Financial Thought Exchange Podcast

Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, shares his origin story, detailing his academic background at the University of Chicago, where he was influenced by prominent figures like Eugene Fama, who encouraged him to explore momentum investing although Fama did not think it could possibly work. Asness recounts his transition from portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs to co-founder and principal research at AQR Capital, one of the best-known investment management firms in the world. He reflects on the tumultuous market period after AQR's founding in 1998, when the nascent firm almost went out of business. The conversation addresses market efficiency, with Asness presenting his views on the "Less Efficient Market Hypothesis." Despite advancements in technology and data availability, he says, the processing of information has not necessarily improved, leading to inefficiencies in the market. Asness discusses the impact of passive investing on market dynamics and the challenges of generating alpha in a landscape where traditional value investing has performed poorly. The episode concludes with Asness sharing insights on the role of machine learning in quantitative finance, emphasizing its potential to enhance research and signal generation while maintaining a balance with economic theory.

Roger G. Ibbotson, Professor Emeritus at Yale School of Management and chairman and CIO of Zebra Capital Management LLC, has authored numerous articles and books, including Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation, which serves as a standard reference for information and capital market returns. Laurence B. Siegel is the Director of Research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and a writer, speaker, and consultant. Siegel graduated from the University of Chicago with both a BA & a MBA. His website is http://www.larrysiegel.org. Ibbotson and Siegel discuss the driving factors behind long-term returns, how human behavior and investor psychology intervene in financial decision-making, and the future of returns in an interconnected world. From systems of economic production to sustainable investing, they draw on decades of research in financial markets to dive further into these topics. Financial Thought Exchange is brought to you by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please use the following donation link: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

Anthony DeChellis hosts industry veterans Brian Singer, CFA, and Lotta Moberg, CFA, to discuss their recently released CFA Institute Research Foundation brief, Financial Entrepreneurship: Balancing Active and Passive Investment Horizons. The conversation explores the evolution of the asset management industry over the decades, highlighting shifts from traditional investment approaches to innovative strategies. Brian and Lotta share insights from their decade-long collaboration and the journey that led to their current research, shedding light on the changing landscape of finance and investment. Tune in to discover how these developments impact investors and the financial sector as a whole.

In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Dr. William Hardin to discuss the philosophical relationship between education and finance, and how to properly utilize a financial education in the business world at large. Dr. William Hardin is Dean of the FIU (Florida International University) College of Business. He is Founding Director of the Tibor and Sheila Hollo School of Real Estate and was Associate Dean for the Chapman Graduate School of Business at FIU. Financial Thought Exchange is brought to you by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please use the following donation link: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Philip Maymin via Starlink to discuss the future of AI in the finance industry. Dr. Philip Maymin is Portfolio Manager and Director of Asset Allocation Strategies at Janus Henderson. He is also the Endowed Schramm Chair of Analytics and the MSBA Program Director at Fairfield Dolan, the CTO for Swipe.bet, and an instructor at Analytics.Bet. In the past, he has been a portfolio manager at Long-Term Capital Management, Ellington Management Group, and his own hedge fund. He was Assistant Professor of Finance and Risk Engineering at the NYU School of Engineering, as well as an analytics consultant with several NBA teams and the Chief Analytics Officer for Vantage Sports. Maymin co-founded the journals Algorithmic Finance and the Journal of Sports Analytics. Additionally, he was a policy scholar for a free market think tank, a Justice of the Peace, a Congressional candidate, and an award-winning journalist. Philip was a finalist for the 2010 Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism. He was awarded a Wolfram Innovator Award in 2015. He won the Wolfram Live Coding Challenge in 2016 and second place in 2018, and he won the Wolfram One-Liner Competition in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. He was a finalist for the Hackathon and won the Grand Prize for Best Research Paper at the 12th Annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2018, and won the Hackathon at the 14th Annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2020. His popular writings have been published in dozens of media outlets ranging from Bloomberg to Forbes to the New York Post to American Banker to regional newspapers, and his research has been profiled in dozens more, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Financial Times, Boston Globe, NPR, BBC, Guardian (UK), CNBC, Newsweek Poland, Financial Times Deutschland, and others. Maymin holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Chicago, a Master's in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University, and a Bachelor's in Computer Science from Harvard University. He also holds a J.D. and is an attorney-at-law admitted to practice in California. Financial Thought Exchange is brought to you by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please use the following donation link: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

