Exponential Etfs Exceptional Podcast

Matthew Stoller from the Open Markets Institute joins Phil to talk about his book Goliath and explain the history of the war against monopoly power in America. The history and cyclicality of monopolies as a political issue The damage done by monopolies America’s concentration crisis across all sectors Antitrust and monopoly concerns in the financial services industry

Note from Phil: please first listen to Epsilon Theory: Part One (episode 47) from August 19, 2019 Ben Hunt explains the meaning behind some of the most important of Epsilon Theory phrases and concepts. Always Go to the Funeral The Nudging Oligarchy Why am I reading this NOW? Narrative missionaries Too Clever by Half Clear Eyes & Full Hearts Thanks, and have a great Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Andy Stewart from Exchange Capital Management sits down with Exponential’s Phil Bak and Charles Ragauss to talk about the investing landscape. Highlights include: Complimenting ETFs with direct stock investing Concentration of cap weight indexes Tech stock valuations Active versus passive as a false debate The evolution and impact of commission free trading How to trade illiquid securities Currency- hedging International stocks

Phil is joined by Sal Gilbertie, Founder and CEO of Teucrium Trading to discuss commodities. The conversation highlights include: Our connection to commodities and how everything we touch comes from commodities Launching Teucrium Trading and their ETFs How to forecast commodity prices Technology in the agriculture industry Geo-politics and the trade wars – impact on agriculture prices Using commodities in modern portfolios Technical vs fundamental analysis to tactically trade commodities

Scott Nations joins the podcast to talk about how options trading has evolved over his career and to give an overview of his book, The History of the United States in Five Crashes. Topics discussed: Options trading pits – how they have evolved What it takes to be a good options trader Creating a better VIX Imbalance of options premiums Closet indexing and index bubble fears Anatomy of a market crash How exchanges have mitigated risk of another flash crash What the next market crash could look like

Dan Cupkovic, Director of Investments at Argi financial Group in Lousiville, KY talks to Phil about developing the BlackSwan index and why he set out to convert the SMA strategy into an ETF. They also discuss: The case for the SWAN index Lowering volatility while lowering correlation Where to use it in a portfolio The process of converting an SMA into an ETF How Argi evaluates ETFs for it’s own portfolios

Phil talks to Alexandra Levis about marketing in the financial services industry and the challenges facing entrepreneurs. The topics include: What makes good marketing content The contrast between old and new financial companies How to disrupt the right way How to effectively get PR exposure Content generation and creating “micro moments” Millennial perspective

Behavioral investing author Daniel Crosby joins the podcast for a fascinating conversation with Phil that covers: Being yourself to grow confidence Writing the Behavioral Investor book Whether quant investing solves behavioral biases Irrationally taking risks in our everyday lives Brinker Innovation Lab & Tulip software

Phil is joined by Nicole Boyson, Professor of Finance at Northeastern University, to talk about her research about the asset management industry and best practices. The conversation includes: How Nicole keeps her finger on pulse of the industry as an academic Hedge Fund contagion & LTCM Nicole’s research on Hedge Fund activists Brokerage and dual-registered advisor models versus fiduciaries Conflicts of interest and the Fiduciary Standard

Tobias Carlisle from Acquirers Funds joins Phil for a conversation about value investing. Conversation highlights: How Tobi discovered value investing An overview of Tobi’s books, including Quantitative Value, Deep Value, Concentrated Investing and The Aquirer’s Multiple The case for concentration and active share Launching a strategy in an ETF versus a hedge fund or mutual fund The cyclicality of value “This time is different” arguments and if value still works

Morgan Housel joins Phil in the podcast booth from the Wealthstack conference to talk about: The Collaborative Fund thesis Competitive advantages for businesses How companies get complacent over time Mean reversion and the business cycle Paranoia as driver of success Overcoming a speech disorder

Phil sits down with Perth Tolle, founder of Life and Liberty Indexes to talk about why freedom and liberty are personal to her and why she founded her company. They discuss: The connection between economic freedom and prosperity Freedom as both an ESG and alpha-seeking metric Investments born of passion and purpose Process of starting an index and licensing it to an ETF issuer Competing against large corporations Persistence and hustle How a chance meeting with Rob Arnott got the ball rolling

Phil is joined by Alex Chalekian, Founder and CEO of Lake Avenue Financial to discuss the changing nature of the financial planning and advice industry and where the puck is heading. The conversation includes: Differentiating financial planning vs portfolio management Going independent Growing by acquisitions and how to retain acquired clients Benefits of using social media to grow Misperceptions about working with millennials Leveraging technology AdvisorsUNITE and how Alex sources acquisitions

Exponential ETFs is excited to welcome Tyrone Ross Jr., as our Director of Financial Education. Josh Blechman and Tyrone discuss Exponential ETFs’ Detroit Invests in You initiative, aimed at increasing financial literacy across the city of Detroit. Tyrone discusses his personal connection to this cause and the life changing impact this program can have. Topics include: Tyrone’s personal journey to financial literacy The role that crypto-currency can play in serving under-banked banked communities Crypto’s role is spurring investment interest in communities that have not traditionally participated Challenges of bitcoin – Hype vs Utility How social media allows an Advisor to stand out and connect with a community

Bill Kelly, CEO of the CAIA organization and self-described evangelist for alternative investment education and investor due diligence joins Phil to talk all things alts. The discussion includes: Bill’s background and why he joined the CAIA association CAIA’s mission and thought leadership What is an alternative investment? The viability of Hedge Funds as an investment vehicle CAIA exam material The stacking initiative Liquid alternatives as a growing segment in mutual funds and ETFs Giving back Financial Data Professional (FDP) program

Phil and Charles enjoy a Manhattan to reflect on three years of Exponential ETFs, tell the company origin story, and explain what an ETF sub-advisor does. [Replay from April, 2019]

Ben Hunt Co-Founder and partner at Second Foundation Partners & Author at Epsilon Theory explains how pricing power has evolved in the financial services industry and explains how narratives are formed. This is the first part of a breathtaking conversation between Ben and Phil about how the financial markets are being turned into government utilities right before our eyes. This part of the discussion includes: Ben’s experience in academia Why Phil and Ben were each destined to end up in entrepreneurship Being right versus making money for clients Anatomy of a short seller Being early versus being wrong The market not rewarding deep work and the disconnect from intrinsic value The transformation of capital markets Pricing power: client ownership Pricing power: intellectual property Pricing power: government collaboration The narrative machine

Kathleen Moriarty, Partner at Chapman and Cutler, and the lawyer who spearheaded countless ETF innovations joins Phil to talk about the legal and regulatory process. Kathleen shares stories from her career and jumps into several of today’s most important legal and regulatory issues. The discussion includes: Launching SPY and early expectations of the fund Waiting seven years for leveraged ETF approvals The forthcoming ETF Rule Bitcoin ETF – where and why it is being held up, and expectations going forward The GLD approval, and similarities to the Bitcoin process Non-transparent ETF approval and ramifications to the industry How Kathleen would improve the regulatory & market structure What it is like to change law firms

Phil heads to Huber Financial in Chicago to meet with their CIO, Phil Huber to talk about factor investing, blogging and more. They discuss: Providing client transparency through the blog Mixing active & passive strategies Having conviction in factors during cap weights run How the bps and pieces blog got started Why simple is an over-rated concept Phil’s investing cheat sheet Working with his father Wholesaling and the transition in distribution in the industry Why he loves wrestling

Oliver Renick from TD Ameritrade Network joins Phil to talk about how new media programming is shaking things up the financial media, and how TD Ameritrade Network is using digital tools to provide innovative content. They discuss: Digital media Utility of content Traditional media and the traditional television format Long-form content versus quick hits on social media Market skewness and Oliver’s take on economic policy Bitcoin as a measure of overall risk appetite