Wealth Formula by Buck Joffrey

As I write this email, I’m on my way to Phoenix for our biannual meetup. So…I’ll keep it short.  Coming up Covid and in the midst of a war in Europe we are experiencing unusual inflation forcing the Fed’s hand at raising interest rates.  Over the last several weeks, we have had several economists and authors on the show trying to predict the future. Unfortunately, that’s not an easy task.  We can look at the past and take some lessons from history. But nothing is exactly as it is today. Sure we had double-digit inflation in the late 70s and 80s but for very different reasons than rising inflation in 2022.  So, the question is whether or not there is a playbook to deal with economic uncertainty and change. Of course, the answer is yes. We have our typical monetary and fiscal options.  However, for a unique situation like we are in now, is there such thing as “economic truth“?  My guest on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula podcast thinks there is and he explains what he thinks we need to do in these interesting times.  Listen Now! David L. Bahnsen is the founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, a national private wealth management firm with offices in Newport Beach, New York City, Nashville, and Minneapolis, managing over $3.5 billion in client assets. David is consistently named as one of the top financial advisors in America by Barron’s, Forbes, and the Financial Times. He is a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, and Bloomberg and is a regular contributor to National Review and World. He appears weekly on The World and Everything in It, discussing the week’s economic and market news. David serves on the Board of Directors for the National Review Institute, King’s College in New York City, and is a founding Trustee for Pacifica Christian High School of Orange County. He is the Senior Fellow of Economics for the Center for Cultural Leadership and a long-time faculty member for both the Acton Institute and the Blackstone Fellowship of the Alliance Defending Freedom. David is passionate about the integration of faith and economics and has lectured and written for years about a theology of wealth and the marketplace. He responds to the term “Kuyperian,” is deeply appreciative of Tim Keller and Father Robert Sirico, and has read more systematic theology than any human should ever read. His late father, Dr. Greg Bahnsen, was a renowned Christian apologist and is David’s personal hero and mentor. He is the author of the book, Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It, and his newest book, There’s No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths, released in November 2021. His ultimate passions are his wife of 20+ years, Joleen, their children, sons Mitchell and Graham, and daughter Sadie, and the life they’ve created together on both coasts. Shownotes: definition of Economics The difference between the current inflationary environment and inflation in the 1980s? Can we look at old economic truths to try to address today’s new economic problems? The forecast for inflation

The most common question I get from investors these days is how increasing interest rates will affect the performance of our real estate holdings. There is often concern, for good reason, that as rates go up our net operating income will go down. The good news is that things aren’t that simple. Rate increases don’t happen in a vacuum. Remember that the reason the Fed is increasing interest rates in the first place is because of inflation. We are in 1980s territory with 8.5 year over year inflation. The Federal Reserve has to raise rates to keep it under control. But drilling down on inflation reveals an important reality in multifamily real estate. In our high growth markets, we are increasing rents at a pace that often significantly out-paces inflation right now.  In other words, what we are finding is that we are driving net operating income up at our properties far in excess to what the inflation numbers show—as scary as they may sound. This is why we always talk about real estate as a hedge to inflation. You are seeing this reality in real time. Not only are we hedging inflation. In reality, as the second largest landlord in Phoenix, our rent increases are probably making a significant impact on the inflationary data in that market. The specific kind of real estate that we focus on is also helpful. Our leases are year-to-year so we can raise rents appropriately with the economic realities on the ground. Many commercial leases are multi-year fixed contracts that can not be altered to reflect inflation. Finally, you should know that cap rates do not correlate with interest rates in a linear fashion. Cap rates rise slower than interest rates. We also mitigate that risk by buying rate caps on all of our properties. Bottom line is that, in my opinion, high quality multifamily real estate in high growth markets is a great place to be in inflationary environments like we are now.  I understand the anxiety people have about deploying capital but remember, not investing when there is 8.5 percent inflation year over year essentially guarantees you lose money in form of buying power. So fear is not going to save you money. But I know it’s a complicated topic and to drill down on it further I talk with serial real estate entrepreneur, Christopher Volk, on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Having taken multiple companies public including a REIT, he knows a thing or two about the real estate market! A recognized business model expert, Christopher Volk has introduced and led three successful public companies, two of which he co-founded. Those companies provided more than $20 billion in growth capital to thousands of businesses, helping them succeed. Chris resides with his wife in Arizona and Alabama. Shownotes: How does inflation affect real estate as a whole? Is it a good time right now to invest? Christopher talks about his book The Value Equation

