The Long-Short

What do Korean hedge funds, Hong Kong tax reform, football managers, SMAs and quantum computing have in common? They all featured in the conversations that The Long-Short hosts Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol couldn't stop talking about long after the microphones were put away.  Peter Kim explains why hedge funds are gaining traction in South Korea and why investors are paying attention. Darren Bowd...

This week, we're revisiting a standout episode from 2025 whose themes are even more relevant today. As climate change and El Niño-driven weather events continue to influence global catastrophe risks, Tom and Drew explore one of the most fascinating and fast-evolving areas of alternative investing: insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bonds, where finance meets the forces of nature.   J...

Quantum computing promises breakthroughs that could transform life as we know it – but what happens when the technology becomes powerful enough to crack the cryptography underpinning billions of dollars in digital assets? In this episode of The Long-Short, we speak with Bill Laboon, Vice President, Technical Operations at Web3 Foundation, to explore the looming collision between quantum computing...

A major milestone for Hong Kong's asset management industry is now within reach. After more than six years of sustained advocacy, engagement and collaboration led by AIMA alongside industry leaders, long-awaited reforms to Hong Kong's carried interest and performance fee regimes are edging closer to reality. In this episode of The Long-Short Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol are joined by Darren Bowdern, H...

After a decade of relative stability, the investment landscape is changing fast. Higher interest rates, geopolitical fragmentation and persistent market volatility are forcing institutional investors to rethink how they allocate capital, construct portfolios and manage risk. In this episode of The Long-Short , we speak with Brandon Gill-New, Managing Director and Head of External Partnerships at t...

Europe’s credit markets are flashing mixed signals: some see a drought of opportunity, others see one of the richest hunting grounds in years. So, who’s right?   Akshay Shah, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Kyma Capital, joins Tom and Drew to unpack why he believes today’s European distressed debt market offers one of the deepest and most durable opportunity sets in decades.   Sh...

Why are football clubs - volatile, emotionally driven businesses - attracting billions from private equity firms, celebrities, and sovereign wealth funds? In this episode, football finance expert Kieran Maguire joins The Long-Short to unpack the economics of the global game: where investors find alpha, the true financial cost of relegation from the Premier League, the rise of multi-club ownership,...

South Korea is having a capital markets moment. Home to global leaders in semiconductors, automotive manufacturing and advanced technology, Korea’s markets have delivered extraordinary returns in recent years, fuelled by a powerful combination of market momentum, policy reform and shifting global capital flows. As a result, the country is increasingly attracting the attention of some of the world’...

This episode tackles one of the most misunderstood, and, frankly, misrepresented topics in private markets right now: gating. Often painted as a crisis measure, gating is in fact a tool designed to match investor liquidity with inherently illiquid assets. Joe Morrissey, a Partner at Seward & Kissel, joins Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol to explain why gates exist, the difference between fund-level an...

The UK has already seen a significant push of regulatory reform affecting alternative investments this year, with much more still to come. Aniqah Rao, Associate Director of Markets, Governance and Innovation at AIMA, joins The Long-Short to analyse last week’s FCA publication on short selling, the ongoing consultation around a potential ban on non-competes and highlight the key proposals that shou...

After a packed first quarter, The Long-Short co-hosts Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol break down the key forces shaping markets, from geopolitical fault lines and economic chokepoints, to mounting pressure in private credit and what the next phase of AI adoption really means for fund managers. This isn’t a recap, it’s our read on what mattered for alternative investments, and where markets go next. We’re...

As part of our ongoing series revisiting timely and relevant conversations, we’re republishing this episode for listeners who may have missed it the first time around ,a clear, practical look at why quant matters more than ever. In June 2025, Philip Seager, Head of Portfolio Strategy at Capital Fund Management (CFM), joined The Long-Short to demystify quantitative multi-strategy hedge funds. From...

As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East, this episode of The Long-Short explores what a broader regional conflict could mean for hedge funds, energy markets, and macro positioning.   Damien Bruckard, Co-Founder and Chair of Geopolitical Strategy, explains why the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for roughly 20% of global oil supply, is central to the investment outlook, how di...

