The Biltmore View

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Jon Dorfman, Chief Investment Officer of Napier Park Global Capital. Jon co-founded Napier Park when the firm separated from Citigroup’s alternative investment arm in 2013. Today, Napier Park has approximately $19b assets under management with a highly institutional client base.  In this interview, Jon explains how contingent capital structures can provid...

Despite all the stigma, cannabis was once a very trendy investment. With Canadian legalization, some public cannabis stocks traded up to nonsensical valuations. Then, inevitably, the bubble popped. Fast forward several years later, the legal cannabis market in the United States has expanded as an increasing number of states have legalized recreational and/or medical usage. While Federal legal stat...

My guest today is Chris Teryazos. Chris is the President of Aetos Capital, a family office owned investment firm focused on generating outsized returns through niche ideas. Their latest great idea is California Carbon Allowances (CCA's). The Biltmore team spent the past several years researching and understanding California’s Cap-and-Trade program. Investors in CCA's are speculating that...

Today's guest Marc Singer has over 25 years in venture capital. He is currently a Managing Partner at Osage University Partners, where he is responsible for overseeing and approving all partnership investments.  In this conversation, Marc and I will dig in to the venture and university research world together. We’ll  try to understand the particular innovations developed out of research unive...

If you really want to know what’s going on in the world of finance, talk to an expert in Emerging Market Debt. Emerging markets tend to represent the marginal risk capital in an allocation. It’s dependent on global liquidity and can serve as the canary in the coalmine of economic cycles. Like any debt strategy, rates and credit are really important. But here – we layer on the willingness of a coun...

Scott Wallace was the very first guest on the Biltmore View Podcast in March 2020. There’s good reason for that. Our team at Biltmore considers Scott to be a great investment mind. Within weeks of our first conversation, though, a global pandemic broke out. This proved to be a pretty big deal. Now that things have calmed down a bit, we’re checking in once again with Scott. This time, Scott provide...

Merger Arbitrage.  Arbs were once the scourge of Wall Street. Swaggering titans of trading full of insider information and pinstriped suits. Today, merger arbitrage is back as an interesting strategy. While we don't have Gordon Gekko, we do have Nancy Oh. Nancy is Portfolio Manager at One68 Global, a niche arbitrage fund, focused on merger and index arbitrage.  A marathon runner in her spare...

As we talk to clients, one question seems to come up again and again… what is going on with home prices?  When looking for answers to questions about US housing, my brother Todd Gorelick, is my go to source. Todd spends his days managing Gorelick Brothers Capital and Goal Properties. The business is one of the countries largest independent owners and operators of single family rental in the countr...

Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, NFT's - Darsh Singh, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager at Hazoor Capital, covers it all. For those looking to learn more about this emerging sector of the investment universe, Darsh provides an in depth and thoughtful perspective. Bitcoin skeptic, crytpo-believer, or undecided this podcast has something for everyone. We dive straight into the future and phi...

James Kelly, Managing Director, Greywolf Capital. While Greywolf is known for distressed, event driven & CLO strategies, they also have a core expertise in hard assets such as container ships. James takes us through the history of the container ship industry. He breaks down the global container fleet by ship type. James explains ESG standards of today's institutional investors may be resp...

Charlie Carnegie, Portfolio Manager, Context. While Context is known as a convertible arbitrage manager, they've been investing in SPACs for over 15 years. Charlie explains Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs). We get into the structure of the vehicle and how they work for investors.  Charlie explains why SPAC investors are like savvy New York nightclub VIP's avoiding the lin...

Burl East, CEO American Asset Capital Advisers - The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on various real estate sectors - How "office" as a real estate sector is the new retail. - A bleak future for Class B Manhattan and San Francisco office space - What is the impact on lenders? - Is there a distressed investment opportunity?  This podcast was recorded on January, 20th, 2021.  The respective op...

Ryan Mahon, Portfolio Manager at Ibex Investors discusses: - The continuum of mobility: internal combustion engine to mobile living room. - The difference between Waymo and Telsa - How far off is the future of autonomous mobility (are we there now)? - Where is the US in the global race for autonomous driving? - What's the future of the mobility - subscription or ownership? - Our heads explode...

Jeff Bacon, Partner at Savitsky, Satin, Bacon & Bucci, one of Hollywood's leading business management firms, explains what business managers do (1:15), explains the birth of the industry (4:30), talks about the challenges of budgeting for actors and athletes (6:00), how to say "no" to clients (8:30), the changing economic landscape of the entertainment industry (13:00), the impa...

Brian Landrum, Senior Managing Director at Harbert Management Corp digs in to the impact of Covid-19 on the Senior Housing business. We discuss current and future investment opportunities around senior housing. This podcast was recorded on June 4th, 2020.  The respective opinions expressed are those of Mr. Litt and the Biltmore Family Office, LLC investment team.  The opinions referenced are as of...

Jonathan Litt, Founder & CIO of Land and Buildings digs in to the impact of Covid-19 on commercial real estate (1:45), the collapse of co-working (4:00), broad adoption of work-from-home (5:30), not all retail will disappear (7:30), what sectors provide the growth engine for real estate (10:00), the impact of millennials moving back to the suburbs (13:00), the next major revaluation in commerc...

Larry Mestel, Founder & CEO of Primary Wave discusses why music rights are a compelling asset class (3:00), why artists would sell their rights (6:00), reviews some examples of creative tactics to build the revenue stream from legacy artists (8:00), Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Prince - what makes a musical icon and legend (13:00), shoes, lottery tickets, & a new holiday - how Primary Wave...

Fernando Guerrero, Portfolio Manager of Varadero Capital, LP looks back at how the Global Financial Crisis shaped banking and credit (6:00), offers his take on the massive government assistance (10:00), why today's uncertain market provides a compelling investment opportunity (13:00), what is forcing asset owners to sell bonds (19:00), examples of opportunities in real estate debt securities...

Warren Fisher, Portfolio Manager of Manole Capital Management details his definition of FinTech (1:30), what exactly is a credit card (6:00), what part of the payment chain presents a compelling investment opportunity (13:40), what they look for in an arbitrage trade (12:30), what inning are we in the digital payments opportunity (18:15), the impact of Covid-19 on FinTech (19:30), why exchanges ma...

Charlie Carnegie, Portfolio Manager of Context Capital Management explains exactly what is a convertible bond (2:30), why companies will issue convertible bonds (5:30), the changing convertible bond buyer base (8:30), what they look for in an arbitrage trade (12:30), why they look for crummy companies that can still pay their debts (16:30), the opportunity brought about by Covid-19 (19:00), and wh...

Scott Wallace, CIO of Shorepath Capital Management sits down to discuss the perils of styleboxing (6:00), active vs. passive investing (13:00), the value of stocks vs. bonds (19:00), the current opportunity in value stocks (25:00), and thoughts on the political environment (31:00). The interview was conducted in the midst of market volatility brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. The respective...