Pods & Recs: No. 168
Today we have tiger cub Dan Morehead on all things crypto, John Arnold on his trading career and focusing on philanthropy, and the story of the first mutual fund to ETF conversion.
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Investing
Oil and Gas Startups Podcast: John Arnold on Oil and Gas Startups. Arnold walks through the quick rise that led to him running Enron’s trading desk at the age of 28, and then handling the blow up and demise of Enron. He then started his own energy trading firm, Centaurus Advisors, and compounded his capital at a high rate early on. Towards the end, he explains why he decided to stop trading and focus on philanthropy and what he specifically is focused on. [May 25, 2021–1 hour, 25 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
LA Venture: Nick Grouf — Alpha Edison. Nick has been described as a “pioneer of the Web 1.0 generation” and now works at Alpha Edison, a knowledge-driven venture capital firm. He explains how the firm proactively analyzes sector vulnerabilities to see what type of businesses they want to fund, how he works with entrepreneurs, and best practices for companies based on his own background as a founder and running an incubator. [May 26, 2021–26 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“Instead of looking at trust in the positive as value, what if we looked at the destruction of value as a consequence of the destruction of trust?”
Freakonomics Radio: 463. How to Get Anyone to Do Anything. Robert Cialdini just released on updated version of his best-selling book, Influence, which is the focus of the episode. He shares the drivers behind the contagion of ideas and behaviors in society. The seven levers of influence he’s found are: reciprocity, social proof, likability, authority, scarcity, commitment, and consistency and unity. [May 26, 2021–59 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
ETF Prime: Jim Atkinson on Making History with First Mutual Fund to ETF Conversion. This is a quick interview with Guinness Atkinson’s Jim Atkinson with a behind-the-scenes look at the first-ever mutual fund to ETF conversion. He explains why he did it, how the process was, and the impact this may have on the asset management industry. Important to note, he was able to keep the fund’s track record and ensure the conversion was a non-taxable event for shareholders. The interview is from 26:50–41:30. [May 18, 2021–57 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
The Money Maze Podcast: Wine — To Invest or Consume? Gary Boom, Founder & CEO of Bordeaux Index. Boom is the founder and CEO of Bordeaux Index, which has became the leading wine merchant in the world. He explains how Bordeaux has brought transparency to the wine market by providing the only live, continuous spread. He shares how wine as an asset class has delivered real returns of ~7% per year since World War II. He also covers some of the current trends in the space, including the impact of Chinese buyers, ESG & climate change. [May 26, 2021–50 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
The Long View: Teresa Ghilarducci: To Fix Retirement, Expand Social Security. This episode focuses on the state of retirement in the U.S. and potential fixes to the problem. Ghilarducci joined The New School for Social Research as a professor of economics in 2008 after teaching at Notre Dame for 25 years and just released a book, Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans. She addresses issues around retirement readiness in the U.S., problems with the 401(k) system and the benefits of instituting a thrift savings plan. [May 19, 2021–50 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
The Meb Faber Show
***Must Listen*** The Meb Faber Show: #314 — Dan Morehead, Pantera Capital Management — Satoshi Created Bitcoin As A Result Of The 2008 Global Financial Crisis And It’s Really Coming Into Its Own Now. Dan Morehead is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Pantera Capital Management, the first institutional asset manager to invest exclusively in blockchain technology and digital assets. He starts with his early career, spending time in Japan after the bubble burst, and later at Tiger Management under legendary Julian Robertson. Then he explains how, soon after starting Pantera Capital, he decided to solely focus on Bitcoin and digital assets. He shares what originally caught his interest in crypto, the different ways to value Bitcoin, how to size it and other digital assets in your portfolio, and what he believes this biggest risks are. [May 24, 2021–54 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“For every 1 million people that use Bitcoin, the price goes up $200.”
The Meb Faber Show: #315 — Warren Pies & Fernando Vidal, 3Fourteen Research — I Think That The Next 40 Years Are Unlikely To Look Like The Last 40 Years. Warren Pies and Fernando Vidal are the co-founders of 3Fourteen Research, which combines expert qualitative insights with true quantitative discipline. They begin with the firm’s original story and why Warren believes real assets have a place in portfolios going forward. Then they walk through their research process and the benefits of combining machine learning with technicals and fundamentals. Finally, they share what their models say about inflation, commodities, oil, and Bitcoin. [May 26, 2021–1 hour, 1 minute] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
The Rest
North Star Podcast: Rob Henderson: An Internet Academic. Henderson has a fascinating background — he’s a Ph.D. candidate in Pyschology at Cambridge, was previously at Yale, served in the Air Force, and grew up in foster care. In this interview, he talks about why we care so much about social status, why we carry ourselves the way we do, and the idea he calls ‘luxury beliefs.’ [May 24, 2021–1 hour, 12 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“Ultimately, why do we want these things? Why do we want friends? Why do we want romantic partners?”
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Carson Block (CIO, Muddy Waters Capital):
