The Podcasts

If you don’t know about his most recent book ‘Going Infinite’, you’ll probably want to buy it after listening to or watching this episode with Michael Lewis, author of multiple books and associated films, including 'The Big Short', 'Moneyball', 'Flash Boys', 'The Blind Side', 'Liars’ Poker', and more.

For all the narratives around investing and making money, those who have survived the investment cycles for decades and earned above average returns have typically adhered to sound disciplines.

In his report ‘Birth, Death, and Wealth Creation’, Michael Mauboussin observes and then claims that corporations are surviving longer and winning more.

Contrary to what was widely expected at the start of the present century, the world has not seen the end of major wars, confirming that Plato was right when he wrote that “only the dead have seen the end of war.” These lines come from a new book, just published titled ‘Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare From 1945 to Ukraine.’

According to Bloomberg, Ray Dalio and his firm Bridgewater have “made more money for investors than any other hedge fund in history”. In this interview, Ray outlines his investment thinking and analyses some key trends shaping the global economy.

Today’s guest was a key player on the George Soros team, who in 1992 helped the Quantum Fund make $1bn, shorting sterling ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the ERM. As Soros’s CIO, he was also dubbed as ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank of Japan’ by the Wall Street Journal, making approximately $3.5bn on the Abenomics trade from 2012-2015.

Today’s guest has performed with Pavarotti, but in his day job he is a financial commentator and author, who spent 29 years at the Financial Times, including as Global Head of the Lex Column, before moving to Bloomberg as Senior Markets Editor.

There are certain geopolitical developments that need to be examined in an objective and timely manner for their profound strategic ramifications.

William Butler Yeats, the great poet, observed, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” It may be easy to agree that education is the passport to a better future, but in this episode we wanted to discuss how we should be thinking about education today and tomorrow, and are we failing?

In this conversation with David Neal, CEO of IFM Investors, we explore the origins of this highly unusual institution, an ‘investor-owned global investment manager’.

In this episode of our Private Markets Miniseries, we explore a French firm, whose growth has now firmly established it as a major force in the global alternatives industry.

In this conversation we discuss both the changing nature of demand for alternative assets as well as their supply. Matt explains how CAIS is creating the bridge between the alternative investment firms and the wealth management community, whose portfolio allocations to these investments are a fraction of their institutional counterparts.

In the world of alternative assets, TPG almost needs no introduction. Founded in 1992 by Jim Coulter and David Bonderman, they now manage approximately $139bn in alternative assets. Less well-known is their significant push into backing the next generation of underrepresented alternative asset managers, via TPG NEXT.

In this episode, Tom describes how technology is helping to make investing in private firms quicker & easier, with these secondary markets becoming increasingly relevant in light of relatively low M&A/IPO activity.

In today’s episode, the Money Maze Podcast takes a short trip back to 2022 in light of the upcoming release of our second Private Markets Miniseries!

In this conversation, Randy Smallwood shares his analysis on the world of gold, including perspectives on supply/demand, lessons from history, current central bank actions and why he recently observed that “gold is in a perfect position right now”. 

In the third and final episode of our 'July With Jen Series', guest hosted by Jen Prosek, we welcome Mike Pompeo onto the show. Mike is the only man to ever have served as both the US Secretary of State (2018-21) and CIA Director (2017-18).

In this episode, we welcome two leading entrepreneurs on the show for a detailed discussion on the US economy, geopolitics, tech and careers.

In this episode, we welcome Lynn Martin, the second woman in history to run the New York Stock Exchange.

Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as someone who knew the price of everything, and the value of nothing. In today’s episode, we discuss value investing with David Einhorn, Founder and President of Greenlight Capital.

General Sir Nick Carter, former Chief of the Defence Staff returns for a short discussion on the Ukraine War.

If you want to see how biotech can change the world of health, whilst being capable of creating extraordinary value for investors, there are few better places to look than Amgen, one of the world’s leading independent biotech companies, with a market capitalisation of approximately $130bn.

In a wide-ranging episode we have the opportunity to hear from Ben Goldsmith, a seasoned investor, with a particular focus on environmental opportunities, discussing how his passion in this field has led him to engage on a number of fronts.

When Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger was bought for $179 million, at that time, a world record for an artwork sold at auction, the spotlight shone on the world of art valuations, and this episode’s guest, Brett Gorvy.

If diamonds are forever, then the organisation most associated with them is, of course, De Beers.

In the final episode of our Super Allocator miniseries, we speak with Joanne Holden, Global Head of Investment Research & Consulting at Mercer, the world’s largest investment adviser.

Our exploration of the world’s “Super Allocators” would be incomplete without touching down in France, who have a lesser known, but still significant, SWF.

As we continue exploring the world’s “super-allocators”, we’re learning how different they are in approach and dispersed in investment decisions.

In this episode we travel to Canada as we continue our journey around the world to discuss investment approaches with the leading figures at some of the world’s top institutional allocators, dubbed the “super allocators”.

In the second episode of our Super Allocator Miniseries, Ben Samild shares the history, strategy and mission of Future Fund (Australia's SWF).

In this episode, the CIO of the world's biggest educator-only pension fund discusses their allocation strategy and how it's evolving in 2023.

Today, we unpack the world of ETFs to understand their evolution and how they are becoming a much broader wrapper for a multitude of strategies, with the help of Salim Ramji (BlackRock's Global Head of iShares and Index Investments).

In light of the current traumas, rescues and uncertainties, we were very fortunate to have Huw Van Steenis, the internationally respected banks analyst and strategist join the show for a timely discussion on what might lie ahead.

In this episode we explore the world of champagne with Groupe Bollinger’s CEO & Chairman, whose family have been central to the sustained success of both the brand and product since 1869.

To celebrate our three year anniversary, Peter Harrison, CEO of Schroders, returns to the podcast to give an update on a range of topics (including Asia's opportunity set, data science and the evolving investment landscape).

In this episode we talk to someone whose own firm advises some of the world’s most respected finance institutions, especially within the alternative and private assets arena.

We’re pleased to feature McKinsey’s Michael Birshan in this conversation, who explains some of the dynamics in the consulting industry and how McKinsey is approaching the challenges and opportunities of 2023.

In Part Two of the interview, he covers the importance of NATO cohesion, what the rise of China means for the world, Iran, cyber security and supply chains.

General David Petraeus has been described as the ultimate soldier/scholar. Targeted by Osama Bin Laden when Commander in Afghanistan, he became Director of the CIA and today is Chair of the KKR Global Institute.

In this episode, bestselling author and historian, Simon Sebag Montefiore, discusses his new book, which covers the key families who have shaped global history.

In this conversation, we have the opportunity to talk to Alex Rodriguez, or ‘A Rod’ as he is better known, arguably the greatest baseball player of his generation and now prolific VC investor.

In episode 2 of our VC Miniseries, we’re pleased to feature Roberto Italia, CEO of the global, evergreen investment company, Verlinvest.

In this much anticipated interview, we're thrilled to feature Dame Kate Bingham, Managing Partner of SV Health Investors and former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce.

As the Money Maze Podcast seeks to understand both the business and investment worlds, especially against the backdrop of a tougher economic environment, we are delighted to speak to Martin Waters, CEO of Victoria’s Secret & Co (VS&Co).

In this discussion we examine the changing world of investment funds and the data ecosystems that surround them. To explore this, we're pleased to be welcoming Laura González, Head of Americas at Allfunds, onto the show.

In this episode, Simon speaks to Greg Peters, Co-CIO of PGIM Fixed Income, which manages $790 billion in bonds (as of 30/06/22).

In this episode, we welcome Peter Oppenheimer from Goldman Sachs, to discuss the challenging investment landscape.

In this different podcast for us, we talk to Justin Byam Shaw, who set up The Felix Project in 2016 after facing family tragedy. The charity redistributes surplus food (that would otherwise go to waste) from 539 suppliers and delivers it to almost 1,000 charities, primary schools and holiday programmes.

Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has expanded from providing wealth solutions to include asset servicing, asset management and banking to investors worldwide. In this episode, we're pleased to feature Marie Dzanis, Head of EMEA for their asset management arm.

