DEBT SERIOUS Podcast

Tom Gober, a certified fraud examiner and forensic accountant focused on life and annuity insurance, explains risks in PE-owned life insurers. He breaks down captive reinsurance, hidden accounting marks, and oversized affiliated investments. He also discusses surplus vulnerability, deposit-style liquidity runs, and why standalone statutory statements matter.

Leyla Kunimoto is an investor and editor of Accredited Investor Insights, a newsletter that helps investors navigate private markets. She writes about private equity, private credit, and real estate, focusing on the practical realities of evaluating alternative investments from the limited partner perspective. Leyla began investing in public markets in 2001 and expanded into private markets in 2020, with current holdings spanning public equities, real estate, and alternatives. Get full access to DEBT SERIOUS at debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Jim Grant is the founder and editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer and one of the most respected voices in financial markets. Grant is the author of ten books on finance and history. His most recent book is Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles Fox in the Age of Revolution. His other works include Money of the Mind, a history of borrowing and lending in America; a life of John Adams, the second president of the United States; and a biography of the great Victorian financial journalist and central bankers’ muse, Walter Bagehot. Get full access to DEBT SERIOUS at debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Michael Kao has been in the investment business for 30+ years, with extensive experience analyzing and investing across a wide range of markets and asset classes — from commodities and credit to convertible arbitrage, capital structure and event-driven strategies, and distressed debt and equity.He began his career in the early 1990s in the commodities unit at Goldman Sachs in New York. After Goldman, he joined Canyon Capital Advisors, where he was a partner and co-founder of the Canyon Arbitrage Fund. In 2002, he founded Akanthos Capital Management, a long/short value fund focused on opportunities driven by volatility, equity, and credit structure dynamics, with an emphasis on convertible and capital structure arbitrage, as well as event-driven investing.Mike stopped actively managing external capital in 2019 and now invests primarily through his family office while writing about markets and the economy on his Substack Kaoboy Musings. FOLLOW THE LINK to read Michael’s detailed write-up, examples, and his full thoughts on what we discussed in this episode (MUST-SEE).Disclaimer: This interview talks about some Idiosyncratic positions that Michael currently holds and actively trades. He uses the examples to illustrate his broader points about CLO structural resilience. This is NOT investment advice, and people are reminded to do their own homework. Get full access to DEBT SERIOUS at debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Joe Sarachek is one of the most seasoned voices in distressed debt. He is the Managing Partner at Sarachek Law and has spent three decades working on hundreds of bankruptcy cases.Joe also runs Strategic Liquidity Fund, teaches bankruptcy investing at NYU Stern, and published The Distressed Investing Playbook—a book that combines case studies, strategy, and legal insight for anyone serious about distressed investing. Get full access to DEBT SERIOUS at debtserious.substack.com/subscribe