The Investors First Podcast

In today's episode, we sit down with Ari Rubin, Founder & CEO of Flock Homes, for a deep dive into tax‑efficient exits for residential real estate through 721 exchanges into the Flock Homes fund. Ari was born in Brooklyn, Harvard undergrad, served in the Israeli military, and attended (then left, like many successful entrepreneurs in the Bay area) Stanford University to build Flock full‑time. Base...

In today's episode, we welcome the  PE Guy , whose real name is  Johnny Hilbrant Partridge . The  PE Guy  character was started in early 2025 after capitulating from years of ridiculous travel and lifestyle stories from folks in finance, but particularly, private equity. He is certainly making his rounds in the CFA community, and we quickly realized he would be a great guest on our podcast (due to...

In today's episode, we welcome back Mike Pyle of BlackRock. Mike is a senior leader within BlackRock and a key member of the BlackRock Investment Institute (BII), where he helps shape the firm's global macro views and portfolio construction frameworks. Mike has a law degree from Yale and a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth. Mike brings a unique perspective to markets, having served in the Obama Whi...

In today's episode, we have Danny Jenkins, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of ThreatLocker, a rapidly growing cybersecurity firm focused on Zero Trust endpoint protection. With over 20 years in cybersecurity and a background in ethical hacking, Danny is unique in that he dropped out of school when he was 15 years old and has an unconventional resume. Danny has built multiple security companies and i...

We are excited to welcome a friend of the show, Brent Sullivan of The Tax Alpha Insider. We discuss all things Tax Alpha as the investment puzzle is different when it comes to taxable investors. I have been fortunate to have known Brent since the very beginnings of his Tax Alpha Insider Newsletter, a highly successful, focused publication in the wealth management space. I often say that he could b...

We are excited to welcome Joe Davis for this episode, currently Vanguard's Global Chief Economist and Global Head of the Investment Strategy Group. Many of you likely know various iterations of the Vanguard story, but most of the professionals I know do not know how big a research team they have.  Joe has a big influence on the company because he is also chairs the firm's Strategic Asset Allocatio...

To kick off year 7 of the Investors First Podcast, we interviewed Rick Rieder of BlackRock, currently Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, Head of the Fundamental Fixed Income business, and Head of the Global Allocation Investment Team. After earning a BBA in Finance from Emory University and later an MBA from The Wharton School. He started his career as an Analyst at SunTrust, briefly...

Kevin Shea is a Director/Senior Equity Strategist at BNY Mellon, where he focuses on individual security analysis, market structure, and emerging technologies—most notably artificial intelligence. Raised in a blue-collar household in Boston, Kevin learned the value of investing early and carried that discipline through Penn State University and into his professional life. He earned the CFA charter...

In this episode of the Investors First Podcast, we sit down with Perth Tolle, founder of the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets Index (FRDM), now over $1.6B in assets. We explore her vision for how personal and economic freedom can shape global investment outcomes. Perth shares her journey from growing up in Beijing to moving to the U.S. at age nine, her early career as a Fidelity advisor, and how those...

Marty Bicknell is the CEO and founder of Mariner, a nationally recognized wealth advisory firm providing comprehensive financial solutions to individuals, families, and institutions. Under his leadership since founding the firm in 2006, Mariner has grown from a small startup into one of the largest registered investment advisory (RIA) firms in the United States, with over $500 billion in assets un...

Today's guest is Matt Orosz. Matt Orosz is Co-President of Trinity Family Builders, launched in March 2024 by the Orosz brothers in Central Florida. He oversees marketing, sales, land acquisition & operations. Before starting Trinity Family Builders, he co-founded Royal Oak Homes (2011) and Hanover Family Builders (2017), both high-growth companies that were sold—Royal Oak in 2014 and Hanover in 2...

Today's guest is Chris Hyzy.  Chris  is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer supporting Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill Lynch (within Bank of America Corporation). He leads investment strategy, asset allocation, equity and fixed income management, due diligence, and wealth planning guidance.   Previously, he was CIO and Chief Investment Strategist for the Private Bank at Bank of...

Today's guest is Alejandra Grindal. Alejandra serves as the Chief Economist for Ned Davis Research. Based in Florida and a graduate (undergraduate and Master's) of Florida State University, we were pleased to host a true Floridian for this episode. We recently hosted Alejandra for our Annual Dinner for CFA Society Orlando and did such a great job, we wanted to have her on the podcast. She joined N...

In this episode, the discussion centered around the complexities and dynamics of  family   offices . Topics covered included the growing number of single- family   offices , especially in North America, the typical asset size that justifies establishing a  family   office , and the transition to multifamily  offices  to manage costs and expand services. The conversation touched on investment manag...

For our third episode of year six of the podcast, we welcome Herb Greenberg to the Investors First Podcast. Herb's career is incredible, with time as a journalist at major news outlets ranging from the Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle, to the WSJ, and also time at The Street and CNBC. It should be noted that he was born and raised in Florida and attended the University of Miami. Herb's...

For our second episode of year six of the podcast, we welcome my friend John Bowman to the podcast. I can't say enough positive things about what John is doing with the CAIA Association (as well as his predecessor Bill Kelly ), both of whom put investors first, which is what this podcast is all about. John stepped in as CEO at the beginning of 2025 and we thought it would be great to hear his visi...

To kick off year six of the Investors First Podcast, today's guest is Tom Lee. Tom is the Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, with over 25 years of experience in equity research. Formerly J.P. Morgan's Chief Equity Strategist, he is a top-ranked strategist and you will frequently find him on CNBC. Lee holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School and is a CFA char...

Today's guest is Rob Arnott, Founder and Chairman of Research Affiliates, where he actively contributes to research, portfolio management, product innovation, business strategy, and client relations. He co-manages several funds, including the PIMCO All Asset and RAE™ funds. Throughout his career, Rob has challenged conventional financial wisdom and pioneered strategies such as tactical asset alloc...

Today's guest is  Marlena  Lee.  Marlena is Dimensional Fund Advisor's (DFA) Global Head of Investment Solutions, leading a team focused on investment thought leadership and client education. She is also a member of DFA's Investment Research Committee.    Founded in 1981, DFA is a global asset management firm with ~$800B in assets under management, known for successfully applying academic research...

Today's guest is Marko Papic, Marko leads BCA Research's BCA Access and developed GeoMacro Research, the  first  discretionary macro-geopolitical  investment  strategy in finance. He connects clients with a broad expert network and custom research, having founded BCA's Geopolitical Strategy service. His book, Geopolitical Alpha, presents a framework for predicting  investment  outcomes. Previously...

Today's guest is Jeremy Schwartz, CFA, Global Chief Investment Officer at WisdomTree. Before Jeremy started at WisdomTree in 2005, he was a head research assistant for Professor Jeremy Siegel and became his co-author on the sixth edition of the book Stocks for the Long Run. He received his B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and hosts the Wharton Business Ra...

In this episode, we have the pleasure of hosting Michael Mauboussin, Michael is a highly respected figure in finance, celebrated for his deep insights into decision-making, behavioral economics, and investing. Michael is currently the Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global (part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management).   He also serves as an adjunct professor of finance teaching Secur...

Today we host Ali Hamed, a Co-Founder and Partner at CoVenture and a prominent figure in venture capital and alternative investments. With a background in finance and technology, Ali brings strategic insights to early-stage investing. Hamed's track record of success and commitment to fostering entrepreneurship make him a key player in shaping the startup ecosystem. (concise bio courtesy of ChatGPT...

Today we host Dr. Meir Statman, somebody who was extremely productive during the pandemic, which included completing his new book A Wealth of Well Being. For those familiar with his behavioral finance research, Meir needs no introduction. For the rest of you listening, Meir has devoted his entire career to behavioral finance and making better investment decisions. We were fortunate to have the opp...

Our guest today is Sion Evans, CFA , Senior Investment Manager at VenCap, one of the longest-established investment management and advisory firms active in the VC industry today. They've made over 500 commitments to venture capital funds in the US, Europe, China and India.     In today's episode, Sion gives a masterclass on what the data says about venture capital. We spend a lot of time on the im...