I have started a number of small businesses over the past decade. I know that a number of you run your own business or are thinking about some kind of new entrepreneurial endeavor. So, let me tell you about some of the things that I have learned. First, fewer variables make businesses easier to run and, in most cases, more profitable. You can see examples of this with big business all the time. Ever seen the menu at In-N-Out Burger? Pretty simple! While it may seem like a good idea to offer a lot of services to a lot of different kinds of people, most of the time businesses realize that this approach is not ideal. Too many products and services create too many variables. The more moving parts you have in a business makes it harder to run efficiently. Another lesson that I learned related to this concept of keeping complexity minimal is to stay away from businesses with too much overhead. I have run medical businesses with marketing budgets of over $1 million per year. In good months, I felt like I was king of the world. On the bad ones, I worried about becoming homeless! It’s not a good way to live. Finally, the most difficult part of owning and scaling a business, in my opinion, is the issue of people. I once built a very successful cosmetic surgery business in Chicago and then tried to do the same in four other cities at the same time. My reasoning was that if I could do as well as I was in Chicago, why couldn’t I do it in smaller markets? Well, those businesses failed miserably. And, in hindsight, the biggest reason for failure was because I did not have the right people to execute the plan. Of course, I’m just a bootstrap entrepreneur who’s had some success and failures. But my guest on Wealth Formula podcast this week has been the chief economist at some of the biggest companies in the world. In fact, he has just been named the chief economist of Walmart. This week’s Wealth Formula Podcast features an interview that I did with him. What I found fascinating about this interview was that many of the problems that I saw at my level were the same for multibillion dollar corporations. Of course, I couldn’t resist getting his take on the current economy as well so I asked him a little bit about that. So whether you’re interested on his takes on what it takes to grow and scale a business or what he thinks of today’s unusual economic situation, be sure to tune in! Professor John A. List is the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on combining field experiments with economic theory to deepen our understanding of the economic science. In the early 1990s, List pioneered field experiments as a methodology for testing behavioral theories and learning about behavioral principles that are shared across different domains. He co-authored the international best seller, The Why Axis, in 2013. List was elected a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011, and a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 2015. List received the 2010 Kenneth Galbraith Award, the 2008 Arrow Prize for Senior Economists for his research in behavioral economics in the field, and was the 2012 Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture Prize recipient. He is a current Editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Shownotes: What is going on with the economy and where are we headed? What is driving all of the inflation? John as the new Chief Economist of Walmart The Voltage Effect

My kids are little. My oldest is 12 and her sisters are 9 and 6. Admittedly, I’ve spent no significant amount of time trying to teach them about money as of yet. If anything, I have taught them a little bit about the burden of taxes by eating half of the cupcakes and ice cream and metaphorically blaming the IRS. That one seems to get the point across! When they get older, you can be sure that I will spend a significant amount of time with them teaching them about money. After all, it is my intent to leave them plenty of it after I die! For those of you who are further along in the process, I thought this week’s discussion about children and money with an actual high school teacher might be of value. Disclaimer: I have not reviewed this guy’s course and I don’t know if it’s worth it at all. However, there is no harm in listening to this perspective on a bonus podcast. Dan Sheeks is the owner and founder of SheeksFreaks LLC, an online community dedicated to helping young people live their best lives by making smart money decisions. He has been a high school business teacher in Denver, Colorado, for eighteen years, and he’s passionate about teaching teenagers personal finance, passive income, real estate investing, and early financial freedom strategies. Dan and his wife own fifteen units and have enjoyed success with multifamily, short-term rentals, and the BRRRR strategy. In his free time, Dan likes to run, bike, cross-country ski, and attend bluegrass music festivals. Shownotes: Purchase First to a Million: A Teenager’s Guide to Achieving Early Financial Independence: https://bit.ly/3Hp8R84 SheeksFreaks Community: https://bit.ly/sheeksfreaks131 SheeksFreaks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheeksfreaks/ Dan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dsheeks/ Dan’s email: dan@sheeksfreaks.com

