Monetary Matters with Jack Farley From Soros to Old Farm: How to Identify the Market’s Top Thematic Risk-Takers | Kieran Cavanna | Old Farm Partners
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Apr 29, 2026 
Kieran Cavanna, Founder and CIO of Old Farm Partners and former head of external managers at Soros Fund Management, brings a sharp thematic investing lens. He explains how to spot asymmetric, high-conviction opportunities. Topics include manager selection and co-investing, AI capex and related supply chains, crowded trades and blind spots, and portfolio hedging to protect upside.
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Track Managers Actively From Day One
- Track early and listen to references; sometimes you can identify special managers within the first meeting, other times it takes years.
- Keep a disciplined tracking process and look for performance you expect ahead of time, not only historical returns.
Prioritize Risk Managers Before Big Ideas
- Prioritize risk managers first and risk takers second so funds can protect capital in downturns while capturing large upside when opportunities arise.
- Kieran uses strict drawdown focus and deploys big capital to one or two high conviction ideas that move the needle.
Style Drift Is Opportunism When Explained
- Style drift can be opportunistic or misleading; clarity and communication to investors matter more than strict benchmark conformity.
- Kieran gave examples of managers shifting to U.S. tech or utilities and succeeding when the drift was deliberate and transparent.