The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing

In episode 297, we welcome our guest, Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, a non-profit organization working to increase access to financial education by providing its curriculum and professional development at no cost to schools. In today’s episode, we start the episode with the current state of K-12 personal finance education in the U.S. Then we hear how teaching a personal finance class in a school inspired Tim to start Next Gen Personal Finance in 2014. He shares the curriculum they provide to teachers for free, why the 43,000 teachers that are registered on the Next Gen platform are the champions to get personal finance mandated in schools across America, and how he utilizes arcade games to engage kids ranging from K-12.  As we wind down, we hear about what Tim calls Mission 2030, which is to get every student who graduates high school to complete a one-semester personal finance course.  All this and more in episode 297 with Next Gen Personal Finance’s Tim Ranzetta.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 296, we welcome our guest, Jason Hsu, founder and chairman of Rayliant Global Advisors.  In today’s episode, we get an update from Jason on the Chinese stock market and hear how it differs from the U.S. Then we talk about his new ETF, which gives investors a way to allocate to China A-Shares. He explains why the A-Shares are a great place to seek outperformance due to the large amount of retail involvement. Jason then addresses some of the most commonly cited risks for investing in the Chinese stock market, including accounting issues and the presence of so many state-owned-enterprises.  As we wind down, Jason gives his take on the recent developments with Ant Financial and Jack Ma.  All this and more in episode 296 with Rayliant Global Advisor’s Jason Hsu.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 295, we welcome our guest, Jacob Rubin, founder and Managing Member at Philosophy Capital Management, which focuses on value and distressed credit.  In today’s episode, we start by discussing Jacob’s windy road to end up where he is today, including a stint under Jerome Simon at Lonestar Capital Management. Then we dive into his investment philosophy, which can be described as old school value in a new school world. He shares how he uses pattern recognition to his advantage, how credit and equity investing help one another, and the thesis for some of his top holdings.  As we wind down, Jacob explains how he thinks about the short-side of the portfolio and tells the story of why watching a TikTok video led him to immediately cover a short.  All this and more in episode 295 with Philosophy Capital Management’s Jacob Rubin.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 294, we welcome our guest, Dan Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Advisers, a global investment firm that provides a public market alternative to private equity. In today’s episode, we start with an update on Dan’s private equity replication thesis and hear about the rise of private credit in the past few years. Then we dive into his recent paper on emerging markets crisis investing. While buy and hold investors in emerging markets have experienced higher volatility for disappointing returns, Dan believes learning to navigate these EM crises can provide the ability to reap excess returns. He walks us through the differences between global and idiosyncratic crises and what performs best between both debt and equity in each case. All this and more in episode 294 with Verdad Advisers’ Dan Rasmussen.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 293, we welcome our guest, Ted Seides, host of the Capital Allocators podcast and author of Capital Allocators: How the world's elite money managers lead and invest. In today’s episode, we go all the way back to Ted’s early days working under the great David Swensen at Yale to hear what makes him one of the most respected Chief Investment Officer’s in the world. Then we move on to his famous bet with Warren Buffett and hear how the real winner of the bet was the collateral set aside for the duration of the bet. After touching on what the Chief Investment Officer job entails and sharing the insights he’s learned from speaking with some of the top managers in the world, Ted shares how he invests his own money. We talk about Bill Ackman’s fund, SPACs, and even some crypto.  All this and more in episode 293 with Ted Seides.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 292, we welcome our guest, Tom Barton, famed-short seller and founder and President of White Rock Capital.  In today’s episode, we start with taking a look back at one of Tom’s tweets from September, which said that GameStop was a misunderstood short, and hear why he thought so back then. We also touch on the differences between shorting based on valuation versus because the company is a fraud. Then we turn to what he mostly focuses on these days: biotech and gene-therapy companies. We hear about his brutal two-year experience as an activist and what he learned from the experience.  As we wind down, Tom walks us through some companies he likes in the biotech space, and even shares a SPAC that looks attractive to him at the moment.  Please enjoy this episode with the White Rock Capital’s Tom Barton.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 291, we welcome our guest, Ron Lieber, the Your Money columnist for The New York author of the book, The Price You Pay for College. In today’s episode, we’re talking about what Ron describes as the biggest financial decision your family will ever make: paying for your child’s college tuition. We begin with some background as to how the sticker price of college has soared over the past few decades. Then Ron explains what merit aid is, how it can save you tens of thousands of dollars, and how schools are using it to compete with other schools for prospective students. Ron walks us through some of the best ways to start preparing for this big expense and why he believes you should talk to your son or daughter before they enter high school about all the factors impacting this important financial decision. As we wind down, Ron explains what policy suggestions he’d love to see implemented to help fix the student debt crisis. All this and more in episode 291 with The New York Times’ Ron Lieber.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 290, we welcome our guest, Bill Smead, the Chief Investment Officer for Smead Capital Management. In today’s episode, Bill explains why he believes the market is undergoing a tide change. He starts with a look back on the 2000 tech bubble and uses Cisco as an example of why it’s important to separate a good business from a good stock. After talking about parts of the market he doesn’t like, we move on to the parts he finds attractive, including home-builders, energy, suburban mall REITs, and financials. As we wind down, Bill touches on the antitrust case for big tech and what the investment implications may be. Please enjoy this episode with Smead Capital Management’s Bill Smead.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 289 is a Mebisode. In this episode, you’ll hear Meb put today's stock valuations into historical perspective. He addresses the claim that stock valuations should be high because bond yields are low and then looks at what conditions were present at the start of the best ten-year stock returns in history. Finally, he provides some thoughts on what investors could do to handle the current market environment.All of this and more in episode 289. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 288, we welcome our guest, Doug Pugliese, the Head of 1042 QRP Solutions at Alpha Architect, where he manages the firm’s qualified replacement property investment strategies practice. In today’s episode, we’re covering Doug’s best idea: employee stock ownership plans.ESOP’s are a niche but incredibly attractive way for a business owner to sell their business for both themselves and the long-term viability of the company. The episode starts with a broad overview and then dives into the inner workings of an ESOP sale. Doug explains how the tax benefits of a 1042 election allow the owner to defer capital gains tax and even invest the proceeds into a portfolio of blue chip stocks.As the conversation winds down, Doug shares why ESOP’s may be an ideal way for middle market private equity companies to exit investments.Please enjoy this special “Best Ideas” episode with Alpha Architect’s Doug Pugliese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices