Investment Uncut: Recent Episodes
Lane Clark & Peacock
Investment Uncut is a podcast about investing. Hosts Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis are joined by guests each week as they get beyond the jargon to try and bring sense to the world of investing and bring clarity to your investment decisions. LCP’s investment team advise large institutional investors including pension funds with billions of pounds of assets under management. Look out for new episodes every Wednesday.
Healthcare is one of the UK's largest and fastest-evolving sectors, driven by an ageing population, technological innovation and growing demand for care. But beyond the headlines, where are the most compelling investment opportunities, and why has healthcare become such an attractive area for private equity? In this episode, Letty and Aaron are joined by Sam Gray, Portfolio Manager at Apposite Capital, to explore the investment case for UK healthcare. Together, they discuss how to identify opportunities across the sector, the trends shaping the market, and why healthcare can offer the potential to deliver both attractive long-term returns and better patient outcomes.
In this episode of The Quick Take, Aaron and Jacob sit down with LCP's Investment Partner Amlan Roy to unpack the surprising insights from his latest research on the 48 nations competing in the expanded FIFA World Cup. From demographics and education to migration, gender equality, and governance, they explore the hidden forces shaping economic growth — and where the world's next investment opportunities may emerge. Why do some countries thrive while others fall behind? And why are demographics only part of the story?
Asia Pacific Equities at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, to explore the investment case for India.
P 500 locked it out, how the unique rolling lock-up schedule will trigger massive price swings, and whether Elon Musk is simply too big to govern while running four mega-companies at once.
Most football clubs lose money, yet American investors continue to pour capital into the game. What are they seeing that others are missing? And can data and analytics help turn football clubs from passion projects into viable investment opportunities? In this episode, we’re joined by LCP’s football analytics experts Bart Huby and Jacques Foex to explore how football is becoming increasingly data-driven. We discuss what the analytics tools aim to do, and how can analytics be combined successfully with a recruitment and commercial strategy to help successfully run a football club.
In this episode of The Quick Take, Aaron and Letty discuss new research into the gender and ethnicity pension gap and what women from ethnic minority backgrounds told researchers about retirement saving, financial confidence and pensions. The findings highlight clear barriers around trust, understanding and accessibility, but also point to reasons for optimism, particularly among younger generations who are increasingly financially independent and eager to engage with their finances.
The blue economy is rapidly emerging as a major long-term investment theme, spanning everything from offshore energy and shipping to marine infrastructure, aquaculture and coastal resilience. But beyond the sustainability narrative, what are the genuine opportunities for institutional investors? In this episode, Letty and Jacob are joined by Matt Lawton, Head of Impact Fixed Income at T. Rowe Price to explore the investment case for the blue economy. We discuss where the most compelling opportunities are emerging today, and why some parts of the blue economy may become increasingly important over the next decade.
Financial decisions are often presented as simple exercises in logic. Save more, plan earlier, make better choices. But in reality, our relationship with money is shaped just as much by emotion and what’s happening in our lives rather than spreadsheets and forecasts. In this episode of The Quick Take, Aaron and Letty are joined by Heidi Allan to explore why emotions, confidence and personal experience play such a big role in financial and pension decisions. And why simply giving people more simple information and often can improve financial engagement.
Like it or not, AI has the potential to significantly disrupt existing businesses. That’s great if you’re invested in the companies benefiting from that shift. But what if your portfolio is exposed to businesses that could be disrupted by it instead? What’s more, what if you had a portfolio that had a large exposure to that sector?! In this episode of The Quick Take, Jacob and Letty are joined by Max Pears private credit researcher at LCP, to explore how concentrated software exposure is in private credit portfolios, what the performance and default data is actually showing and what this means for investors
Private credit has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months, with headlines pointing to liquidity pressures, fraud cases, and questions around underwriting standards. High-profile situations such as the collapses of First Brands and Tricolor have unsettled markets and raised concerns around systemic risk. In this episode of the Quick Take, Jacob and Letty are joined by Max Pears, private credit researcher at LCP, to unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface and answer whether the headlines are really justified.
Markets have remained resilient despite rising geopolitical tensions but are investors underestimating the risk of stagflation, or even a more prolonged period of “slugflation”? As the Iran conflict evolves, its impact on inflation and growth could create a more challenging backdrop than markets currently reflect. In this episode of Investment Uncut, we explore with Paul Gibney, LCP investment partner, how these pressures are feeding through into the global economy, what history tells us about stagflation, and what it means for investors, from sector risks to whether markets are too complacent about a sustained low-growth, high-inflation environment aka Slugflation economy.
Energy markets have taken centre stage in driving financial markets and the Iran conflict has been a key catalyst. From oil supply shocks to unexpected market reactions, investors are being forced to rethink how geopolitical risk feeds through into portfolios. In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak to our energy expert Sam Hollister and investment partner, John Clements, to unpack what’s been happening in energy markets, how this is affects financial markets, and what it means for investors navigating an increasingly uncertain environment. The conversation also looks at the role of energy resilience, the evolving balance between fossil fuels and renewables, and what investors should be doing to understand and manage exposure to energy-driven shocks.
New Zealand at Igneo Infrastructure Partners, to cut through the noise and ask the uncomfortable question: is the UK genuinely investible - or are the best opportunities still abroad?
The Eurozone bond market is often treated like a single pool of “Eurobonds”, but in reality, it is a vast and highly fragmented market where politics, fiscal credibility and energy exposure can move spreads just as much as interest rates. Not only that, it has the European Central Bank as a backstop for EU government debt and overarching monetary policy rules for each jurisdiction. So, how do you make sense of this market?! In this episode of The Quick Take, we break down how the market is structured, why the traditional “core versus periphery” narrative is starting to break down, and what recent moves in countries like France and Italy tell us about risk today. Finally, we discuss what all of this means for UK and European investors, and why Eurozone sovereigns may offer both diversification and additional return potential beyond gilts.
G to discuss the economic structure in the AI value chain and find out who is likely to win when the dust settles.
industry look for new ways to deliver more sustainable and predictable retirement outcomes. In this episode of the Quick Take, Aaron and Letty are joined by Laun Middleton, Partner at LCP, to explore how CDC works in practice and what lessons can be learned from the Netherlands. We discuss how the UK has taken on board the lessons learned from CDC pensions internationally, in particular how UK CDC was developed to better incorporate how risk is managed and shared. Finally, we touch on what recent reforms in the Dutch system could mean not just for pensions, but for financial markets more broadly.
“If you look at the structure of the UK market, only around 10% of the venture fund capital comes from pension funds (compared with 70% in the US). Increasing pension fund participation creates a win-win-win: makes more capital available for companies; supports the creation of bigger vehicles for the venture community, and gives pension funds an opportunity to deploy long term capital that can be transformative for the ecosystem.” Ian Connatty. In this episode, we explore how institutional investment can support UK growth. To help our conversation, we’re joined by: Ian Connatty, Managing Director of the British Growth Partnership. Ian sets out how frameworks can help investors think about venture capital allocations, and what it will take for investment in UK growth to really take off. Andy Gregory, CEO of the British Growth Fund. Andy gives us his take on place based investing and outlines how the challenges when allocating to UK assets can be addressed. This episode is in a three-part mini-series of Investment Uncut, covering some of the key themes being discussed at the Pensions UK Investment Conference 2026. Check out our other two episodes, focussed on aligning strategy with today’s market environment and navigating the energy transition.
“In general, very few geopolitical shocks particularly, conflicts or regime changes, have a meaningful impact on markets over the long term. There are short term issues but from our perspective we think about the bigger picture. We make sure that we are taking a consistent level of risk which generate returns.” Ryan Boothroyd. In this episode, we explore how to see through the noise of today’s market environment to make effective investment strategy decisions. To help our conversation, we’re joined by: Ryan Boothroyd, Head of External Management at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership. Ryan gives us insights into how he thinks about geopolitical vs market risk; whether we’re in “bubble territory” on asset prices; and how to apply local objectives to a global opportunity set. Zuhair Mohammed, Head of investment at LCP. Zuhair shared his key takeaways from this year’s Pensions UK conference and reflects on the discussions around the current economic environment as well as how investors can think about opportunities and risks as they look ahead to the rest of the year. This episode is in a three-part mini-series of Investment Uncut, covering some of the key themes being discussed at the Pensions UK Investment Conference 2026. Check out our other two episodes, focussed on supporting UK growth and navigating the energy transition.
political decision-making and gives an insider view on the political debate around delivering a low-carbon economy. Clay Lambiotte, Partner at LCP. Clay explains how the drivers for the energy transition are changing at pace, outlines the common barriers to investing in this space, and highlights progress we should look out for next. This episode is in a three-part mini-series of Investment Uncut, covering some of the key themes being discussed at the Pensions UK Investment Conference 2026. Check out our other two episodes, focussed on aligning strategy with today’s market environment and supporting UK growth.
What does investing have to do with gender? Potentially more than you think! This week’s episode, in honour of International Women’s Day, focuses on gender-lens investing: what do we mean, what does it look like, what can investors do next and why does it matter to everyone?We unpick the three strands of gender-lens investing, covering investment for, in and by women, as well as tackling common misconceptions. Recognising that there is no such thing as a gender-neutral investment, this is all about being intentional on the exposures and impacts that your investments have.To help us unpick these themes, we’re joined by Isabella Craft, ESG and Impact Manager at ImpactA Global. She brings her experience from various emerging markets approaches, to really bring to life the nuances in this space.
Several firms like MIT’s Nanda Lab and BCG have released reports claiming the vast majority of companies have delivered little to no measurable business value from their investments in AI. But what if they’re wrong? Join us as we speak to LCP’s very own Ed Bonnett, Head of AI, to find out how companies can deliver real efficiencies and productivity gains from AI. We talk about the common early stumbling blocks companies make when they first use AI, what the future of companies could look like as they struggle with to keep up with the fast pace of change in this landscape, and top tips for anyone looking to better adopt AI into their systems. Mentioned in this episode: our cutting-edge AI tool designed to revolutionise content accessibility: https://www.lcp.com/en/our-technology/transpose
Over the past decade, the space industry has undergone a profound transformation. Is space finally becoming a mainstream investment opportunity or is it still a frontier market reserved for the bold? In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak with James Bruegger, Co-Founder and CIO of Seraphim Space, the world’s leading specialist SpaceTech investor. Together, we explore the forces reshaping the industry, the role of private companies, risk-return profile compared to traditional assets, tackle common misconceptions, examine the key challenges for investors, and look ahead to how the space economy could evolve over the next decade.
How are investment managers approaching responsible investment today? Over the past year, there has been plenty of noise from ESG backlash headlines to questions about whether managers are stepping back from their climate and stewardship commitments.In this episode of Quick Take, we speak with Sapna Patel, Principal at LCP and a member of the responsible investment team, about the findings from LCP’s latest Responsible Investment Survey of investment managers. We unpack what’s really happening beneath the headlines and explore whether anything has materially changed.
Venture capital (“VC”) has had mixed popularity over the years and continues to evolve at pace. We’ve seen a “tale of two cities” both in terms of the AI exposure of start-ups and the size of VC funds over recent years. But where might this go next? AI impacts not only the types of companies considered by VC investors (and their attractiveness) but is also seeping into the way that venture capital investing is managed – it’s no longer about “if” you’re using AI, your edge comes from “how” you use AI. To explore what this all means for investment dynamics in the VC space, we’re joined by Peter Harris of the University Growth Fund, who helps us understand current dynamics, why university students are more entrepreneurial these days, and what this means for VC markets.
We’ve seen a flurry of activity in US foreign policy since the start of the year, from military involvement in Venezuela to renewed tensions over Greenland, the return of tariffs as a negotiation tool and a sweeping pullback from global institutions. In this Quick Take episode, Jacob, Mary and I discuss the fast evolving landscape of US foreign policy under President Trump. We unpack how these moves are interacting with global markets and highlight what this means for the themes we believe investors should be watching as they navigate 2026. While we focus on the economic implications of these events, we acknowledge and remain mindful of the human impacts of these as well.
As we head into 2026, the macro backdrop is shifting again. Growth surprised on the upside last year, particularly in the US. But is that strength sustainable, or are we heading into a more uneven world with widening gaps between the US, Europe and emerging markets?
Healthcare is under growing pressure from ageing populations, chronic disease, workforce shortages, and administrative burdens. AI is often presented as a solution in the healthcare system, the reality is more nuanced. In this episode of the Quick Take, we speak with Ben Bray, Partner at LCP Health, to explore how AI is being used in healthcare today, what that means from an investment perspective, who is actually buying these tools, and what success might look like over the next decade. The episode also tackles the harder questions including what looks appealing in healthcare AI but may ultimately be a poor investment.