You would think from the vilification of capitalists in recent years that we are nothing but a waste of space on earth. “Pay your fair share capitalist pig!” That’s what you hear these days from popular politicians on the left. Of course, in reality, without us, the government would be broke. What makes America great and what has made the world the place that it is in terms of technology and health care over the last century has entirely to do with the efforts of capitalists. Just think about all of those people walking around with iPhones these days. Was Steve Jobs doing that for free? Now, more people in the world have cellular phones and are connected to one another than any time in history. If you are the Unabomber and hate technology, you might have another view. However, technology has made our lives better and it is because of investments from capitalists like you and me. Now I’m not in the world of Venture Capital myself. If I knew enough to be able to invest intelligently I probably would be. Beyond its potential for huge returns venture drives innovation in our world today. And while most of us are far more interested in owning stable assets such as multi family real estate, it’s good to know the role venture capital in our world today. And who knows, you may be inspired to become a venture capitalist yourself. Listen to this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast episode to learn why Venture Capital is a big deal. Sebastian Mallaby is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. An experienced journalist and public speaker, Mallaby contributes to a variety of other publications, including Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic and the Financial Times, where he spent two years as a contributing editor. He is the author of five books, most recently “The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future.” Mallaby’s interests cover a wide variety of domestic and international issues, including central banks, financial markets, the implications of the rise of newly emerging powers, and the intersection of economics and international relations. His book “The Man Who Knew: The Life & Times of Alan Greenspan” won the 2016 Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award and the 2017 George S. Eccles Prize in Economic Writing. His book “More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite” was described by New York Times columnist David Brooks as “superb”; it was the recipient of the 2011 Loeb Prize and a New York Times bestseller. Mallaby’s earlier works are “The World’s Banker,” a portrait of the World Bank under James Wolfensohn that was named as an “Editor’s Choice” by the New York Times; and “After Apartheid,” which was named by the New York Times as a “Notable Book.” An essay in the Financial Times said of “The World’s Banker”: “Mallaby’s book may well be the most hilarious depiction of a big organization and its controversial boss since Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker.” Before joining the Council on Foreign Relations, Mallaby was a Washington Post columnist and editorial board member for eight years. Before that, he spent 13 years with The Economist, during which time he worked in London, where he wrote about foreign policy and international finance; in Africa, where he covered Nelson Mandela’s release and the collapse of apartheid; and in Japan, where he covered the breakdown of the country’s political and economic consensus. Between 1997 and 1999, Mallaby was The Economist’s Washington bureau chief and wrote the magazine’s weekly Lexington column on American politics and foreign policy. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist: once for editorials on Darfur and once for a series on economic inequality. In 2015, he helped to found a startup, InFacts.org, a web publication making the fact-based case for Britain to remain in the European Union. Mallaby was educated at Oxford, graduating in 1986 with a first-class degree in modern history. After 18 years in Washington, D.C., he moved to London in 2014, where he lives with his wife, Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of The Economist. Shownotes: What is Venture Capital? Groupthink and its effects on Venture Capital investments VCs and Capitalism? Sebastian’s book: The Power Law

Money has taken on many forms throughout history. In the last couple of centuries gold has been the dominant form of money recognized globally. In 1912 J.P. Morgan himself said, “Money is gold, and nothing else”. Yet the relevance of gold has really come into question since Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard in 1971. That move has been vilified by Austrian economists and others who treasure the concept of sound money. The revolution that started in 1971 changed the global economy from one based on gold to one based on credit. That sounds like anathema doesn’t it? Well…maybe a credit-based economy is not so bad. After all, it could be argued that the uncoupling of gold and the US dollar resulted in the most rapid growth in global wealth over the last 50 years than ever before in history. It could be argued that “creditism” resulted in fewer people in poverty around the world and even the fall of the Soviet Union. If that’s the case, is credit and debt so bad? Richard Duncan doesn’t think so. In fact, he’s written a new book that suggests that we should lean into our debt with investments that will bring us to the next level of a civilized society. Curious? Make sure to tune into this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast! Richard Duncan is the author of four books analyzing the causes and the effects of the economic crises that have brought the global economy to the brink of collapse during recent decades. The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures (John Wiley & Sons, 2003, updated 2005), predicted the global economic disaster that began in 2008 with extraordinary accuracy. It was an international bestseller. The Corruption of Capitalism: A strategy to re-balance the global economy and restore sustainable growth (CLSA Books, 2009) described the long series of US policy mistakes responsible for the Crisis of 2008. The New Depression: The Breakdown Of The Paper Money Economy (John Wiley & Sons, 2012) introduced an important new analytical framework, The Quantity Theory of Credit, that explained all aspects of the global economic crisis that began in 2008: its causes, the rationale for the government’s policy response to the crisis, and likely future developments. His latest book is The Money Revolution: How to Finance the Next American Century (John Wiley & Sons, 2022). The first two parts of the book describe the evolution of Money and Credit over the last century. These include a detailed history of the Federal Reserve since its establishment in 1913 and a discussion of the transformation of our economic system from Capitalism to Creditism during the five decades since Dollars ceased to be backed by Gold. Parts One and Two show that a “Money Revolution” has occurred and fundamentally altered the way the global economy functions. Part Three demonstrates that this Money Revolution opens up unprecedented opportunities for the United States to radically accelerate economic growth, enhance human wellbeing and strengthen US national security by investing aggressively in the Industries and Technologies of the Future. Since beginning his career as an equities analyst in Hong Kong in 1986, Richard has served as global head of investment strategy at ABN AMRO Asset Management in London, worked as a financial sector specialist for the World Bank in Washington D.C., and headed equity research departments for James Capel Securities and Salomon Brothers in Bangkok. He also worked as a consultant for the IMF in Thailand during the Asia Crisis. Richard currently publishes Macro Watch, the bi-monthly video newsletter he founded in 2013. Richard has appeared frequently on CNBC, CNN, BBC and Bloomberg Television, as well as on BBC World Service Radio. He has published articles in The Financial Times, The Far East Economic Review, FinanceAsia and CFO Asia. He is also a well-known speaker whose audiences have included The World Economic Forum’s East Asia Economic Summit in Singapore, The EuroFinance Conference in Copenhagen, The Chief Financial Officers’ Roundtable in Shanghai, and The World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. Richard studied literature and economics at Vanderbilt University (1983) and international finance at Babson College (1986); and, between the two, spent a year traveling around the world as a backpacker. Shownotes: The shift to a Credit-based economy in the United States How has the shift to “Creditism” affected the United States and the rest of the world? Remedies for some of the issues that the US is facing right now Macrowatch The Money Revolution: How to Finance the Next American Century

I write this on the “Ides of March” one day before the Federal Reserve meets to discuss the economy and its plans for the near future. The 900-pound gorilla in the room is inflation although the war in Ukraine may be a mitigating factor for the impending hawkish moves anticipated. By the time this post is published and podcast recorded, you’ll already know what happened at that meeting. Let me guess…an increase in the discount rate by 25 basis points? Well, that’s what has baked into the markets and what will dictate any further market movements is discussion of further rate hikes and disposition of the Fed’s bond portfolio. Ok, so now what do you do? Should you panic and stop investing? Well, that’s the knee-jerk response right? But remember, why are rates going up in the first place? Yes…inflation. And what happens to the money in your bank account during inflation? It loses value. So, keeping yourself in cash right now is pretty much a guaranteed way to lose money. In order for you to break even, you have to be keeping up with inflation at least! What am I doing? I’m still investing my money in assets hedged for inflation. The good news is that I don’t have to change my investment strategy at all because multifamily real estate is a great hedge against inflation. “But Buck”, you ask, “won’t cap rates go up with interest rates?” Typically that’s true although it’s not necessarily a linear relationship. Furthermore, ask yourself once again why mortgage rates would go up? Yes…inflation. And yes…inflation means increasing rents as well. In other words, increasing rates is hedged by increasing rents. Now to be clear, I’m not saying we have nothing to worry about. There is a Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times with plenty of danger and uncertainty. All we can do is be rational and disciplined with how we allocate our money. How we allocate money may not be the same for everyone in the world right now either. If I was in Russia I’d try to buy as much bitcoin as possible to get out of the Ruble in a hurry. But in the US, the more reliable hedge might still be good old-fashioned multifamily real estate. It’s a complicated topic and worth discussing further with experts on investing trends and that is exactly what we will do on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast with my guest David Sacco! P.S. DO NOT miss our upcoming meetup in Phoenix. Mark April 22nd and 23rd on your calendar and CLICK HERE to register ASAP. Only a few spots remain! David Sacco is a Practitioner in Residence in the Finance program and serves as a full-time instructor in the Finance, Economics, Management and Entrepreneurship programs. Mr. Sacco joined the Pompea College of Business faculty in 2018. He holds both a BS and an MBA, in finance, from New York University. Mr. Sacco spent 25 years in the institutional fixed income business. He began his career at The Chase Manhattan Bank in interest rate swaps in 1985 and moved to UBS in 1986. Before leaving UBS in 2009, he traded a variety of fixed income products and derivatives and rose to the level of Managing Director and global head of Rates. He was also a member of the UBS Investment Bank Board. In addition to teaching, Mr. Sacco is involved in several extracurricular organizations at the Pompea College of Business including the Investment Club and Liberty Initiative. Mr. Sacco also has an active consulting business for and invests in start-ups and small businesses. Shownotes: What are the Fed’s best options to combat inflation right now? Is it possible to eliminate inflation without triggering a recession? How can inflation affect the commercial real estate market Dogecoin

Americans have always enjoyed the advantage of geographic isolation from much of the Western World. It has allowed us, in many ways, to look at many of the world’s conflicts from a relatively disinterested distance. Who knows if we would have gotten involved at all in World War 2 if not for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Nevertheless, the implications of major conflicts like the one currently happening in Ukraine eventually find their way to our shores. And more often than not they do so most noticeably at the level of our pocketbooks. Make no mistake, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will affect you. Unless you drive a Tesla you’re seeing it at the gas station now. But there are more subtle and long-term implications of this war that will continue to shape the global economy. To better understand how, this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast episode features a conversation with an economist who was named one of the 100 most important public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy Magazine. Make sure to listen now and understand how Putin’s war may affect you. Barry Julian Eichengreen (born 1952) is an American economist who holds the title of George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1987. Eichengreen currently serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Shownotes: How does the war in Ukraine affect our local economy? How will the conflict in Ukraine end? In Defense of Public Debt Modern monetary theory https://eml.berkeley.edu/~eichengr/

In June of 2008, I graduated from my surgical residency program, got married and discovered Robert Kiyosaki. 14 years later, I’m no longer a practicing surgeon nor am I married anymore. However, the impact of Robert’s books defined the course of my life. It’s really extraordinary when I think about how a single book that I stumbled upon in a dingy Mexican airport could have just profound implications for me. On the other hand, most of us can define a moment in time that changed it all. That could be meeting a person, going somewhere or, in my case, reading a book. These transitional experiences feel like being hit with lightning. I call my Kiyosaki transformation as taking the purple pill. Many of you have had similar experiences with his books. In this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I ask Robert Kiyosaki to talk about the defining experiences of his life that shaped his worldview and the course of his life. Listen HERE! Best known as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad—the #1 personal finance book of all time—Robert Kiyosaki has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money. He is an entrepreneur, educator, and investor who believes the world needs more entrepreneurs who will create jobs. With perspectives on money and investing that often contradict conventional wisdom, Robert has earned an international reputation for straight talk, irreverence, and courage and has become a passionate and outspoken advocate for financial education. Robert has been heralded as a visionary who has a gift for simplifying complex concepts—ideas related to money, investing, finance, and economics—and has shared his personal journey to financial freedom in ways that resonate with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. His point of view is that the “old advice”—go to school, get a job, save money, get out of debt, invest for the long term, and diversify—has become obsolete advice in today’s fast-paced ever-changing world. His Rich Dad