In the last of our miniseries on the world of private equity, we are delighted to welcome KKR, and its Co-Head of European Private Equity, Philipp Freise, onto the show.

David Novak, a 25 year veteran of CD&R, offers a candid perspective on how PE operating models have evolved and the drivers of value creation, illustrated by the examples of investing in the likes of SIG and Morrisons.

In this update episode, we welcome General Sir Nick Carter (former UK Chief of the Defence Staff) back on the podcast to share his latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, as well as other key defence issues.

Today, Bain Capital is one of the world’s largest private multi-asset investing firms. In this conversation we have the opportunity to explore their investment approach and dig down into the important factors in private credit and special situations.

With over $96 billion in assets under management, Vista Equity Partners is one of the world’s leading software-focused private equity firms. As Founder, Chairman and CEO, this success has propelled Robert F. Smith to become one of the most respected investors of his generation, being named by Forbes as one of the ‘100 Greatest Living Business Minds’, as well as becoming one of the most generous philanthropists of his time.

In the second of our series on private equity, we are going to discuss one of Europe’s premier operators. Established as Schroder Ventures 35 years ago, the firm evolved into Permira in 1997. Today they have more than €60bn under management, employ over 450 people and operate in 16 offices worldwide.

In the first episode of our Private Equity Miniseries, Simon speaks to Robert Hamilton Kelly, Managing Director of Petershill Partners. They've raised over $10 billion of P.E. capital since 2007, investing in private equity and alternatives businesses at the GP level.

In an investing world where the “new thing” can too easily grab investor attention, sometimes it’s the case that an institution, especially one almost 200 years old, may be considered less relevant. So in this episode we welcome on Sir Nigel Wilson, one of the longest serving FTSE 100 CEOs.

Ray Dalio has described today’s guest, “as a vacuum cleaner of learning”, and in this episode Karen Karniol-Tambour exhibits a formidable grasp of the challenges of today’s investing environment.

In this episode, we have a different conversation. Michael Lewis and Simon Brewer go back to graduating from the LSE in 1985, when they were both seeking a place on the fabled Salomon Brothers training programme.

This week, we’re pleased to be bringing you Episode 3 our Quant Investing Miniseries! Hosted by the Robin Wigglesworth, Editor of FT Alphaville (part of the Financial Times), this series explores how quantitative analysis is potentially reshaping the asset management industry.

We’re excited to be bringing you Episode 2 our Quant Investing Miniseries! Hosted by the Robin Wigglesworth, Global Finance Correspondent at the Financial Times, this series explores how quantitative analysis is potentially reshaping the asset management industry.

Leda Braga has earned the nickname “the queen of quants”. After a PhD in engineering from Imperial College London, she spent seven years at JPMorgan as a quant the bank’s derivatives research team. After a stint at a start-up spun out of JPMorgan, the Brazil-born Leda then helped establish one of the industry’s leading systematic trend-following funds at Michael Platt’s BlueCrest.

In this episode, we’re in discussion with the Global Head of the Blackstone’s $239 billion Private Wealth Solutions business, Joan Solotar (as of 31/12/22).

In this special episode of the Money Maze Podcast, we are extraordinarily fortunate to have General Sir Nick Carter talk to us.

The combination of trust, experience, neutrality and secrecy were the foundations of Switzerland’s reputation as a centre for private banking, and despite globalisation, regulation, and competition from all quarters, Swiss financial institutions have maintained their position of influence, with three Swiss firms in the top ten of global wealth managers.

Gavyn Davies has more on his CV than most can imagine. In his varied career, he’s been advisor to the Labour government of Jim Callaghan, the Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs, Chair of the BBC, founder of Active Private Equity, and now Chairman of Fulcrum Asset Management. He’s also an active writer for the FT and Guardian.

Hamish Baillie, long term Partner and Investment Director at Ruffer, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, joins the Money Maze Podcast to discuss their unbenchmarked, differentiated approach to managing portfolios.

In this conversation, Vulcan’s C.T. Fitzpatrick explains the skills he acquired during 17 years at South Eastern Asset Management before founding Vulcan Value Partners in 2007.

In this conversation Luba Nikulina talks about an upbringing that began in Lithuania, then part of the USSR, and her route to joining Willis Towers Watson (WTW), the leading global advisory firm with 45,000 employees globally, and where she has spent the last 17 years.

In a first for the Money Maze Podcast, this episode brings together the perspectives of 3 China experts to discuss the economy, public equities and private assets

Our latest guest has been described as one of the ‘World’s Top 50 Thinkers’, is a Sunday Times bestselling author for his epic work ‘Silk Roads: A New History of the World’, is responsible for the prophetic article in December 2019 where he predicted a pandemic’s likely arrival, and has managed all this around his day job as the Professor of Global History at Oxford University.

In an industry where size is often a boast, there are few powerhouses with great credentials and a low profile. Founded in the US in 1973, Cambridge Associates (CA) was established to provide investment research and advice to a group of major US university endowments.

Some of the most successful companies financed via venture capital are now household names - Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Airbnb, & PayPal. Venture capital has moved from niche to mainstream for institutional investors, and in Q2 2021 alone VC investment hit a new record high of $157.1 billion.

From zero to $40 billion in 20 years is growth we usually associate with tech startups. When it happens to a firm in the world of asset management, it is all the more remarkable.

Confronted with a kaleidoscope of challenges and shifting allocations brought about by years of QE and zero rates, along with a rise in inflation that may prove more permanent than central bankers wish, not to mention rising geopolitical tensions, asset allocators are likely to have their work cut out in coming years.In this episode we have the opportunity to talk to Johanna Kyrklund, Schroders’ Group Chief Investment Officer & Global Head of Multi-Asset.

'Over the past decade, about 80 cents of every dollar that has gone into the US investment industry has ended up at Vanguard, State Street, and BlackRock. As a result, the combined stake in S&P 500 companies held by the Big Three has quadrupled, from about 5 percent in 1998 to north of 20 percent today.'

If you were told that abnormally low interest rates and quantitative easing would provide huge tailwinds for higher equity prices, then it isn’t obvious you would choose to run a fund whose activity was entirely focused on short-selling.

In the second episode with Nic Cary, Co-Founder of Blockchain.com, Nic continues on from the discussions around blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to discuss the debasement of currencies and the dangers of current central bank policies.He talks about the emerging inflation, the future of money and the role digital currencies might play in this, and the diminishing trust in governments and central banks.

“If you don’t believe it or don’t get it, I don’t have the time to try to convince you, sorry” - Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin Founder. That quotation is attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, Founder of Bitcoin.

A growing share of the wealthy have decided to take control of their finances through single or multi-family offices. Recent statistics suggest family offices now control in excess of $4 trillion. In today’s conversation, Charlotte Thorne, former advisor to the Treasury, describes her career switch to join a major Swiss single family office, and go on to co-found a private investment office, which today manages close to $4 billion for over 20 families.

The FT has described our guest in this episode as one of ‘30 Most Influential People in the City of London’. Moreover, in the world of public and private investing there is repeated acknowledgement of him being one of today’s great investment thinkers.

When we talk of luxury watches we typically think of Switzerland with its quality engineering and dominant market position, apparently illustrating the economist David Riccardo’s theory of comparative advantage. Yet in this conversation, we learn how Bremont is disrupting the luxury watch market.

Guy Hands describes being sent to a special needs school because of profound dyslexia, how he dealt with the challenge, won a place at Oxford and from there, young and indebted, joined Goldman Sachs.

In this podcast, we have an enlightening conversation with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, which manages approximately $1.2 trillion (making it the largest SWF in the world).

If you were proposed an investment whose annualised return over the past 25 years have been over 9%, offered inflation protection, was environmentally sustainable, asset backed, growing, generated carbon credits, and had low correlation to other assets, you might think it sounds too good to be true, because in investing there is rarely a free lunch…

In this episode Gary Boom, Founder and CEO of Bordeaux Index starts by explaining how the poorly organised, past its sell-by- date old model of wine trading has been revolutionised by Bordeaux Index over the last 25 years, with the introduction of scale, liquidity and expertise underscoring the investment attributes of fine wines and whiskies.