In this episode, Prof. William Goetzmann joins host Larry Siegel to discuss financial archeology, and how the early history of financial institutions can inform modern practices. William N. Goetzmann is the Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies at the Yale School of Management, and executive editor of the Financial Analysts Journal. He won the James R. Vertin Award from the CFA Institute for "research notable for its relevance and enduring value to investment professionals." He is author of the highly acclaimed book, Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible. Prior to his academic career, Goetzmann worked as an archaeologist, a writer and producer of PBS documentaries, and served as the director of the American Museum of Western Art in Denver, Colorado during 1984–85. Laurence B. Siegel is the Gary P. Brinson Director of Research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and a writer, speaker, and consultant. He is the author of Fewer, Richer, Greener: Prospects for Humanity in an Age of Abundance and Unknown Knowns: On Economics, Investing, Progress, and Folly. He has also written or co-authored several CFA Institute Research Foundation monographs and briefs. Earlier in his career, Larry was director of research in the investment division of the Ford Foundation and, before that, Ibbotson Associates (now part of Morningstar). He holds BA (1975) and MBA (1977) degrees from the University of Chicago. His website is http://www.larrysiegel.org Financial Thought Exchange is brought to you by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please use the following donation link: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Joseph Simonian to discuss the importance of understanding the field of model validation and how it applies to the financial industry. His published work on the topic can be found here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research/foundation/2024/investment-model-validation Joseph Simonian is a globally renowned investor and researcher who has conducted extensive research in quantitative finance, machine learning, factor investing, and portfolio construction. Over the course of a 20-year career in the investment industry, he has held senior portfolio management and research positions in several prominent asset management firms. He is also the founder and CIO of Autonomous Investment Technologies. Simonian is a noted contributor to leading finance journals and a prominent speaker at investment events worldwide. He is co-editor of the Journal of Financial Data Science, is on the editorial board of the Journal of Portfolio Management, chairman of the board of directors of the Financial Data Professional Institute, and a member of the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center Technical Commitee. Simonian has authored over 40 publications in leading investment journals. He is co-author of the book Quantitative Global Bond Portfolio Management and author of Computational Global Macro, slated for release in 2024. Financial Thought Exchange is the official podcast and video channel of the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please donate here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

Bill and Marty Join host Larry Siegel to discuss equity risk premium, spending rates, and investment strategies for retirement. William F. Sharpe, born in 1933, is the STANCO 25 Professor of Finance, Emeritus at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He was one of the originators of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and is the best-known exponent of it. He developed the "Sharpe Ratio" for investment performance analysis, and is one of the most widely published and celebrated authors of journal articles in the history of finance. He wrote the best-selling textbook, Investments, and many other books. In 1990, he received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Martin L. Leibowitz is President of Advanced Portfolio Studies LLC (APS), a consulting firm focused on issues of asset valuation and portfolio allocation. Dr. Leibowitz currently serves on the investment committees of Singapore's GIC, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Carnegie Corporation, the IMF pension system, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2021, Leibowitz received the Singapore National Day Award for his work with the GIC fund. In 2015, he was named "Financial Engineer of the Year" by the IAQF. He has written over 300 articles and has been the most frequently-published author in both the Financial Analysts Journal (FAJ) and the Journal of Portfolio Management (JPM). Ten of his FAJ articles have received Graham and Dodd Awards. He is one of very few recipients who have received all three of the CFA Institute's highest awards. Financial Thought Exchange is the official podcast and video channel of the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please donate here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

Mark joins host Lotta Moberg to discuss relevance-based prediction, a transparent and adaptive alternative to machine learning. Mark Kritzman, CFA is a Founding Partner and CEO of Windham Capital Management, LLC. He is also a Founding Partner of State Street Associates, and he teaches a graduate finance course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mark served as a Founding Director of the International Securities Exchange and as a Commissioner on the Group Insurance Commission of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) and the boards of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, The Investment Fund for Foundations, and State Street Associates. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the MIT Sloan Finance Group, the Board of Trustees of St. John's University, the Emerging Markets Review, the Journal of Alternative Investments, the Journal of Derivatives, the Journal of Investment Management, where he is Book Review Editor, and The Journal of Portfolio Management. Relevance-based prediction is a new approach to data driven forecasting which serves as a favorable alternative to both linear regression analysis and machine learning. In this episode, Mark Kritzman, one of the leading researchers in this field, joins us to discuss the seminal scientific innovations underlying this approach to predictions, namely the Prasanta Mahalanobis' distance measure and Claude Shannon's information theory. We also discuss the three key tenets of relevance-based prediction, that of relevance, which measures the importance of an observation to a prediction, fit, which measures the reliability of each individual prediction task, and codependence, which holds that the choice of observations and predictive variables should be determined jointly for each individual prediction task. Get ready for a highly educational, stimulating, and demanding episode! To review Mark's work for yourself, use the links below: JOIM paper (Relevance) https://globalmarkets.statestreet.com/research/portal/insights/article/5985847c-60d8-418a-9334-5838b009058f JFDS paper (Relevance-Based Prediction) https://globalmarkets.statestreet.com/research/portal/insights/article/7c6fcbd8-8ed3-4c84-b722-d2d24d99c082 To purchase a copy of his book, use the links below: https://www.predictionrevisited.com/ https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Prediction+Revisited%3A+The+Importance+of+Observation-p-9781119895596 Financial Thought Exchange is the official podcast and video channel of the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please donate here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research-foundation/donate

In this episode, Tom & Paul join host Lotta Moberg for the fourth time to finish their conversation covering how life-cycle finance provides a practical, integrated three-stage model for financial planning that not only embraces life-cycle finance but also integrates it with single-period optimization models. Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, is chief investment officer, retirement, for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. He also serves as a member of Morningstar's 401(k) committee, Public Policy Council, Global Investment Committee, U.S. Investment Policy Committee, the editorial board of Morningstar magazine, and the Journal of Investment Management conference series Advisory Board. Paul D. Kaplan, CFA, was director of research for Morningstar Canada and a senior member of Morningstar's global research team. He led the development of many of the quantitative methodologies behind Morningstar's fund analysis, indexes, adviser tools, and other services. Kaplan conducted research on asset allocation, retirement income planning, portfolio construction, index methodologies, and other investment topics. To review their research in its entirety, click here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/resea... Financial Thought Exchange is the official podcast and video channel of the CFA Institute Research Foundation. If you would like to support the show and our work, please donate here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/resea...