philosophies and messages challenge the status quo and his teachings encourage people to take initiative to become financially educated and financially free. Robert grew up in the small town of Hilo, Hawaii. He went to college at Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy in New York state. Upon graduation, Robert turned down a well-paying job with Standard Oil and chose to enlist in the Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot at the time of the Vietnam War. After his service in the military, Robert went to work for the Xerox Corporation. His Rich Dad told him that the key to any successful business is sales. Robert rose to the #1 salesperson at Xerox. From there his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in. He created the company Rippers, along with his brother. Rippers was the first company ever to bring to market the nylon and Velcro “surfer” wallet. During this time Robert met and studied with R. Buckminster Fuller; a futurist, visionary, inventor, architect and humanitarian. Bucky, as he was called, had an immense impact on Robert and as a result Robert set out to make a positive difference as an educator of entrepreneurship and money. In 1996 Robert and his wife, Kim, created and launched the CASHFLOW board game to teach people about money and investing in a fun and entertaining way. In 1997 Robert wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, and they founded The Rich Dad Company. Today the book and the board game are more popular and relevant than ever before. Robert is the author of 27 books, including two books with Donald Trump, prior to him becoming President of the United States. Robert has been a featured guest with media outlets in every corner of the world. He is the host of the Rich Dad Radio Show podcast, a world-renowned speaker, and life-long student. Shownotes: Russia and the invasion of Ukraine How do we fight back if the majority of the country starts feeling like it’s owed something? What’s the next step if communism is here? Robert’s latest book: Capitalist Manifesto

Distributed ledger technology is revolutionary and creates some problems for the old guard—specifically banks and the traditional financial markets. The young guns creating all of this technology are really shaking things up. But you can bet that the traditional guys who have been making millions of dollars off the old system aren’t giving up easily. The old guard also has something else on their side—the financial regulatory system. You see, decentralized finance (AKA DeFi) is very appealing but it’s not always terribly legal. Case in point, frequently individuals who own cryptocurrency are making swaps for other tokens on these platforms and no one knows about it. In fact, it is virtually impossible for an agency like the IRS to track these trades. And, many people have millions of dollars stashed in this underbelly of the decentralized economy. I wouldn’t recommend living like that myself. Why? Well, I would just say that it’s best not to bet against regulators and the US government in the long term. You risk going to jail. Nevertheless, DeFi and related technologies do offer so many advantages to consumers in the way of efficient transactions that are quick and inexpensive. In fact, I would argue that when technology this powerful comes down the pipe, it eventually prevails one way or another. But, practically speaking, how is that going to look? That’s a good question. We really are in the early days of DeFi and distributed ledger technology in general. My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast, Brian Hartzer, comes very much from the traditional financial system holding positions as a top executive at some of the largest banks in the world. Yet, he sees the disruption coming and believes he knows where technology will meet traditional finance and regulators straight on. It’s a fascinating area to watch evolve as it is happening very quickly. Make sure you tune in to the show! Brian Hartzer is an experienced executive, leadership mentor and investor who served as CEO of the Westpac Banking Group from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his time as Westpac’s CEO, Brian spent 15 years in senior executive roles at major banks in Australia and the UK. These roles included CEO at Westpac and divisional chief executive roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and ANZ Banking Group. He has also served as Chairman of the Australian Banking Association and of the Retail Banking Committee of the British Bankers Association. Prior to joining ANZ, Brian spent ten years as a financial services strategy consultant at First Manhattan Consulting Group in New York, Melbourne and San Francisco. Outside of banking, he is a senior advisor to Quantium, a Sydney-based Data Science company, and an investor and leadership mentor to a number of Sydney-based startups. He also serves as Chairman of the Australian Museum Foundation Trust as well as a Trustee of the Australian Museum. He has previously served as Chairman of Save the Children Australia, Director of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and Chair of the Business Advisory Committee of the Australian National University. He graduated with a degree in European History from Princeton University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Brian holds dual US and Australian citizenship and lives in Sydney, Australia. Shownotes: Decentralized Finance What is Beforepay? The Leadership Star