Treussard Talks.

Ludovic Phalippou has spent twenty-five years studying one subject, every day, from every angle. Private equity for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as he puts it. A Professor of Financial Economics at Oxford's Saïd Business School, he has read the limited partnership agreements, reconstructed the fee arithmetic, testified before the House of Lords, and built the models behind widely cited private-ma...

Conscious Leadership, Curiosity, and Culture by Design — with Kaley Klemp | Treussard Talks (E26) Most cultures aren't built. They emerge. A founder has an idea, recruits two friends, and the three of them live and breathe the mission until it works. Nobody stops to ask what values they're building on. Nobody writes down who gets to make the call when there's a jump ball. And then the firm grows,...

Eduardo Repetto is the Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, the systematic investment firm he founded in 2019 that now manages more than $125 billion. Before Avantis, Eduardo was Co-CEO and Co-CIO at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where he worked alongside Eugene Fama and Ken French. He holds a Ph. D. in Aeronautics from Caltech. The history of investing has been a slow march from artisanal...

Andrea Eisfeldt holds the Laurence D. and Lori W. Fink Endowed Chair in Finance at UCLA Anderson and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She received her PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, trained under John Cochrane, Lars Hansen, and Doug Diamond — three names that account for multiple Nobel Prizes between them. Her research covers intangible capital...

The conventional tools of monetary policy assume the central bank is in charge. What happens when the debt burden gets large enough that it isn't? At some point — and no one knows exactly when — raising rates stops cooling the economy and starts feeding it, because the interest expense on the debt itself becomes a source of stimulus. That's fiscal dominance. It's not a theoretical curiosity. It's...

Wall Street is building a trillion-dollar business around slashing the tax bills of wealthy investors. The innovations are real. So are the risks. This conversation is about how to think clearly about both. Erkko Etula built his career at the intersection of academic finance and institutional practice — MIT, Harvard, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a decade at Goldman Sachs rebuilding the we...

The Strait of Hormuz was always the thought experiment. The scenario commodities traders ran when they needed a stand-in for the unimaginable. Fifteen to twenty miles of waterway. One fifth of the world's oil. Now it isn't a thought experiment anymore. Nic Johnson spent years at PIMCO as head of commodities, managing large commodities portfolios. Before that, he was a research fellow at NASA's Jet...

In this conversation, Larry Kotlikoff ( https://kotlikoff.net/ )—Professor of Economics at Boston University, Research Associate at the NBER, and former Senior Economist on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors—and I go through the current administration's economic agenda one proposal at a time. Not from a partisan lens. From first principles. What follows is rigorous and at times surprising. You'...

In this conversation, Vineer Bhansali—Ph. D. in theoretical physics from Harvard, former PIMCO portfolio manager, and founder of LongTail Alpha—and I explore why the tails of the distribution are where both some of the most misunderstood risks and opportunities reside. We connect the mechanics of options pricing, market structure changes, and risk management to the decisions that actually restore...

In this episode, I sit down with Mike Green—Chief Strategist at Simplify Asset Management and one of the most rigorous thinkers on market structure today. We start with Mike's journey from Wharton to small-cap value, through Canyon Partners during 2008, to correctly predicting the XIV collapse in 2018, and eventually co-founding Simplify where the firm now manages $12 billion across 30 strategies....

In this episode, I sit down with Devin Shanthikumar—faculty at the UC Irvine Merage School of Business and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies—to talk about how real-world market outcomes are shaped. We start with Devin’s path from UC Berkeley (engineering and computer science) to a PhD in finance at Stanford, and how the early-2000s dot-com boom and bust shaped the questions that became the...

Fifty years explaining economics to America with Paul Solman | Treussard Talks (E16) Paul Solman (PBS NewsHour, eight Emmys, five Peabodys) has spent half a century translating markets and economics for millions. But this conversation isn't about predictions or portfolios. It's about how to think when you can't know what's coming. The Three-Body Problem of Everything Paul frames it plainly: the U....

Tax Planning and Estate Governance with Frazer Rice | Treussard Talks (E15) In this conversation, Frazer Rice—author of Wealth Actually—and I cover two distinct, if related, topics. First, what H.R. 1 really changes for high earners, business owners, and wealthy households. Second, what a holistic framework for estate planning and family governance looks like for ultra-high-net-worth families. You...

Tax strategies sold as "alpha" often obscure their actual mechanics — and the investment risks you're taking to get the tax benefit. Brent Sullivan — "Tax Alpha Insider," formerly on PIMCO's trading floor and Parametric's quantitative team — decodes what's really happening beneath the marketing slides. For founders with embedded gains, executives navigating concentrated positions, and investors ti...

In this conversation, Harbor Capital Advisors President and CIO Kristof Gleich and I dig into how to find true skill in managers, why the ETF wrapper changed the game, and how to build more resilient portfolios in an inflation‑prone world. We connect the mechanics and psychology of investing to the decisions that restore clarity and control for sophisticated investors. You’ll hear us cover: How to...

Fear, Not Risk: Rethinking the Equity Premium with Rob Arnott and Ed McQuarrie | Treussard Talks (E12) In this conversation, Rob Arnott (Founder and Chairman, Research Affiliates) and Ed McQuarrie (Professor Emeritus, Santa Clara University) examine why fear—of loss and of missing out—better explains asset pricing than traditional “risk” frameworks. We connect the mechanics and psychology of inves...

Alternatives, Diversification, and Investor Agency with Jane Buchan | Treussard Talks (E11)   In this conversation, Jane Buchan — CEO of Martlet Asset Management, co‑founder of PAAMCO (which grew to $32B AUM), former Dartmouth finance professor, and longtime CAIA leader — and I dig into what “alternatives” really are, how the space has evolved, and how disciplined due diligence restores clarity an...

Defining FinTech with Michael Imerman, Ph. D. | Treussard Talks (E10) Join Jonathan Treussard, Ph. D. for a thoughtful conversation with Michael Imerman, Ph. D. — Professor of Finance at UC Irvine and author of The Economics of FinTech (2025). They define what truly counts as FinTech, map the ecosystem across verticals and horizontals, trace the post‑GFC innovation cycle, and separate durable sign...

When History Meets Markets: Geopolitics, Civility, and Capital with David Kotok | Treussard Talks (E09) Join Jonathan Treussard for a thoughtful conversation with David Kotok. David’s decades of experience as CEO, CIO, and investor, along with his deep interest in history and geopolitics, provide powerful lessons for investors navigating uncertain times. Key Highlights The Grocery Store MBA David...

Economics That Matters: From Academic Theory to Real-World Solutions with Larry Kotlikoff | Treussard Talks (E08) Join Jonathan Treussard for a lively conversation with Larry Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics at Boston University, influential policy thinker, and longtime mentor. In this episode, Jonathan and Larry look back on the defining moments that shaped Larry’s career—from the early days at...

Purpose, Access, and the Modern Investor’s Journey with Anna Paglia | Treussard Talks (E07) Join Jonathan Treussard for a powerful conversation with Anna Paglia, Chief Business Officer at State Street Global Advisors, as they delve into the future of investing, leadership with purpose, and breaking down barriers to wealth creation. Anna’s inspiring story traces her journey from waiting tables in R...

On this episode, I sit down with Anne Rhodes, Chief Legal Officer at Wealth.com , and estate attorney Dave Haughton for an important conversation about reclaiming control, navigating family dynamics, and how proactive estate planning shapes our wealth, legacies, and relationships across generations. Anne and Dave share their journeys from major law firms to legal tech and public education. We dig...

Intergenerational Wisdom, Risk, and the Functions of Finance with Zvi Bodie | Treussard Talks (E05) On this episode, I sit down with Zvi Bodie—economist, author, advocate for the American investor, and my father-in-law—to explore how the core functions of finance shape not just markets and policy, but also the way we live, save, and prepare for uncertainty across our lives. Our conversation takes...

Capitalism, Agency, and Investing with Dave Nadig | Treussard Talks (E04) On this episode, I sit down with Dave Nadig, one of the most thoughtful voices in asset management, to explore the roots and evolution of investing, the purpose and power of capitalism, and how trust and agency fit into today’s financial world. Our conversation goes beyond stocks and markets to look at the system itself: why...

Raising Financially Fit Kids in Abundance with Joline Godfrey | Treussard Talks (E03) On this episode, I sit down with Joline Godfrey—someone who deeply understands what it takes to raise a financial fit kids when they are surrounded with abundance, not just with assets, but with purpose and confidence. Our conversation focuses on what truly matters: empowering your children to be financially capa...