Enterprising Investor

In Episode #302, Frank Murtha, co-founder of MarketPsych, a behavioral finance consulting firm, has researched investor psychology extensively to better understand why investors often make irrational decisions. In this interview, Murtha explains how personality affects investing, how important self-awareness is, and how investors can mitigate their behavioral blind spots. He also identifies some o...

In Episode #301, Freya Beamish, a senior economist at Lombard Street Research with extensive knowledge of China and Japan, answers whether Chinese zombie debt provides a threat to the wider economy, if Abenomics is a success or failure, and offers her insights into the RMB/USD exchange rate.  

In Episode #300, David Brear, co-founder and CEO of 11:FS, a fintech consultancy, explains why he believes this is the case, what he's most excited about in fintech, and what the future looks like.  

In Episode #299, BlackRock managing director and CIO of model-based fixed income strategies, Thomas B. Parker, CFA, describes the three major super-cycles coming to a close and the investment opportunities that exist therein. Also, listen as he provides a very contrarian view about the role of central banks in the current interest rate environment.  

In Episode #298, Kristin J. Ceva, CFA, managing principal at Payden & Rygel, briefly discusses how to invest in emerging market fixed income. She specifically addresses the three things you must get right, common fictions, and the biggest obstacles.

In Episode #297, Lucy Kellaway, author and long-time columnist for the Financial Times , talks about her storied career poking fun at management fads, jargon, and the vagaries of office life.  

In Episode #296, Larry Cao, CFA, recently sat down with Hao Hong, CFA, chief strategist of Bank of Communications International, and discussed these questions. In The Chinese economy has been the focal point for many investors around the world given its slowing growth. Has the investment-driven growth phase come to an end? Have real estate developers finally come to accept that the "if you build i...

In Episode #296, Sallie Krawcheck discusses why it is critical that women invest, why the investment management is lagging when it comes to gender diversity, and what needs to be done to improve diversity across the industry. The US is facing a retirement savings crisis. But if you dig through the numbers, it is, in large part, a women's crisis, says Sallie Krawcheck, founder and CEO of Ellevest,...

In Episode #295, Larry Cao, CFA, recently sat down with Chris Ryan, managing director and head of the Asia Pacific region for MSCI in Hong Kong, and discussed these questions. This summer, investors anxiously waiting for MSCI's decision on whether to add China. A shares to the MSCI index were met with another disappointment. For the third year in a row, MSCI decided against including China A share...

In Episode #294, Greg Valliere discusses the possible implications of the US presidential election. In particular, he highlights winning businesses and sectors resulting from the election of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.  

In Episode #293, Leah Joy Zell, CFA, shares the triumphs and tribulations of international small cap investing. Though she has produced an excellent long-term track record, Zell says she doesn't get sucked into predicting market movements. Rather, she focuses on bottom-up analysis supplemented by her deep knowledge of history in local markets. By having the flexibility to roam around the world in...

In Episode #292, we sat down with Yuichi Chiguchi, Head of Multi-Asset Strategies, BlackRock Japan, to discuss the best practices in managing these strategies. He also shared his views on whether long-term investing works in Japan given the slump in its stock market in recent decades and how he and his team are navigating the negative interest rate environment and finding opportunities in the Japa...

In Episode #290, Kazuhisa Okamoto, CFA, from I-O Wealth Advisors in Tokyo, formerly President of CFA Society Japan and CEO of Barclays Global Investors Japan, offered an explanation from the angle of Japan's deep cultural heritage and, in particular, the "merchants' way" (as opposed to the "samurai's way" that is well known in popular culture), the origin of which traces back to the Endo era.  

In Episode #291, Ashby Monk discusses how leading investors are making use of these emergent technologies.  Technology has been a force in investment management since the telegraph machine, but recent developments are intensifying the pace of change. As executive and research director of the global projects center at Stanford University, Ashby Monk is a frontline observer of what these changes mea...

In Episode #288, Energy expert Amy Myers Jaffe walks through the breadth of innovation in the energy markets both in traditional energy sources (e.g., oil) and so-called alternative energy technologies (e.g., solar). Energy breakthroughs have lowered the costs of alternatives dramatically and provide a viable channel for both capital investment and government policy to flow. In particular, Jaffe e...

In Episode #289,  Rupal J. Bhansali, a value investor whose patience and emphasis on risk management has helped set her apart from her peers, draws the important distinction between risk and volatility, addresses the perils of "value traps," and shares other valuable lessons that she has learned over the course of her investing career.

In Episode #287, Dr. Daniel Goleman, best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence and A Force For Good, the Dalai Lama's Vision for Our World , discusses the role of empathy in emotional intelligence and ways emotional intelligence can help finance professionals succeed and be a force for good.

In Episode #286, Investment manager and author Jacques Lussier, CFA, discusses what, other than superior analytical abilities, leads to investment manager outperformance, as well as the proper way of assessing investment manager performance. Hint: a factor-based approach is his preference. Additionally, Lussier discusses the important role that risk management has in driving outperformance, as wel...

In Episode #285, Sir Bob Geldof, a businessman, political activist, songwriter, musician, author, and former lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, sat down with John Authers of The Financial Times following the 69th CFA Institute Annual Conference to talk about Geldof's journey from rock star to private equity investor. Amid the topics discussed: What's the case for investing in Africa? Why aren't mor...

In Episode #284, Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa at Deloitte Frontier Advisory, discusses the coming demand shock for some emerging markets, the relationship between China and Africa, and what needs to happen for emerging markets to divorce themselves from moves in commodities and simple currency fluctuations.   The Take 15 Series is a series of short interviews wit...

In Episode #283, Chester Santos, one of the world's foremost experts on memory training and the 2008 USA Memory Champion, discusses why it's important for financial professionals to exercise their memories. Santos reviews the three main principles of memorization—visualization, invoking additional senses, and applying creativity; and offers practical tips on how to become better at remembering peo...

In Episode #282, Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and founder of Life Planning Partners, tells CFA Institute why it is essential that financial advisers talk to their clients about their health and then walks us through the components of a health care discussion.  

In Episode #281, Joshua M. Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, the persona behind the highly successful financial blog, The Reformed Broker, talks about his views on the Obama administration's push for a fiduciary standard for brokers; the story behind his "reformation"; the outlook for fintech; how social media has helped business; and who he considers "must-reads."

In Episode #280, John Kay asks which design principles can financial service providers use for building products that can help investors achieve their goals.

In Episode #279, Borderless markets have made it easier for fund managers to seamlessly invest in equities. Yet, country allocation and local risk factors are among dominant considerations for global fund managers. In this interview, Aswath Damodaran discusses approaches and limitations in equity country selection.