In this episode, we speak to Martin Lau and Ziqi Deng of FSSA investment managers to find out. We discuss the impact of AI advances on future earnings, whether monetary policy changes are a material development and China’s anti-involution policy.
Are we at a watershed moment in UK PLC’s attitude towards pensions? Will pension schemes start to be seen as an asset, instead of a liability to be managed?In this Quick Take episode, we’re joined by LCP Partners Steve Hodder and David Fairs to discuss a first-of-its-kind transaction, where Aberdeen Group has taken over as sponsoring employer of the £1.2bn Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme (a DB pension scheme). In particular, we discuss what happened, motives of the different stakeholders (Aberdeen, Stagecoach, and perhaps most importantly, members) and what this might mean more broadly for both regulation and UK PLC behaviour.
The illiquidity premium (the extra return investors seek for locking up capital in private markets) has long been a cornerstone of alternative investing. But with rising interest rates, massive inflows into private markets, and evolving macro conditions, how reliable is this premium today, and how should investors think about capturing it? In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak to Tony Davidow (Senior Alternative Investment Strategist at the Franklin Templeton Institute), a leading expert in private markets and alternative investments, to explore the nature of the illiquidity premium. We discuss how it has evolved over the past decade, the risks and rewards across private equity, credit, and real assets, and what investors should watch for over the next 5–10 years.
What happens when investors suddenly find themselves holding far more illiquid assets than they ever planned? Join us as we speak to James Fermont (Partner and senior member of LCP’s Illiquid Asset Solutions Group) to explore how to unlock value in secondary market transactions. From liquidity workarounds to broker-led sales, online platforms and direct deals, we examine the practical routes to exit illiquids, how to judge value in an opaque market, and why pricing isn’t always the only metric that matters. For anyone navigating today’s secondary market – whether selling under time pressure or looking to buy quality assets at a discount – this conversation offers a clear, grounded guide through a fast-evolving landscape.
Commodity markets (from oil and gas to metals and agriculture) have been on a rollercoaster in recent years, driven by shifting inflation dynamics, geopolitics, and changing investor sentiment. With so much flux, can commodities still serve as an effective diversifier in a global portfolio? In this episode of investment uncut, we speak to Chris Watling, CEO and Chief Market Strategist at Longview Economics, to unpack where we are in the commodity cycle, whether talk of a new “supercycle” is justified, and how investors should approach commodities today. We discuss misconceptions, the impact of global tensions on trade flows, and where the biggest opportunities and risks may lie over the next few years.
The UK Autumn Budget 2025 – one of the most highly anticipated Budgets in recent history. Speculation has been building (even the government getting involved) around tax changes, and of course the “will they won’t they” on breaking the manifesto.In this episode of The Quick Take, we unpick what could happen and what that might mean, ahead of the day itself. And who better to help, but former pensions minister and LCP Partner, Sir Steve Webb! Steve helps us understand the way government might be thinking about the tricky decisions ahead, what’s different this time, and what else we should look out for, aside from big tax headlines.
Climate change has been an increasingly hot topic (pun intended) in recent years, yet its direction isn’t always clear. Different world leaders take different stances and at times there is an unclear balance between the actions of governments, regulators and investor groups. Chris Dodwell, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Impax Asset Management, helps us understand what to expect from COP30, but more importantly how we can expect real world change to play out, and who plays the most critical role in this fight. He gives us reasons for optimism, highlights key innovations and explains why tackling climate change naturally aligns with broader business planning. COP30 is the 30th annual climate conference (“Conference of the Parties”), where world leaders get together to discuss ambitions, commitments and plans to tackle climate change in the future.
Six months on from “Liberation Day” and with tariffs still six times higher than at the start of the year, how has the global economy responded and what happens next? Initially billed as a way to rebuild supply chains, bring manufacturing back onshore, and reduce US dependence on imports, the reality has proven more complex. In this episode of The Quick Take, we speak to Anais Caldwell-Jones (Principal at LCP and member of our macroeconomic team) to explore how other major economies have responded to US tariffs, what is the impact on the macroeconomic picture, the market reaction so far, and what investors should be on the lookout in the near future.
Impact investing has rapidly moved up the policy agenda – with the Better Futures Fund, the Mansion House compact and renewed questions around fiduciary duty all signalling that finance can no longer ignore social outcomes. But what does it actually mean to invest for both financial return and societal benefit – and can those aims truly align rather than trade off?
For this episode of The Quick Take, we’re exploring one of the big questions investors are asking right now: What are the best alternative credit ideas when headline spreads are tight? Credit spreads are currently at historically low levels, making it harder for investors to be adequately compensated for risk. While many have turned to asset-backed securities for better yield (which we still like), there are other opportunities worth considering. In this episode, we speak with Nick Cooney, Partner at LCP and Head of Credit Research, about ways to earn yield within the credit space without taking on excessive risk.
Market valuations on major asset classes are at historically high levels. But does that mean we’ve reached the point where nothing is attractive? And if we’re at that point, how should we think about constructing an investment portfolio? Howard Marks is ideally placed to help our listeners grapple with these questions – he’s been investing since 1969 and at the helm of Oaktree Capital since it began in 1995.
Welcome to a brand new type of episode from us here at Investment Uncut. This is The Quick Take: our bitesize episodes where we discuss recent market events, topical issues and share our expert opinion on what long-term investors should be thinking about in response. For our inaugural episode, we’re diving into a pressing topic: the growing concentration in global equity markets – has this risk now become too big to ignore?
Would you put pharmaceuticals on your buy list today? The sector is under pressure: revenues from COVID products are collapsing, the US administration is pushing for lower drug prices, and major players are cutting jobs amid rising competition. Yet could this turbulence mark a compelling entry point for long-term investors? Kevin Patterson, US Access Solutions lead in LCP’s Health Analytics practice (based in our recently opened US office!), joins us to unpack what the current pain really means, who might win or lose, and where the most exciting opportunities lie.
In our last episode of Season 6, we speak to author and London Business School Professor Alex Edmans about his book “May contain lies”. We discuss Alex’s focus on bringing his research to practitioners so that it has real world impact, with writing books being one way to achieve this. May Contain Lies is about misinformation, which Alex first reached through his work on sustainable finance (the topic of his previous book Grow the Pie), but the issues are more widespread than this.
In this episode, we bring you the highlights from our Investment conference: Markets, MAGA and Megatrends. Covering topics such as:-Macro-economics, geopolitics and deglobalisation-Strategic asset allocation powered by demographics-How does USS, one of the UK’s largest pension funds integrates climate and demographics into its investment strategy-Investing in the energy transitionWe chat to guests and speakers to bring you the highlights of the conference, their key takeaways and new investment ideas.
In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak to Duncan Johnson (Chief Executive at Northern Gritstone) to delve into the UK’s high growth science and technology ecosystem. We explore why the UK is a global leader in this space, the types of companies attracting investment, and how to assess these opportunities that are on the cutting edge of science for which markets may not exist yet!
If you’re trying to outperform the market, how do you actually decide where to invest? And what about areas like AI where the future is highly uncertain? And there’s risks too – how do you ensure you’re paying a fair price given the risks you’re exposed to? To answer these questions, we step into the mind of an equity manager. We’re talking to Alison Savas, Investment Director at Antipodes, to understand the steps they go through when deciding whether to buy, hold or sell a stock like Alphabet. For our Views from the Boardroom section, Jacob Shah and Peter Abrahams give a preview on a long-running debate they’ve been having: should investors go underweight to the US? Tune in and decide where you stand.
S6 Ep.20: Andy Howard - what could an ESG rollback in the US mean for European investors? by Lane Clark & Peacock
What is achieved in the first 100 days of presidency are often seen as an indication of a President’s success or failure. Trump’s first 100 days (2.0) ended on 29 April, and he had certainly been busy. In this episode we review what’s happened so far, but mainly we focus on what might happen next. We were delighted to interview PIMCO’s Head of Public Policy, Libby Cantrill, for this episode. Libby helped us characterise Trump’s actions (maximalist and well organised), how far the dollar might weaken (incremental, but without a broad referendum on the dollar’s reserve currency status) and the impact of Trump’s policy changes on climate change. We also touched on the tax bill (when not if) and to what extent Trump cares about market reactions. Important! This interview took place on 1 May. Events between then and the episode release on 7 May do not feature. For our Views from the Boardroom section, Jacob interviews Richard Tomlinson, CIO of LPPI. Richard touches on decision making in volatile times, how to think about time horizons and his views on protection strategies. If you are interested in finding out more about the topics in this episode, sign up to our Investment Conference happening on the 25th of June 2025: https://www.lcp.com/en/events/investment-conference
In this episode, we speak with Jenny Harbord, Head of Real Assets at LCP to explore the UK affordable housing market and why institutional investors are increasingly drawn to this sector. For our Views from the Boardroom section, Jacob speaks to Sarah Smart (Chair at TPR) to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing the pension scheme industry.
The cryptocurrency market has seen significant highs and lows over the years. In this episode, we break down the fundamentals of cryptocurrency, the current state of the crypto industry, factors driving its growth and volatility, and the increasing institutional adoption.
Recorded for the PLSA investment conference 2025. Today we cover day 3 of the conference, with interviews from: Professor Mike Berners-Lee - Climate Researcher and Author - The Future's Bright: What the Green Transition Means for Investors Karen Ward - Chief Market Strategist EMEA at JP Morgan Asset Management - The Global Economy: Stabilising Investments in Times of Instability Pav Sharma - UK ETF Distribution at JP Morgan Asset Management - Active ETFs: What’s All the Noise About? Zuhair Mohammed – Head of Investment at LCP – Reflections on the conference and key takeaways
Recorded for the PLSA investment conference 2025. Today we continue to cover day 2 of the conference, with interviews from: John Clements and Leandros Kalisperas – Partner at LCP and CIO and the British Business Bank respectively - How Asset Owners Can Engage Effectively with Fossil Fuel Companies Stephen Budge – Partner at LCP - Solved: The Challenges of Investing in Venture Capital Barnaby Low - Strategic Client Portfolio Manager at Charles Stanley - Going for Growth: Priorities for Trustees and Boards
Recorded for the PLSA investment conference 2025. Today we cover day 2 of the conference, with interviews from: Shalin Bhagwan - Chief Actuary at the Pension Protection Fund - Could DB Schemes Invest More in Productive Assets? James Coke - Head of Institutional UK Real Estate at Columbia Threadneedle - Unloved, Undervalued and Misunderstood: The Productive Finance Asset No-one is Talking About Paul Morton – CEO at G2M Group - Why the UK's Existing Housing Infrastructure is a Trillion-pound Opportunity Gregg McClymont – Executive Director at IFM Investors - Open For Business: Private Markets and UK Growth
We are building on the success of last year and are taking Investment Uncut on the road again, recording for the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025 this week! If you’re attending the conference, we look forward to seeing you there. Today we cover day 1 of the conference, with interviews from: Laura Myers, Ed Bussey, David Rosenberg, Tim Dougall and Matthew Webb, and Ped Phrompechrut.
Australia’s superannuation system is often hailed as a global success story, but what can UK pension schemes learn from it? With growing regulatory pressures, consolidation trends, and a shifting investment landscape, are there lessons from down under that could help shape the future of UK pensions? In this episode, we speak with Michael Ambery of Standard Life to explore how Australia’s superfunds are structured, how they operate and what this means for how they invest.
What if the green transition – meant to save the planet – ends up making inequality worse? We often think of climate action as a universal good, but the reality is more complex. The shift to a low-carbon economy is set to create winners and losers, not just between industries, but within societies. So, who bears the cost? And how can institutional investors, ensure that tackling climate change doesn’t come at the expense of social cohesion? In this episode, we speak with Paul Rissman of Rights CoLab on his recent paper exploring how climate finance decisions can widen economic divides – and what can be done to mitigate this risk.
In this episode, we speak to Paul Collier (Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford) on the subject of his latest book “Left Behind”. We explore the economic divides reshaping societies, why certain places have been left behind and what policymakers, regulators and investors do to help these communities catch up.
As we head into 2025, the economic landscape is shifting. In this episode, we break down the key macroeconomic themes shaping the year ahead. What does the growth trajectory look like amidst evolving global challenges? Will interest rates finally stabilise, or is more turbulence ahead? Inflation remains a pressing concern—are central banks winning the fight, or are we facing a new normal?
Are you happy? Do you think you’re happier than you were 20 years ago? Or, put a different way, why aren’t you happier despite living in one of the wealthiest periods in history? Three simple questions, but all of them have complicated answers. So how do we start to unpick this? In this episode, we dive into the world of happiness economics with Professor Lord Richard Layard. We explore the factors that drive happiness, why GDP isn’t the ultimate goal, and how policies could shift to prioritise well-being over consumption. For our Views from the Boardroom section, Jacob interviews fellow co-host Laasya who is unfortunately leaving LCP. They discuss Laasya’s career so far, highlights from her time at LCP and her favourite episode of Investment Uncut that she’s hosted.
This week we are joined by two guests from the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership: Tim Manuel, Head of Responsible Investment and Teju Akande, Climate Change Manager. Before speaking to Tim and Teju, we also speak to LCP Partner Clay Lambiotte. We hear about how sovereign wealth funds are thinking about their investments, the recent conference Clay attended in Oman (where Elon Musk was the keynote speaker) and whether we’ll be having events on the Moon in the future!
Elections can represent big shifts in political power that alter a nation's direction and economic policies, which influences investor sentiment and market returns. And we’ve arguably gone through the biggest election so far this year! So, what is the impact on investors of the US election result? In this episode, we’re joined by Paul Gibney (Head of Macroeconomic research at LCP) to discuss the possible policy changes in the US administration, market reaction and potential longer-term impact on global economies.
In this episode, we question the limits of modern portfolio theory with Jon Lukomnik, co-author of Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory and credited by Forbes as a pioneer of modern corporate governance. We challenge a cornerstone of finance and whether it is fit for purpose in today’s complex and interconnected world.
In this week’s episode, we chat to Sam Hollister, Head of Energy and Policy at LCP Delta, on investing in the energy transition. Before we interview Sam, Jacob talks to Sarah Leslie, Professional Trustee at NDapt for our ‘Views from the Boardroom’ segment.
Steve Hodder, Partner at LCP, joins the hosts this week to chat reimagining your portfolio. Before we interview Steve, Laasya talks to Surendra Ravikumar, Analyst at LCP, on his new blog looking at deflation as a systemic risk and what the impact could be on defined benefit pension schemes.
In this episode, we bring you the highlights from our Investment Conference: Turning Turbulence into Tailwinds. Covering topics such as geopolitical instability, transition resources, the US election, purposeful investing, private markets and even astropolitics! We chat to guests and speakers to bring you the highlights of the conference, their key takeaways and new investment ideas.
In this preview, Jacob and Laasya set out what listeners can look forward to in the coming season: from markets, to elections, to Gen Z trends and even how to invest in a way that makes you happy… it’s going to be a great season full of exciting topics!
In our final episode of the series, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran speak to Charlotte O’Leary, CEO of Pensions for Purpose. She gives us a great insight into the assumptions we currently make in the world of investing that we need to challenge. Before this discussion, we reflect on our highlights over the series so far – discussing some of our favourite topics that were covered. We also have a call for action for listeners to let us know if there are any key topics they want covered in our next series!
In this week’s episode Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran are joined by two guests: Emma Hunt, head of Responsible Investment at HSBC Bank Pensions Trust and Stephen Barrie, Deputy Chief Responsible Investment Officer at the Church of England Pensions Board. Both guests give us a great insight into how long-term asset owners are thinking about systemic risks and universal ownership.
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah chats to Joel Hartley, Partner at LCP, on tail risk strategies. Before we interview Joel, Jacob also talks to Steve Webb, Partner at LCP, to get his insights on how the new Labour government might want to influence how pension schemes invest in the UK.
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran chat to Catherine Thomas-Humphreys, financial coach at Maji. With Catherine we learn what financial coaching is, the benefits of financial coaching and some tips that listeners can use on their own financial journeys.
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran chat to Torsten Sløk, Partner and Chief Economist at Apollo. With Torsten, we discuss whether markets are currently in a bubble, how this is related to AI and inflation, and the current challenges being faced by central banks.
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran chat to Torsten Sløk, Partner and Chief Economist at Apollo. With Torsten, we discuss whether markets are currently in a bubble, how this is related to AI and inflation, and the current challenges being faced by central banks.
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran chat to Jackie Jones, co-founder and direction of Black Women in Asset Management. With Jackie, we talk about the landscape for Black women in asset management and the work that she and others are doing to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry. Before we interview Jackie, Laasya interviews Sapna Patel, Principal at LCP. Together they discuss the latest edition of LCP's investment magazine Vista and Sapna's article on social systemic risks. We find out what social systemic risks are, why they matter to investors and dive into the under-appreciated topic of Anti-Microbial Resistance a bit more. Follow the link to read Sapna's article: https://lcpuk.foleon.com/vista/lcp-vista-spring-2024/you-said-antimicrobial-resistance-our-survey-said
In this week’s episode, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran chat to Andy Blocker, Global Head of Public Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Invesco. With Andy, we get the update from Washington on the key political and policy issues ahead of the US elections in November 2024.Before this Jacob talks to James Candia, Consultant at LCP, on the space economy. We find out what it is, what’s new about investing in the space economy and how you can actually invest in it.
In this week’s episode, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah discuss ethnographic research and identifying growth opportunities in emerging markets with Tassos Stassopoulos, Founder, Managing Partner and CIO at Trinetra.
In this episode, Mary Spencer, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran get together to discuss Caroline Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women. They also chat about the importance of investors taking a long-term view with David Archer, Client Director at ZEDRA Governance.
In this week’s episode, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah discuss election forecasts and keeping your finger on the pulse of society with Kelly Beaver, CEO at IPSOS.Before we interview Kelly, we also welcome back fellow co-host Laasya Shekaran from her three-month sabbatical. Laasya gives us her highlights from her trip, the biggest surprises and what she is most looking forward to now she’s home.
In this week’s episode, Mary Spencer and Lia Licietis chat to Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Global Equity Strategist & Head of Macro Research Europe at Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research Group. We discuss his two books on equity market cycles and how they relate to the market dynamics we’re seeing today. In light of International Women’s Day 2024, Jacob Shah also interviews Mary. who explains what this year’s theme #inspiredinclusion means to her.
In the fourth and final episode of this special mini-series from the PLSA Investment Conference 2024, we bring you interviews with Sandra Carlisle, Head of Responsible Investment at USS and Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Advocacy at PLSA. Our regular Investment Uncut co-host Mary Spencer also returns to share her thoughts on the conference.
This week, Investment Uncut is live at the PLSA investment conference 2024. In this special mini-series, we bring you the PLSA investment conference from our podcast booth in the conference hall.
This week, Investment Uncut is at the PLSA Investment Conference 2024 in Edinburgh. In this episode of this special mini-series, we speak to Paul Johnson at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Natalie Mee from CMS on Day 1 of the conference.
This week, Investment Uncut is live at the PLSA investment conference 2024. In this special mini-series, we bring you the PLSA investment conference from our podcast booth in the conference hall.
In this week’s episode, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore drug pricing and the dynamics within the pharmaceutical industry with Sreeram Ramagopalan, Principal and Market Access & Payer Evidence Lead within LCP’s Health Analytics team.
In episode nine, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore insurance-linked securities with David Garcia, investment consultant within LCP’s manager research team. Before we interview David, we also speak to Alex Waite, Partner at LCP, for our “Views from the Boardroom” feature. With Alex, we discuss artificial intelligence, the discussions he’s been having with a wide range of groups on AI, what he thinks puts people off using AI and where to start.
In our eighth episode of season five, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore Systemic risk in the financial sector with David Aikman, Professor of Finance and Director of the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance, at Kings College London. Prior to his current role, David spent 17 years working as an economist at the Bank of England – most recently in the role of Technical Head of Division in the Financial Stability Strategy and Risk Directorate where he led the Bank’s work on various macroprudential issues.
In this episode, Mary Spencer, Jacob Shah and Laasya Shekaran all get together to discuss Kate Raworth’s brilliant book: Doughnut Economics. This is the first episode all three have recorded, and a special one as it’s the last from Laasya before she spends three months travelling (we miss you already Laasya!).We are also joined by Tegs Harding, Head of Sustainability at IGG, for our “Views from the Boardroom feature”. We hear from Tegs about how she is shifting the discussions around sustainability from reporting to real world action on the boards she sits on, how we can power possibility in DB pensions to encourage more impactful investments and thoughts on the outcomes of COP 28.
Our last episode before Christmas is a real treat – we’ve been longing to do a debate-style episode for some time! In this episode Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore the case for investing in India versus China with Amit Mehta (Portfolio Manager at JP Morgan) and Claire Peck (Investment Specialist at JP Morgan) each representing one country. Before we interview Amit and Claire, Laasya Shekaran also speaks to Kelly Tran, Head of UK Institutional Sales at MFS, for our “Views from the Boardroom” feature. With Kelly, we talk about the discussions she’s having with her clients and current areas of focus for the PLSA Policy Board (of which she’s a member).
This episode of Investment Uncut comes out the day before COP 28 (the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference) takes place in Dubai. With a “stock take” focus, this event could set the tone for the level of climate action we can expect from industries and governments alike over the coming years.In this episode, Mary Spencer and Laasya Shekaran are joined by two guests: Steve Waygood, the Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Aviva Investors (who first attended COP back in 2000, for COP 6!) and LCP Partner Mark Watts, who leads some of our innovative work combining expertise from our energy business LCP Delta with our Investment team to help investors find the right investment opportunities to support the energy transition, whilst delivering attractive returns.
In our fourth episode of season five, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore the residential property market with Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills.Before we interview Lucian, we also speak to Joel Hartley, Partner at LCP, for our “Views from the Boardroom” feature. One year on from the gilts crisis, we reflect on the lessons learnt by defined benefit pension schemes, the changes Joel’s clients are making to their investment strategies, and thinking carefully about illiquid assets for both well-funded and less well funded pension schemes.
In our third episode of season five, Mary Spencer and Jacob Shah explore the policy side of the energy transition with Josh Buckland, Partner at Flint Global who leads Flint’s client work on energy, climate and sustainability issues. Before we interview Josh, we also speak to LCP CEO Aaron Punwani as part of our new “Views from the Boardroom” feature. Aaron talks about his call for action on climate change, supported by re-interpretation of pension scheme trustees’ fiduciary duty.
In this episode of Investment Uncut, Mary Spencer and Laasya Shekaran speak to Amlan Roy: demographics expert, LCP colleague and one of the speakers at our inaugural LCP investment conference. We dive into his research on demographics covering why this is such an important, but underappreciated, topic for all investors to think about.
We’re back with a brand new season of Investment Uncut! We hope everyone had a well-earned break over the summer. Kicking off Season 5, we have a real treat for our listeners: this episode was recorded live at our inaugural Investment Conference! Hear from guests and speakers, feel the buzz and note down those key takeaways… We also introduce our new co-host, Jacob Shah, who will join Mary Spencer and Laasya Shekaran this season.
In our very final episode of Season 4, we leave you with a very special book review: The Opportunity Index by Gavin Lewis, and we chat to Gavin himself.
This week’s episode is a double whammy, combining two recent interviews! First, our interview with colleague Stephen Budge, who we spoke to at the PLSA investment conference in June. He’d just come off a panel session on investing in illiquids in DC. And prompted by that discussion, very excitingly, we were able to line up a chat with the Lord Mayor of London, Nicholas Lyons. It was a real treat to speak to the Lord Mayor the same week as the Mansion House speech, which was so relevant to the conversation we’d already planned to have around productive finance and UK growth!
This week we're joined for a special episode of Investment Uncut, by Sir Steve Webb and Steve Hodder, to discuss the DB pensions aspects of the Mansion House speech on Monday 10 July. Steve & Steve take us through what was announced, why it matters and provide detail on our idea for the future of DB pensions.
This week we reflect on a discussion we had with Adam Matthews, CRIO at the Church of England Pensions Board, at the recent PLSA conference in Edinburgh. We talk about all things responsible investment, from taxonomy to making a difference and what everyone can do.
We talk to David Spiegelhalter, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Cambridge University and prior Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk. Also known for appearances on Total Wipeout and Desert Island Discs!
This week we’re joined by Helen Price, Director of Governance for the Church of England Pensions Board and Co-Chair of the Asset Owner Diversity Charter. We deep dive into stewardship, what it currently looks like, how it has evolved and how investors can maximise their impact. Helen shares her top tips for asset owners, consultants, and asset managers, stressing the importance of collaboration across all groups to make progress.