Today’s conversation is with one of America’s most successful investment podcasters, with over 5 million downloads, and who has also worked with one of the investment greats, David Swensen at Yale University Endowment and put himself in the firing line by having the infamous bet with Buffett, whilst at his former firm, Protege partners.

On Thursday 29th of April the Money Maze Podcast will discuss the future of cash and bank notes. Throughout its history cash has inspired two persistent forces; fascination and forgery. Whilst the accepted narrative is that the use of cash is on a glide path to extinction, De la Rue’s CEO, Clive Vacher offers his view that such a perspective is both premature and contradicted by a growing population whose access to digital cash and e-payments is not within reach.

Tracy Blackwell is CEO of the Pension Insurance Corporation (P.I.C.), a firm at the epicentre of an industry undergoing rapid transformation that is critical to many peoples pensions.

Today we turn to music as an investment theme, and our guest has worked with the greats, from Elton John to Beyonce, and has been in the front row of the music business for nearly 40 years. He is CEO of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd, a FTSE 250 company and the first UK investment company offering a pure play exposure to songs and music IP.

In today’s interview we have the opportunity for a detailed conversation with a man who has been at the forefront of advertising and marketing communications for 5 decades. Founder of WPP, its CEO for 33 years, he is now the creator of S4 Capital, an entirely digital advertising and marketing business at the epicentre of a marketing and commercial revolution.

In this episode we have the rare opportunity to talk to Sir Chris Hohn, one of the world’s most successful hedge fund managers, benefactor of the largest children’s charity (CIFF) and now agitator against corporations who are failing to properly address their climate change transition plans.

Our guest today is Anne Richards, CVO, CBE, FRSE, CEO of Fidelity International, they offer investment solutions and services and retirement expertise to more than 2.5 million customers globally.

Simon Hallett, former CIO of the $80 billion asset manager, Harding Loevner, describes his journey from Plymouth, England, to Oxford University and then Hong Kong before boldly heading to the USA.Harding Loevner’s impressive 30 year track record in managing global equities is examined, with a discussion that covers behavioural biases, the need to restrict portfolio managers’ freedom, to the increasing reliance on quantitative disciplines to enhance the investment process.

Established over 800 years ago in 1209, Cambridge University is one of the oldest surviving Universities in the world and has spawned more Nobel Prizes than any other institution. In today’s conversation we welcome Tilly Franklin, their Chief Investment Officer, whose education includes Cambridge, Harvard and LBS.

We welcome Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University, which is increasingly recognised both for its campus-based, and online MBA, as well as its wider educational programmes. He is one of 500 Global LinkedIn influencers and has been portrayed by the Financial Times as “one of the most significant figures in promoting European business schools internationally”. In today’s episode we’re going to explore the changing landscape of education,its cost/benefit plus its ability to better arm you to get ahead in the evolving commercial world.

Maarten Slendebroek is currently Chairman of Robeco’s Supervisory Board, the Dutch investment powerhouse, former CEO of Jupiter PLC, and prior to that he was a member of Blackrock’s global operating committee. Maarten describes his Dutch/Swedish upbringing, studying Law at the University of Leiden, and from there to finance, beginning as an equity analyst at the emergence of individual European company research.

Today we have the intriguing prospect of our youngest guest so far on the Money Maze Podcast, allied to one of the world’s oldest academic institutions, Oxford University. Jack Edmondson, nominated in 2019 as Institutional Investor Magazine’s 3rd most wanted Allocator in the world, is a CFA Charter holder, holds an MBA with distinction from the Saïd Business School at Oxford and a first-class degree in history from Durham University.

In this episode we travel to Shanghai to talk to Chingxiao (best known as Ching) about equity investing in China. She starts by giving us a sense of life currently living in Shanghai and reflects on how the Chinese authorities have handled the crisis. Next she describes her unique upbringing and education before explaining her immersion into the world of finance with Barings.

In this Part 2 with Niall Ferguson, the conversation is an honest assessment of why he believes China and its political philosophy approach are alien to Western values, and represent a clear and present danger.