Last year, hedge funds delivered their strongest performance since the 1990s. In this episode, Freddie Parker, Goldman Sachs’ Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Insights and Analytics, explains what drove the surge, which investment strategies did best, and how investors are reacting. Freddie also highlights the rebound in quant, why Asia is becoming a growing focus for managers, and what...

In this episode of The Long-Short, Chenavari Chief Co-Investments Officer & Head of Investment Solutions Edward Smalley unpacks structural credit, bank–private credit dynamics and mispriced risk. He also explores whether private credit is truly “untested,” and how AI and data are reshaping modern credit investing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Financial Times investigative journalist, Dan McCrum, joins The Long-Short to explore the striking parallels between the HBO/BBC drama Industry and the real-world collapse of Wirecard. Drawing on his experience exposing one of Europe’s biggest corporate frauds, Wirecard, Dan explains how accurately the series captures the mechanics of accounting scandals, the controversial but often misunderstood...

In this episode, hosts Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol explore the risks and rewards of emerging market debt - an often misunderstood, high-yielding asset class. Joining them is Polina Kurdyavko, Head of Emerging Markets at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, who shares her expert insights on navigating volatility, managing risk, and uncovering opportunity in today’s shifting macro landscape. Hosted on Acast....

With Japan’s recent election results bringing markets and policy back into the spotlight, this episode of The Long-Short is worth a revisit. Tom Kehoe is joined by  Masaki Taniguchi, Founder and COO of Pleiad Investment Advisors , to unpack how Japan’s asset management landscape has evolved from the 1997 deregulation era to today’s “double asset income” policy, and what it means for Japan’s a...

The UAE is one of the world’s fastest-expanding hubs for hedge funds and other alternative investment firms, attracting people from around the world. Not long ago, we spoke with recruiter Oscar Orellana-Hyder of Cordell Partners to get the inside track on hiring trends, the most in-demand roles, and what it takes to land a job in the rapidly evolving financial centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...

Hedge funds delivered in 2025 and investors are happy but aren’t exactly throwing more money on the table. In this episode of The Long-Short, Tom Kehoe is joined by Hedgeweek’s Manas Singh to unpack the latest AIMA research on why investors still prize hedge funds for uncorrelated returns and capital preservation yet remain cautious on increasing allocations or backing new managers. They break dow...

In this episode of The Long-Short, McKinsey’s Global Head of Technology and AI Kate Smaje cuts through the hype to explain where AI is delivering real value, what agentic AI could change next, and how asset management firms should think about talent, risk, and strategy as AI scales. A practical, forward-looking conversation for leaders navigating the AI moment.   Additional resource...

From crypto ETFs and institutional adoption to tokenisation, DeFi and on-chain markets, we unpack the biggest shifts from 2025 — and what they mean for the future. Henri Arslanian joins us to share his key predictions for the digital assets landscape in 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As 2025 draws to a close, The Long-Short team delivers its annual year in review episode. Host Tom Kehoe unpacks a transformative year marked by seismic geopolitical shifts, the rise of private credit as a defining industry narrative, and landmark legal wins for the industry. Joining him is AIMA CEO Jack Inglis, who reflects on hedge fund performance, a whirlwind year of global advocacy, and what...

This week on The Long-Short, Chris Hughes, Editor-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Finance Week, joins us to preview a record-setting edition of the event, now drawing more than 40,000 attendees and institutions representing over half of global GDP. With more than 70 sessions on the agenda, including the inaugural AIMA Private Credit Summit, we explore how this year’s theme reflects the tightening links betw...

This week on The Long-Short, we sit down with David Cartwright Forbes, Head of Specialist Markets, Gallagher Reward & Benefits Consulting, to talk about an asset manager’s most overlooked competitive edge: people. From attracting top talent to keeping teams motivated in an era of rapid tech change and generational shifts, David shares why a forward-looking people strategy is no longer a “...