Final day at the PLSA investment conference 2023, we discuss responsible investment with Adam Matthews of the Church of England Pensions, emerging markets with Will Ballard of Border to Coast, we ask LCP's Jon Wolff if the UK is going into recession and what that means for business. We speak to Professional Trustee Graeme Jung about what his big asks for managers and consultants are, and we catch up with industry veteran Henry Tapper. Plus, we sort through all the conference ideas for the big takeaways (and we’re not just talking about merch).
Recorded live at the PLSA conference in Edinburgh! We’re covering day two of the PLSA conference, including interviews with keynote Sir David Spiegelhalter, Liz Fernando CIO of Nest, Cliff Speed CIO of TPT, Payam Kazemian of Zedra, plus more industry guests. We discussed communication of risks, how to model risk when things change, portfolio construction in this environment, what’s on trustees' minds, plus much more.
Recorded live at the PLSA conference in Edinburgh! Today we’re speaking to Stergios Saloustros of Barclay’s Retirement fund, Richard Tomlinson of LPP and John Chilman of Railpen. We’re reviewing day one of the conference, including the macroeconomic session with Danny Blanchflower and the CIO panel.
Keep a look out for further episodes coming out during the event where we’ll be chatting to CIOs, speakers and key industry figures, taking the temperature of what’s on their mind, what they are looking ahead to and asking them what big ideas they will be taking away from the conference.
We’re taking investment uncut on the road and up to the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association conference (PLSA) in Edinburgh! Here we look ahead to the conference with the help of Laura Myers of LCP and Marcin Stepan of PLSA who has been responsible for organising most of the event. We look at the agenda, how the different streams come together and the probable themes coming out of the event.
Some call it styles, some call it factors some call it style factors. But regardless, it’s value and momentum size, and it’s definitely had its ups and downs in the last decade. This week we’re joined by Dan Taylor, CIO of MAN Numeric. Dan reviews the last decade and offers candid thoughts on lessons learnt, how things have evolved and how investors should be thinking about these strategies today. He also offers a bonus reflection on the impact of the growth of passive strategies. If you’re an asset owner grappling with allocating to equity strategies, we’re sure you’ll get a lot out of this episode.
This week we’re joined by John Gilleland of Campbell Global (part of JPMorgan) to discuss one of the fastest-growing areas in investment (no pun intended) – forestry! – and how it fits within the broader category of Natural Capital.
Are your investments exposed to modern slavery? The answer might not be what you think. This week we’re talking to Saskia Kort-Chick who has spent a lot of time investigating modern slavery and human rights abuses in portfolios – a key issue given the continued prevalence of modern slavery in today’s economy and supply chains, which is not just restricted to emerging markets. We discuss the vast nature of modern supply chains and how this complicates the picture, but how consumers and now consumer-facing brands are starting to take note of changing behaviours. We cover how you can link to financial risks as part of a solid framework for investor action and how to identify higher-risk sectors. We examine how modern slavery fits into the wider social pillar of sustainable investing and provide practical actions for asset owners, including what to ask managers and consultants.
This week we have a thought-provoking conversation that might challenge you to think differently about the financial system. We’re speaking to Delilah Rothenberg who spent a career in private markets investing before founding the predistribution initiative to examine and change the inbuilt incentives in the financial system to work toward a more equitable society.
A short special episode this week as Mary returns from a 3 month sabbatical and we take a few moments out to talk about her trip to Central and South America and some reflections. We discuss: highlights including favourite moments, best activity, best food and of course the most dicey transportation situations. We discuss Mary’s journal, some deeper reflections on work and life, plus her reading list.
This week we've got an action-packed conversation that might just spark a little inspiration when it comes to leadership and decision-making. We're chatting with Langley Sharp, a former British Army officer and now leadership consultant who's here to share some incredible insights into the world of decision-making and leading.We're talking about everything from the power of leadership as a "force multiplier" for high performance, to the core values and purpose that underpin effective leadership. Langley has spent years studying leadership and decision-making in the military, and trust us, you're going to want to hear what he has to say.We'll be diving deep into the social connections that are so important for building strong teams and exploring the delicate balance between focusing on tasks, individuals, and the team as a whole. Plus, we'll be taking a look at some of the decision-making frameworks used by the army that are transferable to corporate settings.This is one conversation you won't want to miss. Langley's insights are relevant, relatable, and downright inspiring. Grab a coffee and tune in!
Buckle up, folks - this week we're diving headfirst into the world of fixed income and corporate bonds with Jeff Boswell, a portfolio manager at Ninety One.Corporate bonds have been on a rollercoaster ride lately, going from zero yields to plummeting values even for low-risk assets, and now returning to yield levels not seen since the days of yore. We'll be discussing all the juicy details, like whether yield or spread is the more important factor for investors to consider, and how to navigate the different parts of the market. We'll also be taking a look at how macro factors like the Covid-19 crash and recovery have influenced corporate bonds, and whether we're in a new cycle or just continuing an old one. We'll even be talking about rising stars and fallen angels - and no, we're not referring to a new reality TV show. Trust us, this conversation with Jeff is one you won't want to miss, especially if you're an allocator looking to maximize your returns. So grab a drink, get comfy, and let's get ready to talk bonds. Bond voyage!
This week we’re speaking to an expert on investing in China: Jason Hsu, CIO and founder of Rayliant Advisors. If and how to invest in China are key questions for long-term growth-oriented asset owners with different issues to unpack around political risk, geopolitics, ESG and even the mechanics of listing an entity.Jason walks through these questions and others including: should western investors understand President Xi better, how investors should think about political risks and whether economic growth is rewarded in share prices (“no” is often the answer)?We weigh up to what extent hidden biases toward unfamiliar cultures interfere with investors thinking about China. Anyone who likes to think deeply about China and Emerging markets investing will get a lot out of this episode.
This week we’re talking about one of the key issues of the moment, health in the UK. We’re speaking to well-known actuary and LCP colleague Stuart McDonald MBE, Head of LCP’s longevity and demographic insights team, who specialises in understanding and explaining health and death data. Stuart gained a high profile during Covid-19 when data interpretation of the government statistics became an essential skill and has continued this work in recent analysis of the impact of NHS waiting times on deaths, and the drivers and implications of the higher-than-usual excess deaths we’ve seen over the last year. Stuart has been behind front-page headlines in recent times including the 300-500 deaths per week caused by longer waiting times in A&E.
This week we’re discussing a particularly booming area of the markets in 2023: the market for buy-outs of DB pension funds by insurers. We’re speaking to LCP’s Catherine Hopper who thinks that 2023 will see record volumes in the “bulk annuity” market. We discuss the key changes in the funded status of UK DB schemes over the last year and what this has meant for their buy-out deficit, we cover the supply/demand dynamic in the market and what this means for trustees looking to do a transaction for their scheme. We also discuss the implications of potential future changes, such as solvency 2 regulation and the potential entry of new participants into the market. We think anyone involved in DB pensions will find this a worthwhile listen on one of the big themes of the moment.
Today we’re speaking to author Annie Duke. Annie’s work bridges the behavioural finance theory and practice. Her latest book Quit asks whether quitting gets a bad rap and whether we should all embrace the power of walking away from things that aren’t working so we can reallocate resources to better ideas.
Today we’re speaking to author and principal at AQR, Antti Ilmanen. Antti has made a career out of bridging the gap between finance theory and practice, and this year updated his 2011 book “Expected Returns” for a new environment. A lot has happened while Antti has been updating and releasing the new book so we dive first into how Antti thinks about setting expected returns on various assets including the use of historical data, the emphasis to place on current valuation levels and how to use forward-looking yields.
This week we’re speaking to author and CIO of Fundhouse Joe Wiggins. Joe’s latest book focuses on fund investing and the ways this is different to generic ideas around investing. There is a huge amount of wisdom in Joe’s ideas here and quite a lot that goes against the grain of the fund and consulting industries. We talk about what “risk” really is, complexity, and the lure of certainty. Joe catalogues many of the underappreciated behavioural challenges facing fund investors. We think anyone involved in fund investing will get something useful out of this conversation.
This week we’ve got a bonus special episode on …. Football! Alongside pensions, investment and other areas LCP has a team that specialises in football analytics (yes really!). In this episode Ashley Mould and Bart Huby explain how their systems use data from thousands of events across dozens of leagues to form a model of each player’s impact on a game and how this can be used by scouts and managers. We discuss what the data had to say about world cup teams and the decisions facing England manager Gareth Southgate. We reflect on analytics in sport generally and what this might mean in the future.
Today we’re talking decision-making with Chris Martin who is an independent trustee and Executive Chair at ITS with over 30 years of experience working with pensions boards and committees to make better decisions for members’ best interests.Chris shares some of the key ingredients to good decision-making in this setting drawing on his experience of advising schemes, particularly those in stressed situations. We cover the need to think live in the room, be mission-driven and prioritise functional working groups focused on outcomes rather than grand set-piece meetings. Chris also covers his key asks of consultants and asset managers.
This week we’re joined for the second time by Karen Ward, Chief Market strategist EMEA for JP Morgan Asset Management. Karen was also recently appointed to the chancellor’s council of economic advisers. A year after we last spoke to Karen we’re taking stock of the global rate-rising cycle, how far through we are, where interest rates might peak, how central banks will likely respond to data from here and whether a recession is on the cards.We look out into the future discussing whether markets have forecasted inflation and interest rates well or badly, and in particular what this means for bond investors going forward. Finally, we look at what the crucial data points are over the coming months and what Karen’s biggest worry is for the next year. If you’ve got any interest at all in making sense of the economic environment here and what it means for investors this is a must-listen!
This week we’re revisiting one of the key market issues of the moment: DB pensions and LDI. First, we’re joined by LCP Partner Steve Hodder where we discuss some of the actions being taken by pension funds, frameworks for helping clients approach the decisions, a reminder of the core reasons behind LDI and its continued popularity, how the market for LDI is changing going forward and the role of leverage in investing. We are then joined by independent trustee Keith Scott for his perspective as a fund manager-turned-trustee reflecting on recent events, the role of LDI in the future, the challenges being navigated by managers and what he would like to see from managers going forward. If you’re interested in how one of the biggest market stories of recent years is evolving, this is a must-listen.
This week we’re joined by James Baldwin, Real Assets Researcher at LCP.
We’re talking about the future of infrastructure investing. James shares his insights from recent research on a raft of new infrastructure assets and funds becoming known as “infrastructure 2.0”, including battery storage, EV charging, data centres, sustainable transport and, of course, renewable energy. We cover some of the characteristics of these investments compared to traditional infrastructure as well as the investment case.
We cover the investment case for investing in, and decarbonising, more traditional infra assets. We also touch on a number of fund-level features of infrastructure investing such as open vs closed-ended, specialist vs multi-strategy etc.
Anyone interested in infrastructure investing will get a lot out of this episode.
This week we’re joined by Andy Bradley, Partner in our energy team, LCP Delta. Andy’s work covers what’s known as the “demand side” of the energy system spanning things like energy efficiency, storage and smart meters. We discuss some of the features of the UK energy market that have contributed to the current moment and how these might change.
We explore how the low-carbon energy transition relates to the current crisis and how the solutions being deployed for the transition also help address today’s issues.
We also cover trends in the energy industry including efficiency, electrification, flexibility and storage, and how the demand side is set to take centre stage in the energy transition.
Finally, we discuss how fundamentally different a decentralized energy grid based around renewables is compared to the current system and the implications. Anyone interested in understanding today’s energy market, and some of the challenges, as well as opportunities, will get a lot out of listening.
In this first episode of our fourth series, we are talking about inflation. Dan and Mary speak with a range of experts to get a rounded picture of the current moment.
We discuss insights on the financial well-being implications of higher inflation at a national level and the role of governments, employers and individuals in supporting households. From the political angle, we discuss the current announced and planned support measures with Steve Webb. From the actuarial angle, we run through some of the myriad ways higher inflation may be impacting actuarial work and the running of pension schemes. And finally, we cover the investment angle. What have markets been doing and why, and how we have been advising clients to react.
We aim to help listeners think through inflation in a more rounded way and uncover some underappreciated angles.
In this episode, Dan and Mary wrap up season 3 for the summer break with a quickfire roundup of some of the key moments and themes of the last 40+ episodes! We start with the post Covid-19 “back to school” buzz of September 2021, recap the early days of three of the key themes of the moment: energy, inflation, and interest rates in late 2021, touch on 2022 forecasts, four mega-themes that emerged during season 3: impact, inclusion, communication and storytelling, run through our own top 3 episodes and favourite answers to the question: what’s the most underappreciated thing about investing?
This week we’re speaking to John L Bowman. John is Executive Vice President at CAIA, The Chartered Alternative Investment Association. We’re discussing the five key components of what John has called “The Portfolio for the Future”. We also discuss universal owners, private markets as a beta allocation, crossover funds, permanent capital and lots more. We think listeners will get a lot out of this wide-ranging conversation on alternatives and private markets!
This week we’re speaking to Michael Mauboussin. Michael is head of consilient research at Counterpoint Global, as well as a prolific author and professor at Columbia Business School. We discuss the basics of security valuation, why using simple multiples is not valuation, how intangibles have reshaped valuation, market efficiency, good losses vs bad losses, and a framework for understanding sources of inefficiency. This episode is packed with insight and investing goodies which I am sure all listeners will value!
This week we’re addressing the big question of the moment: rising interest rates. Joining us is colleague Steve Hodder to discuss how pension schemes and other investors are reacting. We cover: what the interest rate moves to date have meant for portfolios, hedges, and progress vs objectives. We discuss the size of the moves compared to risk model outputs. We look forward and run through a quick drains-up review for a typical DB fund highlighting key choices they have going forward. We also talk about the impact of higher rates on other types of investors.
This week we’re discussing a brand new data set on diversity and inclusion within asset management with LCP’s Laasya Shekaran. We discuss – the background to this dataset and what the Diversity Charter entails. We discuss the coverage of the data and the challenges in collecting it. We run through highlights from the data and accompanying LCP report, pulling out key messages. We discuss various government review recommendations that serve as benchmarks to judge some of the data against. Finally, we focus on the future and where Laasya expects this to go over the next five years.
This week we’re joined by Dr Rebecca Newton, Organisational psychologist, visiting Fellow at the LSE, and CEO of CoachAdviser, for a wide-ranging conversation about modern work life. We cover how the landscape of business culture and leadership has changed radically over 20 years, and what’s going wrong today for many business execs and leaders? What is joy and why does it matter in the workplace? What is Gravitas and why do so many of Rebecca’s clients want it, and why does it matter that it’s authentic?
This week we’re joined by Professor of Finance at London Business School, Alex Edmans. Alex also authored the book Grow the Pie and has presented numerous popular Ted Talks on corporate finance, responsible business, and responsible investing. Being a Professor means lecturing and doing research, but Alex recognises the practical relevance of the research he does and uses this to influence the practices of businesses and policymakers.
This week we’re joined by LCP colleague David Wrigley to break down LCP’s strategic portfolio. This covers: our best ideas in investment, how we bring strategies together, how we view asset classes and investment in a time of higher inflation. David covers recent changes to the portfolio, the role of short dated credit, asset backed securities and real assets as well as much more. Listeners will surely take a lot away from this quick tour of a host of LCP strategic investment thinking and ideas with a DB pensions perspective.
This week we’re joined by MD of 2020 trustees Naomi L’Estrange. We discuss her top tips and frameworks for better decision making (including the GROW model), what she’s seen work in investing and why the biggest risk might be risk aversion and not making decisions. We also cover how to review underperforming managers in today’s environment and reflect on the role of diversity in decision making and investment generally.
This week we speak to award-winning freelance finance journalist and communications consultant Charlotte Moore! We discuss how the media covers finance and investing, things asset managers tend to get wrong and right with their communications, and how the changing media landscape impacts the industry. We finish with an array of top communications tips from a media expert that listeners won’t want to miss.
This week we’re joined by Deb Clarke. These days, Deb is a NED following a long career in the City spanning asset management and fund research. We discuss – what Deb thinks the consulting and fund management industry have got right and wrong over the years. We dive into some of her principles for fund research, as well as some of her worst research meetings. We talk about some of the most important and underrated questions to ask fund managers and things managers do wrong. We cover principles for investing in general and thoughts on fund research in today’s world. Whether you’re a consultant, asset manager, or fund investor, we think you’ll take a lot of useful insight from this great conversation.
This week we’re joined again by LCP’s head of Real Assets research Andy Jacobson. During a difficult year for investors, Real assets are in the spotlight for all sorts of reasons: potential portfolio diversifiers, protection from higher inflation, and also risks from decarbonisation and changes to energy strategy. At the same time, we’re seeing a rotation into newer styles of real asset investing including global property, digital infrastructure and renewables. We cover a huge range of terrain in the conversation which is a must-listen for any investors interested in real assets.
Have you heard the term microaggression? Today we’re speaking to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion consultant Mamawa Turay who is taking us through the topic of microaggressions in the workplace. We cover what they are, the significant (and often underappreciated) negative impact they can have, how to spot them, what to do, and why giving them a label has helped. Mawa draws on her own experiences to help listeners understand the potential impact these can have. We hope this episode offers some challenge and food for thought to all listeners to re-evaluate some common workplace situations from a different perspective.
This week we speak to Matt Gibson, head of Manager Research at LCP. Matt’s been asking some interesting questions about passive investing of late, which we debate, including: does the success of passive (ironically) rest on a belief in active management? And, should the onus be on passive managers as opposed to active managers to justify their approach?
This week we speak to Ludovic Phalippou professor of Financial Economics at the Saïd Business School. Ludovic found himself at the centre of a storm 2 years ago following the publishing of his paper: Inside the billionaire factory which took a critical look at private equity and many of the questionable practices which take place in the marketing and allocating to these funds. We recap the paper and cover some of the core ideas including the concept of IRR and why this is such a flawed and potentially misleading way to measure returns.
This week we speak to independent trustee director Graham Jung from Ross Trustees. We cover Graham’s advice to consultants and asset managers working with trustees, including key things they miss, and the questions trustees should be asking right now. We discuss why Graham believes trustees are not the impediment to better decision making they are sometimes seen as, and reflections on what’s changed over Graham’s career in investment.
In this episode, Dan and Mary reflect on many of the learnings that have come from the podcast so far, including some frequently asked questions including building and targeting an audience, the practicalities, and some of the trade-offs involved like time, depth, breadth.
They go behind the scenes on the process involved in putting out the podcast each week and talk about some potential directions in the future of audio content. If you’re a fan of podcasting, you will find this interesting – we get a lot of these sorts of questions when we speak to longtime listeners, so it was great to be able to answer them.
This week we speak to Allison Schrager, author, Bloomberg columnist, and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Allison specialises in the intersection of economic policy and finance, leading to some fascinating recent insights into behavior and risk. We discuss some of Allison’s recent work such as: why Americans should be more like Europeans, do people actually make reasonably good risk decisions if given the right information, why the biggest risk in investing is risk-free assets and should people even be allowed to do stock picking.
This week we speak to Gurpal Ruprai, Consultant in our Energy Consulting Team, about all things batteries – the thesis, the impact of 2021 and current events, and what the future could hold for battery storage investment.
This week we’re joined by Jessica Clark, a Consultant in LCP's Insurance Consulting Team, and fellow podcast show host on LCP's Insurance Uncut. On the week of International Women's Day, Jessica joins us to discuss what IWD means to her, her experiences of being a woman in the industry and the importance of allyship.
This week we’re joined by investment author and Director of Liquid Markets at St James Place, Joe Wiggins. Joe is a former fund manager who has written extensively on many of the prevalent and underappreciated behavioural risks in investing. We discuss some of Joe’s recent work including why investors should ignore macro forecast, why setting beliefs out is one of the more useful things an investor can do, and how improvements in cost, transparency and choice can seem good but come with underappreciated behavioural costs.
This week it’s book club time as we speak to FT journalist and author of the book “Trillions”, Robin Wigglesworth. Trillions tells the story of how a band of renegades invented the index fund and changed Wall Street forever.
We discuss Robin’s research process of writing the book, consisting of many interviews including with Jack Bogle and weaving together a raft of different stories from the 1970s to the present day. We cover the role of different personalities in bringing innovations to life and the need for outsiders/renegades.
This week we speak to governance expert Rachika Cooray. We delve into the forthcoming single code of practice applying to UK pension schemes, covering the what, why, and when. We discuss what’s new, what’s underappreciated, and what’s surprising about it. And governance, in general, reflecting on Rachika’s experience working with many trustee and committee groups on what gets done well, and the common pitfalls.
This week we’re talking about something that often goes underappreciated – voting. Voting by asset managers, on behalf of their asset owner clients at company Annual General Meetings (AGM’s). We’re talking to the author of an influential research piece benchmarking the voting activity of a huge chunk of the asset management industry, Shareaction’s Sonia Hierzig.
This week we’re talking consumer financial engagement with Tom McPhail, Director of Public Affairs at research consultancy the Lang Cat. In a previous role, Tom spent a decade as Head of policy at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. In this episode, we cover the transition to individual responsibility for pensions and savings in the UK, the role of regulation and policy interventions, and the different organisations trying to support individuals with investment and money advice. Tom shares his views on the FCA and financial product regulation in the UK over recent decades.
This week we’re talking about one of the most important and effective communication mediums known to man – stories! Our guest Stacy Havener has worked with boutique fund managers helping them tell their stories in more compelling ways and in the process has helped raise billions of dollars in assets for up-and-coming managers. Stsacy walks us through key components of a good story, what people in finance often miss and how to help tell your story authentically. If you have any sales or marketing component to your role, you are going to want to listen to this!
This week we’re talking decision making with professional Trustee Robert Thomas. We cover chairing investment boards, avoiding groupthink, and making good decisions in a complex environment.
We also take a deep dive into why having a clear plan is so essential to moving forward, the value of getting advisers on the same page, and the underappreciated value of simple solutions.
Robert discusses some small adjustments to communication and expectations that can change the dynamics of boardrooms. He was also kind enough to share many anecdotes and examples of all this in practice. We’re sure anyone working with trustees would get a lot out of listening to this conversation.
This week we’re reviewing all the various market forecasts we’ve seen for 2022 with the help of LCP Consultant & macro expert Anais Caldwell-Jones. We discuss China, the Fed, inflation, politics, and much more.
In the final episode of 2021, Mary and Dan sit down to review the year through the lens of four key stats, three people who defined the year, and two recommendations. They also reveal the top three most downloaded episodes of the year.
This week we’re talking China with Chris Kushlis of T Rowe Price. We ask all the China-investing questions on our minds, including how to think about Evergrande, this year’s tech crackdown, and the ever-present risk of a China slowdown or hard landing damaging the world economy. Chris highlights the key things to focus on when looking at China and offers a useful perspective to understand the year’s events as well as what many market-watchers get wrong.
In this week's episode, we’re talking big themes with Scottish Widow’s Head of Pensions, Investment & RI Maria Nazarova-Doyle. We catch up on Maria’s time at COP26 and hear her reflections on it, what she is thinking about the Net Zero transition over the next decade, and how this will influence the £170bn of assets run by Scottish Widows.
In this week's episode, we’re talking inflation with LCP’s Jon Camfield. We catch up on the latest inflation stats, how investors and pension schemes should think about these, and get onto the big question: Is this a temporary or a structural shift into a new regime? Have we got lazy over the last two decades with low and stable inflation? And what conventional assumptions would need to change if we enter a new regime?
On this week’s show, we welcome Karen Ward, Chief Market Strategist EMEA at JP Morgan Asset Management. We discuss: how investors should think about inflation and central bank reactions. Why this rate hiking cycle might be more like that of the 2000s, and how some economic models are getting challenged.
This week we welcome Jason Mitchell, Man Group’s Co-Head of Responsible Investing. We discuss Jason’s experiences attending COP26 and some of the main things he’s taking away. Including: what the COP26 decisions mean for investors, Net Zero, emerging markets, and what next to look for in Responsible Investment.
This week, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer are delighted to welcome back Senior Consultant and fund researcher at LCP, Nikki Matthews. Following a recent research piece from Nikki on Govcoins, they delve into digital currencies, including a digital currency the UK Government is looking to launch, and the implications this will have.
This week’s guest is Zoe Burdo, Co-Chair of LCP’s D&I Steering Group and we’re talking about the future of inclusion in the investment industry. Prompted by the recent FCA discussion paper, which many firms will have completed we delve into some of the discussions that went into LCP’s views on the discussion paper. We cover key barriers to progress, small things that go under-rated, and what ought to be the role of regulation and data. We keep coming back to the issue of authenticity, and what it really means to do this in an authentic way.
This week’s guest is Rob Arnott, quant researcher and founder of Research Affiliates. We discuss the principles of fundamental indexing, the definition of bubbles and anti-bubbles, the future of value investing, what quant researchers tend to get wrong, and the right questions to ask of any backtest.
We put some big questions to Rob including: has factor investing been oversold, can passive investing get too big and what should you really ask your active manager?
This week’s guest is Head of Pensions and Savings at investment platform Interactive Investor, Becky O’Connor. We cover the results of a recent large-scale survey of individuals’ hopes and worries about investing for retirement, as well as a wider discussion of the conversation the investment industry needs to have with individuals.
This week’s guest is LCP partner Norbert Fullerton who sheds some light on the investment approaches and social role of African institutional investors, as well as sharing some thoughts on his own professional journey and where the industry stands today on diversity and inclusion.
In this week’s episode, we speak to Karen Shackleton, founder of Pensions for Purpose and independent investment adviser and NED on impact investing. We cover Karen’s background and journey to setting up Pensions for Purpose, the growth she sees in impact investing when speaking with asset owners and asset managers, and the possibilities for the future.
In this week’s episode, we speak to Energy Analytics expert Rajiv Gogna about the recent bizarre goings-on in the GB power markets. We hear an explainer on how the GB’s electricity market actually works, what’s been happening this month, and what it all means for the future.
In this week’s episode, we discuss our recent climate investment risk report, along with co-author Laasya Shekaran. We cover how we analysed our database of UK asset owners for climate risks, and what some of the key and surprising conclusions were as well as the tangible next steps that investors can take.
Welcome back for season 3 of Investment Uncut! To hit the ground running, we are joined by LCP’s CEO Aaron Punwani to talk about the future of hybrid work and reflect on the last 18 months, including the benefits of Diversity & Inclusion that we’ve seen.
We discuss:
In this sixth episode of our "Invest like a..." mini series we speak to Mark Thompson, investment committee member at multiple DC schemes.
We discuss – Investment philosophy Providing options for a vast DC pension membership base The structure of a good DC scheme o Well constructed default o Lifestyle plans o Freestyle options (up to around 20) For DC schemes, the mark of success is often getting members to save and contribute enough rather than focusing on picking the best investment The importance of comms & engagement in DC The only 3 questions that Mark asks fund managers Focus on the right timeframes - not quarterly performance Get your governance right Decision making: learning from doing (from what’s worked) Why governance needs a rebrand The importance of getting beliefs straight as a foundation for everything else The role of a devil’s advocate – not arguing with each other but arguing the point Key trends that Mark’s seen Freedom & choice and three headed dogs Value vs values Biggest risks on the horizon in DC Avoiding good actions becoming compliance check boxes Widening the narrative around impact investing: many things provide a return and have an impact. You could consider more widely about the impact of all investment. The most underappreciated thing in investing There are lots of people that think about investing as a science but it’s as much an art as a science. There is false comfort in numbers and a need for a big dose of common sense. All models are wrong but some are useful. Stewardship – it’s much wider than how your equity managers have voted. It’s about acting as an asset owner and being on top of your agents. This needs more development to move it beyond the compliance level.
Recommendations Malcolm Gladwell Tipping Point Give n Take (Adam Grant) The delusion of crowds – why people go mad in groups
This week we speak to Victoria Sant, investment committee member at the National Trust.
We discuss The need to know what you own Putting investment beliefs and charitable missions into practice Mixing emotive issues with risk and return Getting deep alignment with the managers of your assets Some of the challenges Victoria’s seen overtime Tips for making effective decisions: who owns what? The sea change in focus on ESG and stewardship Stewardship as a competitive asset management advantage Bigger focus on targeted impact outcomes, aligning to SDGs and looking in more detail at real assets Role of private vs public markets for primary market impact The existence of many different initiatives and organisations – which one should you support? Relevant links referenced in the conversation Notes on the National Trust’s mission The UN Sustainable Development Goals The Transition Pathway initiative Science Based Targets Initiative Climate Action 100+ What’s one thing you would like listeners to take away from this?
Recognising the power that investing in the financial markets has to influence change, as a client. As a shareholder you have the power to influence change in the direction of your values. This can shift away from shareholder primacy toward a more long-term sustainable shareholder model.
The most underappreciated thing in investing
The flexibility that endowments have, the ability to take bold decisions as well as the ability to take more and different types of risk.
Recommendations Talking Responsibly Podcast – (and our episode we did with David Hickey) The Authority Gap Mary’s recommendation: Desert Island Discs with Hilary McGrady (Director General of the National Trust)
This week we speak to Katharine Neiss, Chief European Economist for PGIM Fixed Income to take stock on where we are in terms of the recovery in Europe.
We discuss –
- What’s the current state of play in terms of the European post-Covid-19 recovery (vs expectations at the start of the year and vs the US, Asia)
- What data points is Katharine watching over the coming months on this?
- Inflation – Katharine's view on this, whether it is transitory or here to stay and why.
- Differences across Europe, what’s important, what has Katharine been watching out for?
- Influence of the US – the early take on the Biden admin and its impact
- The next 10 years: will it be the roaring 20’s or a slow recovery? How is Europe positioned and what might hold it back?
- Tech – is the lack of a meaningful tech sector going to hurt Europe?
Most important things to watch for the next 12 months
It’s not all doom and gloom in Europe, there are elements of dynamism that people may find surprising.
The most underappreciated thing in investing
Diversification. A good investor doesn’t get captured by your asset class - you need to diversify.
Recommendations Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Macro Musings Podcast
This week we speak to Alex Scott, Chairman of Schroders Global Family Office services, and founder of Sandaire family office.
We discuss:
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Alex’s journey of setting up and growing a multi-family office
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Strategy not tactics in investing – be very clear on the difference
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Focusing on a 5-year view in a world full of news about the last week
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Decision making in small vs large groups, maintaining that strategic perspective on boards vs executive CIO level
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Trends in investment markets: large institutions vs boutiques
This week we speak to MD and CIO at Wealth Manager AJ Bell, Kevin Doran.
We discuss Kevin’s guiding principles in investing and what’s worked well / less well over the years. Investment decision making – groupthink etc. Kevin has seen big changes and discusses what he’s most focusing on over the next few months. Guiding principles: the single most important thing is acknowledging that time is your friend in investing but costs are your foe. Beyond that there is no magic formula other than consistency over time. A private wealth manager is a unique and privileged position at managing one of an individual’s most important things (their money). As an industry we haven’t always done a good job on transparency, letting people know what they are invested in and why. The single biggest problem these days is the 24 hour news channels, as a consequence of that there’s “news from noise”. Stocks don’t go up and down – they surge and plummet. If you can get the big stuff right, time will do the rest for you. What has Kevin put in place to help clients get this right?
On the Youinvest platform they aim to cater to three different personas:
Confident and in control – looking to implement their ideas as efficiently as possible. Might buy direct securities; Hungry for Help – build own portfolios of funds, perhaps using starter portfolios; Nervous Newcomer – will buy a product of funds. It needs to be easy to understand, jargon-free educational materials.
During lockdown seen a surge in the Hungry for Help and Nervous Newcomer profiles on the site.
Over last 4 years focused on ability to build portfolios, not just look at funds.
Biggest lessons over Kevin’s career? Make sure you get the biggest things right – don’t focus on small stuff eg the difference between a Fed hike in November vs December Easy to spend too much time talking No point in talking around things the market has already discounted – can be very impressive and interesting, but much is already baked into expectations Starting point has to be – what’s already in expectations Can only add value to portfolios if you can identify things that are not already incorporated into prices Understanding where change is coming from and what the catalysts are This implies the need to be more widely read beyond macro variables, history, philosophy, psychology It’s about understanding people as much as anything. History and politics alongside economics
For example: currency analysis - There is lots of analysis done over recent decades but really most of what mattered was 3 key events from the perspective of a UK investor.
AJ Bell was trying to deliver low cost value solutions: aiming to strip as much cost out as possible without sacrificing the basics. Don’t do “final mile” research in order to keep costs in the chain low. Instead outsource this to fund managers.
When looking at hire/fire manager decisions – look at qualitative data first, backed up by quantitative data. For example blending factor styles and philosophies, managers are doing what you expect given the style, it is not just the highest performing.
A good starting point is to try and guide to clients that if underlying investors can’t invest over a cycle then shouldn’t be investing (define a cycle as 5-6 years).
When looking at decision making, ensure you have built a team with wide ranging interests and views, encourage openness and honesty. For example, the Brexit debate – there were a good range of opinions, outside with what you would get in most asset management businesses.
This week we have a very special episode in honour of Pride Month, and we’re delighted to be joined by two LCP colleagues, Jess Horner and Luke Hothersall. Jess and Luke share their experiences of being gay in the city, and we also discuss wider LGBT+ issues with them.
We discuss: What Pride Month means to Jess and Luke The impact of changing attitudes towards the LGBT+ community Power of networks, both internal and at industry level The importance of pronouns Making sure trans and non-binary aren’t left behind What we can do to better support the LGBT+ community
What does pride month mean to you?
For Luke, it really demonstrates the value of visibility and it makes him smile. Literally it’s about feeling proud! Jess observes that seeing the rainbow sign everywhere makes you feel like you’re the norm, not the minority, and it feels safe to be out.
We remember that Pride has evolved from a riot to a protest to a celebration, albeit it’s become more corporate in recent years. Potential for it to go back the other way towards a protest and a push for more change?
As members of the “L” and “G” in LGBT+, Luke and Jess reflect on whether they are now in a privileged position and stress the responsibility they now have to support other parts of the community.
Impact of attitudes
Bringing your whole self to work – or maybe not the bit about being bad at washing up (if you’re Luke)! But to able to be yourself is essential: if you’re constantly in threat mode about what people think, it’s clear you will have less mental space to deliver great work. In Luke’s early career there was a lack of visible role models, which made it unclear if it was ok to talk about being gay openly.
Jess reflects on the power of the LGBT+ network, which showed her there were others just like her and literally opened a network of support and role models.
Views on industry networks?
O:Pen is a network for members of the LGBT+ community in the pensions industry, which launched over last year. Three events so far centred around social networking, to build a community. Seeing people like yourselves makes you happy and you realise you’re not the only one anymore.
LGBT Great is a network for the investment and savings industry – and in particular Project 1000 highlights allies and role models.
Impact of lockdown? Actually very positive. Possibly accelerated by Black Lives Matter movement or by lockdown meaning we’re at home, with more time on our hands? Jess has seen much more engagement internally at LCP than before. Conversations have reached another level and she’s been pleased but surprised with the continued appetite for virtual socials.
Mary reflects on joining an O:Pen event and being in the minority. Having this conversation can feel a bit uncomfortable, but we’re getting used to it, and should approach with curiosity.
Pronouns
Putting pronouns in email signatures – this opens the conversation about gender identity and shows acceptance that you won’t pre-judge that for someone else. Luke describes it as a “green light” that says it’s ok to not be a cisgender heterosexual person.
Jess adds that it shows that being cis doesn’t need to be the norm. When she first added pronouns she got a lot of comments and questions, which were inconvenient but didn’t cause stress or damage, so she feels she should do it as an ally to someone non-binary (eg someone who’s pronouns are they / them).
What’s the next big thing?
Trans and non-binary inclusion. We’re all on a journey and don’t always get it right. There is a long way to go before we reach equal rights for trans and non-binary people. We discuss the difficulty of putting oneself in someone else’s shows and that it takes time to get your head around how others may feel, particularly if it’s not something you’ve thought about before. The best way we found to describe it was a leap.
This week we speak to Lothian Pension Fund’s Head of Responsible Investment, and well-known figure and podcaster in the UK responsible investment scene, David Hickey.
We discuss: Net Zero is very much “of the moment” – but is that a good thing or bad thing? Transitioning key sectors (eg utilities, mining), observations Reflections on UK government commitment Where does responsibility sit: governments vs asset owners cop26 – what do you expect to happen over the summer? Fiduciary responsibility – does this come after fiduciary, or part of? Notes on discussion
The Net Zero movement moment – good or bad thing?
Net Zero can focus the mind too much on the mathematical / numerical task of reducing reported emissions, but this only part of a broader picture and needs to be viewed in the round. You can reduce portfolio emissions without having any meaningful effect. We need to focus more on forward looking business alignments. Tools like the Transition Pathway initiative and Climate action 100+ benchmark can really come in handy here.
Observations from key sectors
David’s own podcast episode with the CEO of Anglo American was a very interesting conversation on the mining sector. It showed that globally there are some countries and communities that will be dependent on coal and fossil energy for many years to come. The concept of a just transition needs to be factored into these conversations and the issues are not as black and white as frequently portrayed, there’s a lot of shades of grey. Some crucial sectors like steel and mining are hard-to-abate, it is not just about divesting them.
Asset owners can take a different tack with bond portfolios vs equity portfolios. For example denying debt finance to companies not aligned, but working to transition them on the equity side.
Investing into companies performing poorly with regard to climate and helping them transition could be a very valid, useful and profitable investment strategy.
The UK government’s commitment
From the UK government perspective what’s needed is more detail around some of the proposals in the IEA pathways report for example regarding bans on gas boilers etc. There hasn’t to date been enough political will to make these bottom-up pathways a reality so focus has been on the big headline top-down targets.
We can’t do the top down without getting the bottom up right.
What’s the government’s role in all this?
The big problem is that externalities aren’t properly priced – the market has really failed in this respect.
The government also needs to support the less well-off parts of the population through this otherwise excessive costs get heaped on the poor.
One issue is the alignment of time horizons between politics and climate change, often referred to as the “tragedy of the horizons”.
Related links: The IIGCC Net Zero Investment Framework The transition pathway initiative tool Climate Action 100+ What’s one thing you would like listeners to take away from this?
De-carbonisation isn’t so straightforward. You need to look far more closely at where the assets are and the communities that depend on them. There’s a grey area, a lot of nuance.
What do you think is the most under appreciated thing about investing
People don’t realise how interesting it is - there is so much space for thoughtful, long term analysis and debate.
Recommendations
David hosts the Talking Responsibly podcast
David recommends:
A Sustainable Future podcast Redefining Energy Cleaning Up Blood on the tracks by Colin Murray
This week we sit down with author, podcaster and go to girl on young peoples’ money questions: Iona Bain.
We discuss What first got Iona into working on the Young Money blog, highlights from a decade in the business, research on Gen Z vs Millennial habits and what that could mean for both saving and investing in the future. In addition we explore what do young people tend to “get wrong” when thinking about money and what Iona thinks is the biggest threat to young people’s finances in the next decade.
What first got Iona into working on the Young Money blog A lack of people speaking to her generation in a relatable way about money, plus being a way to learn. Highlights from a decade in the business Iona’s appearance on Question Time, as well as mainstream financial press roles such as Financial Advisor, writing about investing through key events like the Retail Distribution Review and being in the newsroom the day after the Brexit referendum. Iona’s recent research conclusions: Young people are most likely to suffer economic fallout from the current environment (particularly Gen-Z) alongside those approaching retirement. This poses questions as we come out of the Covid-19 crisis – how to redress the balance. Differences between Millennials (age 26-40) and Gen-Z (16-25) Gen-Z likely to be more adventurous and entrepreneurial, more likely to be enthusiastic savers than Millennials. Partly because they have seen Millennials get caught out and been affected by too bleak a picture post-2008. There are big changes in saving and investing over the last decade, only one banking app existed in 2011. Since then we have Monzo, Starling, Revolut etc exerting outsize influence in the industry. What do young people tend to “get wrong” when thinking about money Viewing it as a form of gambling and expecting instant results. What’s the biggest threat to young people’s finances in the next decade? A major stockmarket correction, and inflation. One thing for listeners to remember Mistakes are inevitable. No-one’s perfect, we all make mistakes, what matters is we learn from mistakes and are committed to getting to grips with our finances. It’s complex but also rewarding.
Most underappreciated thing about investing It has genuinely never been easier to start investing. That has its dangers but the biggest problem is often overcoming apathy.
Recommendations Money Week podcast with Merryn Somerset Webb The BBC history extra podcast Links to Iona’s content:
Young Money Blog Book: “Own It” Own it! Podcast
We are joined by Rob Groves, CIO of Pension Insurance Corporation, a $50bn asset owner and bulk annuity writer. We discuss Rob’s philosophy on investing, how insurers approach investment, the role of regulation, changes and trends he’s seen as well as current market concerns.
Philosophy
As an insurer they are not focusing very much on the performance of the asset portfolio. It is all about cashflows and if/when these get delivered. Their financial success is not driven by the performance of the portfolio, so in the most part the total return of the portfolio is not even measured. This gives a very different focus to most investors, and one that is genuinely longer term.
What works well?
Ensuring you have high quality people, a focus on things you understand, and not underestimating the importance of gut-feel.
Decision making
There are particular challenges to a situation where you have an Investment Committee overseeing an in-house team. It’s important to have an open culture within the team where it’s acceptable to write-off several months of work if someone just doesn’t think the investment idea is good enough. One way of avoiding groupthink is having individuals who have adjacent expertise.
Changes trends
The use of illiquid assets continues to be a big trend among insurers. There can be some laziness inherent in the way the industry looks at these: the liquid/illiquid buckets increasingly don’t always fit. There has been a deterioration in credit quality generally.
Current worries
Still mainly focused on the Covid-19 impact: downgrades and defaults in bond portfolios eg airports etc. Inflation and interest rates remain bigger picture macro themes that are important, but don’t underestimate the ongoing impacts of Covid-19.
One thing to take away
An annuity writer is not focused on market values – they are focused on credit quality.
Most underappreciated thing
The economy often has a fairly low correlation with what’s going on in markets. It is easy to listen to very sensible sounding economic views, but often the markets do the opposite and it’s easy to over-focus on the economic side of things.
We speak to Shyam Gharial, sustainable investing researcher at LCP, on a big research project he’s been doing, looking at setting up corporate bond mandates with sustainability criteria. It aims to tilt portfolios away from companies with bonds most exposed to sustainability-related risks. This has had some interesting results and is particularly relevant for DB pension schemes.
With many defined benefit pension schemes reducing their equity allocations, they may well find their biggest climate exposures in their bond portfolios over the next 10 years. How are bond managers looking at climate risks and transition risks and how can portfolios be set up to better align with sustainability criteria?
We discuss
Increasingly sustainability is being recognised as something that has been neglected in managing investments and companies, and this has led to systemic risks. Climate change is one of these but not the only one. It also includes biodiversity loss, water risk, natural habitats as well as broader social factors impacting communities and particular segments of populations.
Aligning equity mandates with sustainability criteria has become a very popular thing to do and a relatively well-trodden area with many funds and indices launched, but bonds remains less so.
Many investors – but particularly UK defined benefit pension schemes – hold increasingly large portfolios of high-quality corporate bonds. These are expected to be paid back over the next 20 years or more which make them very sensitive to longer-term emerging risks such as these sustainability issues.
The most obvious ones are climate related, eg stranded fossil fuel assets and/or sharp changes of regulation to meet climate targets that have far-reaching impacts on particular sectors (or companies within a sector that have not addressed the issue strategically).
These criteria can be incorporated into bond portfolios such that the bonds selected are better aligned with the low-carbon transition, or with broader sustainability fundamentals meaning they are less at risk.
Managers incorporate these criteria in a number of ways but many use proprietary models to assess future climate-alignment and bring together a range of sustainability factors together into a portfolio management tool.
This is different to investment in green bonds or social bonds. What we’re talking about here is often what’s called “unlabelled” bonds, ie the general universe of bonds issued by companies and we are talking about sorting this universe in specific ways to align the portfolio with certain risk factors.
More detail in LCP’s blog here
One thing to takeaway
You can tilt your bond portfolio to focus on more sustainability aligned companies without compromising yield.
Most underappreciated thing
That the investment industry doesn’t exist in isolation in a silo. It’s part of the broader world and broader factors should be incorporate outside just returns.
As we finally start seeing real light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel with the country opening up into summer, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer sit down to LCP's Heidi Allan who has done a huge amount of research to understand the impact of Covid-19 on people's finances and overall wellbeing with some surprising conclusions.
We discuss
- Regional differences: one in three Londoners have seen a drop in income exacerbated by the high cost of living;
- 6 million accidental savers are now better off (but where are they going to put the money?);
- Overall reporting stress levels are not actually higher than a year ago, but there is a complete change in what’s driving it. Commuting and work/life-balance is out, family wellbeing and health is in;
- Work satisfaction: a surprisingly high proportion of employees are reporting high dissatisfaction with their employer. Could this trigger a big job turnover once things settle down?; and
- There is thinking to be done by employers on what they offer employees and how they communicate. Things like flexible working have never been more important.
Recommendations
- LCP Employee wellbeing and financial health report (2021)
- City AM: one in three Londoners suffers income fall
- The BBC: accidental savers
- Highlights from our Financial Wellbeing 2021 survey
In the first of our "Invest like a..." mini series, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer welcome Richard Williams, CIO of RailPen, onto the show to have a conversation about investing like an open DB scheme.
Richard started his career at LCP, which was colloquially known by his flatmate (who was also a trainee actuary) as Lane Clark and Paychecks…!
We discuss
Good investing is about identifying your edge, nurturing and protecting it. RailPen edges:
- A true long-term horizon. They hold high returning but volatile assets. This gives managers (including internally managed assets) some security that they won’t be sacked on short term performance.
- Governance process enables team to be nimble but also to be a good counterparty: they know what they want, they won’t lead managers on, they are good for their money and are a long-term partner. This all means they are more likely to be presented with illiquid asset opportunities from managers, or offered lower prices. Is this the way to truly benefit from the illiquidity premium?
- They have a willingness to be different eg willing partner with managers who have short track records.
- They have a great team: they are helped by the hybrid approach RailPen takes with some assets managed in-house. It is very important to have all stakeholders aligned on longer-term objectives.
But even if you have a lot of edges, investing is still hard!
There is great importance of the role of a mentor – and learning from junior as well as senior colleagues.
Decisions are best made in groups, but small groups. This generally avoids funds managed by solo investment managers, but also big groups are unwieldy for making big decisions.
One thing for listeners to take away
Be grateful for how fortunate we all are to work in this industry and in such an interesting area.
Most underappreciated thing
Part of the skill is to keep things simple – but that’s not easy. There are so many temptations to do the wrong thing.
Recommendations
Richard Oldfield – Simply not easy Sir Heid Plochy - Nuclear folly Owen Walker - Built on a Lie
We welcome James Coney money editor at The Times & Sunday Times to discuss his four pillars of personal finance as well as trends he has seen overtime in the investing/fund management space.
We discuss
James’ four pillars of personal finance:
Mortgage Savings Pensions Investments
Aim to have regular conversation with readers week after week coming back to the same core wisdoms.
The role of financial journalists generally includes campaigning to push the industry forward as well as representing the individual reader: the saver. It also includes giving people the right information as there is a responsibility to help readers look after their money and empowering them with information. Financial journalists restore the information balance that exists within the industry between savers and providers.
Campaigning is about ironing out bits of fairness that have been ingrained through time. It's about normal people at the heart of your stories which highlights things that are unfair more powerfully than anything else.
Why did James change his view on equity release? If people are going to do something let’s help them do it right says James.
It's key to give people the information they need to make their investment decisions. Also to challenge the idea that financial advisers “own” the idea of advice. They can’t address an individual’s specific circumstances, but can still provide useful general tips.
Trends James has seen overtime in the investing / fund management space: - The language of financial services is finally changing to reflect more of a holistic lifestyle approach; - The empowerment of individuals through a move away from bank-dominated “bank assurance” type model of product sales to a wider platform model. This un-ravelled the infrastructure to give power back to the individuals, and the last 12 months has seen an acceleration of this - pension freedoms were a part of this and; - The direction of travel is toward openness, transparency and lower charges.
The balance between writing on long term structural trends that are important but don’t have immediate story hooks.
The Times doesn’t go for incremental daily breaking news items, but rather goes for the big longer, final view articles that gives a balanced view. (For example see report on DB pension decline).
Data is vital as a digital publisher. There is lots of data now and you are able to track performance of each article among different types of subscriber demographic.
What mistakes does James think get made again and again in investing?
- Overtrading
- Not starting early enough
There is progress on educating/informing consumers, but has this been made, is it possible? James is generally a pragmatic optimist so habits are key.
What would James change if he ran the industry? - Less fund managers; - Managers that are more accountable; - Remit of fund managers is clear; - Managers are more transparent about decisions, particularly on ethical matters on how they are using your money and; - Fund managers remember that it’s other peoples’ money.
One thing for listeners to take away
Have faith in good habits when it comes to saving and investing – concentrate on the basics and don’t over complicate.
Most underappreciated thing
Income. Pensions freedoms has really shown that taking income from a fund without eroding too much capital has shown misunderstood benefits of income. It's key to remember the power of the dividend and what it can bring you.
