-linked bonds. The conversation also covers infrastructure, safer bond maturities, potential havens and why his firm sold gold despite central-bank demand.
10 snips
Oct 29, 2026 • 38min
Has the UK Redefined What It Means to Be a High Earner?
Anna Macdonald, Investment Strategy Director at Hargreaves Lansdown, joins a lively discussion on the UK Budget. They explore fiscal drag, tax complexity, savings and rental markets, small-business cash flow, pensioner tax traps, and a controversial homebuying scheme. The conversation also turns to share stamp duty, Anthropic’s IPO, and whether Alphabet’s market shock signals growing anxiety over AI valuations.
34 snips
Oct 28, 2026 • 26min
The Portfolio Reset: Episode 3
How do you build a portfolio for an unknowable future? The discussion explores risk, time horizons and four core assets: equities, bonds, cash and gold. It also covers the permanent portfolio, a speculative “cowboy account,” hidden concentration in global indexes, core-and-ornaments investing, rebalancing and when active managers may earn their fees.
15 snips
Oct 26, 2026 • 38min
Can the AI Boom Survive a Margin Squeeze?
Steve Hou, head of research at Silicon Data and a former Bloomberg quantitative researcher, examines the AI boom’s financial fault lines. They discuss falling token prices versus rising GPU costs, what cheaper models mean for OpenAI and Anthropic valuations, and whether infrastructure investment is racing ahead of demand. They also explore data-center shortages, power constraints, swarms of AI agents, bubble risk and AI’s wider social consequences.
15 snips
Oct 23, 2026 • 20min
French Bond Markets and AI Neoclouds Feel The Pressure
Sam Unsted, a Bloomberg markets journalist and co-editor of Markets Today, examines France’s slide toward eurozone bond-market danger, why Britain has avoided similar pressure, and whether political uncertainty could reignite panic. He also explores cracks in the AI boom, from failed neocloud IPOs and data-center delays to the possibility that more efficient AI reduces demand for infrastructure, energy and commodities.
7 snips
Oct 21, 2026 • 24min
The Portfolio Reset: Episode 2
Passive investing was meant to follow markets, but its explosive growth is now reshaping them. Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek explore what SpaceX’s potential listing says about the shifting boundary between public and private markets, how index flows can distort prices, and why even “passive” funds involve active decisions about access, allocation, risk and personal goals.