At the start of world immunization week show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer take stock with Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard of where we are in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, reflecting back to the uncertain moments of January 2021. We cover what to look out for in coming weeks, what the medium term future looks like and some of the lessons learnt in terms of risk communication and data.
We discuss:
The last 12 months have really highlighted the language and communications used around risk, and how crucial this is. We discuss work from David Spiegelhalter early in the pandemic and the Covid-19 actuaries response group whose work estimating vaccine impact on deaths and hospitalisations become widely cited.
Could we be looking at a new conversation / new paradigm around health and vaccinations in particular? Given the positive profile vaccinations have now, and the momentum behind the rollout, might this help get on top of persistent issues for example with MMR vaccine hesitancy?
Understanding data has also been vital, there’s been no shortage of numbers but how is best to look at them?
LCP Health Analytics Covid-19 tracker
World Immunization week
Our last episode with Jonathan – Covid-19’s most uncertain moment Two trends picked up ahead of the data
Uptick of national cases driven by London and the South East – early indication of the new “Kent Strain”, picked up around mid-December.
Tiers – did work, lower increases in tier 4 pre-lockdown.
Relatively early in January that picked up the turning point – in hindsight this proved correct with official estimates but statistical techniques allowed this to be shown earlier.
A lot more testing now vs last summer, so it is getting harder to compare the data.
Optimistic outlook for here – International differences and travel restrictions will drive measures from here.
Hard to see non-quarantined travel beyond Europe – but this goes beyond epidemiological considerations and into the political.
The most important thing
Understanding of risk – it’s all relative. Clinicians, or policymakers weigh up the risk and benefits and what’s being offered. The debate in public health is always what’s the risk, who’s the risk to and what’s the cost of any imposition.
The most underappreciated thing
Decisions have been an almost an impossible job. What’s gone under the radar are all the civil servants who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to inform all the decisions as best they could.
It’s shown the civil service in the best light, even if we never get to appreciate it fully.
It is underappreciated how rigorously analysed each decision has been, in the knowledge that every decision has been an almost impossible one.
We welcome LCP's Nikki Matthews to discuss decision making in the investment world.
We discuss:
- Nikki’s Vista article
- Are investors fundamentally decision makers?
- Decision making is often influenced by circumstances and those around us.
- It’s easy to slip into a role.
- (Listen to the podcast that Dan references several times with Jeff Housenbold from the Vision Fund). -We’re forming a story in our head whenever we meet someone. -
- Subconsciously, we are forming a view and looking for information that you’re right (this is known as confirmation bias).
- It's important to move away from having to be right so you can be more open.
- We’re always very limited in our information both on decisions and on people? Don’t forget that moods influence decisions and we don’t have visibility of how others are feeling.
- Best time to make decisions: before, after lunch? It could influence things more than you think.
- Evening out decisions during the day could help and not trying to make a lot of decisions toward the end.
- Perspective – this matters hugely, our perspective influences us more than we know. There are ways of combatting such as looking for diversity, demographic diversity, background diversity.
- Listen to our podcast reviewing Mathew Syed’s book Rebel Ideas here.
- Your own experiences make up only 0.0001% of what’s happened but probably 80% of the way you think the world works.
- Information asymmetry – there’s always hidden information in a decision and it’s impossible to know everything that other people around the table know.
One thing to take away
Assessing how you make decisions can add a lot of value. Ask yourself: is your decision making body diverse, are you seeing (enough) challenge? Do you always seem to make consensus decisions? Do you record your decisions?
Recommendations
Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely)
Presence (Patsy Rodenburg)
You might also be interested in previous episodes on Zoomthink and Groupthink.
We welcome LCP's Head of Communications, David Millar, who talks us through the dark arts of communication, and how we might improve investment communications for the benefit of investors.
We discuss:
• The basic principles of communicating and how communications have evolved; • Investment communications – challenges / tips from the provider and receiver perspective; and • David’s “communications pyramid” and why most communication focuses in the wrong places.
One thing to take away
Little and often is better when it comes to communications. If you don’t communicate to your customers something else will fill the void (eg social media).
We welcome special guest Mark Ainsworth from Schroders to talk about big data.
We discuss:
What is big data? What are its applications to investing? There is a dust trail we all leave when browsing websites online. Fund managers are natural “weighers” of lots of different data points. It is natural to work in terms of confidence levels. The key is to master where data is useful and where it isn’t. Sometimes the trend is useful, but the level isn’t. You can’t wait until its perfect and solid as speed vs solidity trade off is at work in the investment industry. There is so much you can do with data that is clever but not useful. So the first question you have to ask is – is it useful? Is it something that can be acted on, and does it already exist or not? Focus on answering questions. Make it easy as possible to log questions – the questions themselves tell you something interesting. The act of trying to answer a question is interesting – often the data is too biased, too messy or too partial. So it doesn’t work. Focus on insights – an insight is something that changes your understanding of the world. Core to this is what the existing knowledge/understanding is. Data Insights is NOT quant investing. Data insights is about filling blindspots. Things you don’t know are missing, but if you were to fill it in you see things you wouldn’t otherwise see. That can be a competitive advantage in asset management.
One thing to take away
The value of data comes from the insights – it’s about connecting data with people making real decisions. It’s a team sport to find the insights.
Show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer welcome Claire Walsh to explore the top-of-the-mind issues for individual investors currently and how the investment industry is adapting to changes.
We discuss:
How are individual investors feeling right now? Current top-of the mind issues for individual investors Has the “behaviour” of individual investors (eg panic selling) got better over time? The role of behavioural biases How individuals actually view investment risk (vs how we in “the industry” might tend to view it.) How do you build up the right conversations with an individual? Are there any insights from advising female investors - how is that different to working with male investors? How do issues pertaining to younger investors, eg those who are in their 20’s or 30’s differ from those further along in the journey? How is the industry adapting to changes?
One thing to take away
To people in the investment industry: challenging what you can do to be more engaging to your customers. Put yourself in the customers shoes. Don’t always look at everything in the context of our narrow financial services constraints.
We welcome back LCP's Clay Lambiotte onto the show to talk about the lessons learned 1 year on in the lockdown.
We bring on LCP’s Ian Gamon to talk through everything you need to know about complying with TCFD.
For World Book Day we bring on David Ricketts onto the show to discuss his book 'When The Fund Stops.'
We welcome back LCP's Zoe Burdo to discuss group think in a virtual world, 'Zoom think.'
We welcome Jos North from Ruffer to talk the investment thesis of bitcoin, its future, as well as its risks.
We sit down with LCP's Kyle Martin to explore the revolution of the energy sector and where private investors come into this.
We welcome back our resident epidemiologist Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard to explore the market's response to the vaccine rollout, the likelihood of it's success and the risks attached to it.
With the inauguration in the US of President Biden, Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer welcome LCP's Paul Gibney to discuss the impact of the new presidency on markets.
In this episode hosts Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis and guest Laasya Shekaran review the book “Rebel Ideas” by Matthew Syed
In this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer welcome LCP's Sophie Carter on the show to discuss initiatives to broaden the investment industry.
In this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer explore climate scenarios with LCP's Claire Jones.
In the final piece of this two-part special episode, podcast hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer invite more than one guest on the show for the first time– a big welcome to Priscilla Kavule and Philip Boyle!
In this two-part special episode, podcast hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer invite Jacob Shah onto the show to reflect on the markets for this year.
We catch up with Sonja Laud from LGIM on her CIO's perspective on active ownership for passive managers and more
Show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer catch up with a returning guest of Investment Uncut: LCP's Andy Jacobson, to discuss global property investing.
Show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer sit down with Charles Plowden from Baillie Gifford for his thoughts on growth investing.
Show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer catch up with Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard on his epidemiologist perspective of the current pandemic.
We explore asset allocation for individuals for individuals with Ben Seager-Scott of Tilney. Stream this episode of Investment Uncut to find out more.
In this episode of Investment Uncut, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer catch up with Greg Davies from Oxford Risk.
On another episode of Investment Uncut, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer speak to LCP's Heidi Allan on financial wellbeing
Following last week's part 1, we welcome back Gavin Lewis (MD of BlackRock) to discuss more about race in investing. Listen to part 2 now.
On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer are joined by Gavin Lewis (Managing Director at BlackRock, Member of the Diversity Project and Founder of Talkaboutblack) and have a riveting discussion about race in investing.
And we are back for season 2! On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer explore the role of forecasting – and how things have changed over the last 6 months.
In this episode show hosts Dan and Mary look back at the 22 episodes in the first series of investment uncut and review some of the overarching themes and what stands out.
On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer find out more about energy investing with LCP's Head of Market Insight, Kyle Martin.
On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer sit down with SJP's, Chief Global Strategist, Chris Ralph
This week show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer sit down with AJ Bell's, head of fund selection, platform and wealth manager, Ryan Hughes
On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer are joined by Jon Camfield to explore the complicated story of reform of inflation measures in the UK.
On this episode, show hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer are joined by David Wrigley to discuss negative rates and whether it can be deemed a success.
Today hosts Dan Mikulskis & Mary Spencer are joined by investment partner Hish Ravindra to talk about investing for income in a world of disappearing dividends.
On today’s show hosts Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis are joined by LCP investment partner and lead Private Credit researcher Steve Hodder.
In this episode hosts Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis and guest Rory Sturrock review the book “The Man who Solved the Market” by Greg Zuckerman.
We sit down with Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and explore insights into government in a time of crisis and more.
This week we are joined by Andy Jacobson to explore why property funds are currently suspended and what do we see as the long-term landscape for property investing in a changed retail, and office-use world.
This week we sit down with Anais Caldwell-Jones to discuss what's the case for emerging markets investment today and the direct and indirect effects from Covid-19.
This week we sit down with LCP's Natalie Brain to talk about revising economic forecasts after an extreme shock, like the one we’re currently experiencing.
This week hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer put some of the key questions that fund allocators will have to Matt Gibson and discuss some of the key themes in Matt’s team’s discussions with managers over the latest, eventful quarter.
We entrust groups to some of our most important decisions, particularly in finance and investment. And the conventional wisdom is that a group can moderate the decision-making biases of individuals. But do they? Hosts Dan Mikulskis and Mary Spencer are joined by Zoe Burdo, and discuss some of the many issues associated with “groupthink”.
This week on Investment Uncut hosts, Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis are doing something a little different – we’re reviewing that classic Michael Lewis book of the 2008 crisis The Big Short with LCP's PR and Digital Marketing assistant Nisha Gogna.
Economist, author and keynote speaker Allison Schrager spoke to Dan Mikulskis back at the PLSA conference in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. They discuss why investing is a risk management problem not a beat the markets problem, why risk metrics can be useful but can give you a false sense of security, the difference between risk and uncertainty - Unknown unknowns and known knowns and more.
This week on Investment Uncut hosts, Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis, speak to investment consultant Nikki Matthews. They discuss why investors that did simple rebalancing outperformed those that didn’t following 2008, the influence of fear and other emotions when it comes to investing in volatile times, how behaviour can be one of the biggest risks in investing, most underappreciated thing about investing, recommendations good articles, blogs, books, series (work/non work related).
This week on Investment Uncut hosts, Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis, speak to investment partner Stuart McKinnon. They discuss the thirty years he has spent in the investment business since starting his career at Eagle Star insurance in the late 1980’s including ways to make money in investing, investment jargon, actual lived experience, most underappreciated thing about investing, recommendations good articles, blogs, books, series (work/non work related)
This week on Investment Uncut hosts, Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis, speak to Claire Jones – LCP’s head of Responsible Investing. They discuss RI survey highlights, what’s changed recently, how have managers changed their approach over the years, about the Blackrock announcement, is ESG about excluding fossil fuels?, what does good look in ESG for managers, different asset classes, do equity managers tend to come of looking better and credit worse?, active vs passive, most underappreciated thing about investing, recommendations good articles, blogs, books, series (work/non work related).
This week on Investment Uncut hosts, Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis, speak to Natalie Brain – a member of LCP’s macro committee. They discuss Coronavirus, capital market views, equity asset classes, credit asset classes, real assets, most underappreciated thing about investing, recommendations good articles, blogs, books, series (work/non work related).
This week on investment uncut hosts Mary Spencer and Dan Mikulskis speak to Matt Gibson – head of manager research at LCP, they discuss long termism, short selling, views on GPIF suspension of stock lending, Investment Manager Fee survey & key takeaways, overall trend in manager fees seen over the last decade, fund liquidity, significance of recent BoE announcement & affect on investors, most underappreciated thing about investing, recommendations good articles, blogs, books, series (work/non work related).