Financial Thought Exchange Podcast
The Financial Thought Exchange Podcast features interviews with top financial thought leaders, offering insights for analysts, investors, and finance enthusiasts. Produced by the CFA Institute Research Foundation, it covers pressing industry topics and provides expert analyses. Listeners can access actionable insights and stay informed about the finance world.
Episodes
Quantitative Investing with Petter Kolm, PhD, and Gordon Ritter, PhD
Petter Kolm, PhD, and Gordon Ritter, PhD, join Lotta Moberg, PhD, CFA, to continue their discussion on quantitative investing, focusing on model design, implementation, and real‑world application. The conversation explores how quantitative strategies are refined in practice, the challenges of working with financial data, and the balance between theoretical rigor and practical constraints. Kolm and
Risk, Models, and Financial Decision‑Making with Petter Kolm, PhD and Gordon Ritter, PhD
Petter Kolm, PhD and Gordon Ritter, PhD, join Lotta Moberg, PhD, for a conversation on quantitative models, risk, and financial decision‑making. The discussion examines how models are constructed and evaluated, the assumptions that underpin them, and the trade‑offs involved when applying theory to real‑world financial problems. Kolm and Ritter share perspectives on model risk, uncertainty, and the
Infrastructure Debt with Clements, Ricciardelli, Beckman and Le Bret
Philip Clements, CFA, Alfonso Ricciardelli, CFA, Matthieu LeBret and Simon Beckman join Will Goodhart (CFA Institute Research Foundation Board of Trustees), to discuss their recent brief on infrastructure debt and its growing role in institutional portfolios. The conversation explores how infrastructure debt has evolved from a niche allocation into a core component of alternative credit, shaped by
Designing Pension Systems for Emerging Markets with Seda Peksevim, PhD
Laurence B. Siegel hosts a conversation with Seda Peksevim, PhD, Founder & Managing Director of Pensión Research & Consulting and Lecturer at Sabancı University, on how pension systems must be designed differently in emerging market economies. Dr. Peksevim explains why retirement outcomes are shaped by three interconnected challenges: behavioral biases that limit saving, unstable and risky labor
Hedge Funds Explained: Risk, Returns & Due Diligence with Stephen J. Brown, PhD
In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange, Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD, speaks with Stephen J. Brown, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Finance at Monash University in Australia and at the Stern School of Business at New York University, and winner of the CFA Institute Research Foundation 2025 James R. Vertin Research Award. Brown discusses the origins of hedge funds, their role as liquidity providers
How LLMs Transform Investment Workflows: Fine-Tuning, RAG & Agents with Francesco Fabozzi
In Part 2, Francesco Fabozzi, PhD—Managing Editor of the Journal of Financial Data Science—joins host Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD, to explore how modern NLP and large language models are reshaping investment management. Building on the technical foundations from Part 1, this episode turns to real-world applications: when to fine‑tune models versus rely on prompt engineering, how retrieval‑augmented gen
How NLP Evolved: From Word Counts to Transformers with Francesco Fabozzi, PhD
Francesco Fabozzi, PhD, Managing Editor of the Journal of Financial Data Science, joins Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD to unpack how natural language processing matured into the powerful tool it is today. The discussion traces early finance‑focused techniques—dictionary counts, sentiment word lists, and sparse document‑term matrices, along with their limits around context and negation. Fabozzi then explai
Future Quantum Finance Applications & Risks with Oswaldo Zapata, PhD
In the concluding episode, Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD and Oswaldo Zapata, PhD look toward the future of quantum computing in finance. They discuss potential high‑value applications such as optimization, option pricing, machine learning, and large‑scale simulations. Zapata also highlights the cyber‑security implications of quantum technologies, including the threat of breaking RSA encryption and the ur
Quantum Computing Challenges in Finance with Oswaldo Zapata, PhD
Part 2 explores the technical hurdles shaping quantum computing's readiness for financial applications. Oswaldo Zapata, PhD and host Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD discuss qubit quality, error rates, and why today's devices remain in the "noisy intermediate‑scale quantum" (NISQ) era. The episode breaks down hybrid classical‑quantum approaches, quantum‑inspired algorithms, and the complex process of encodi
Quantum Computing Basics for Finance with Oswaldo Zapata, PhD
In Part 1 of this three-part interview, host Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD, speaks with Oswaldo Zapata, PhD, co‑founder of the Quantum Finance Boardroom and contributor to the CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph AI in Asset Management. This episode introduces the fundamentals of quantum computation, outlining how qubits, superposition, and quantum gates differ from classical computing. Zapata exp
Causality in Factor Investing: Marcos López de Prado, PhD & Vincent Zoonekynd, PhD
Marcos López de Prado, PhD and Vincent Zoonekynd, PhD, of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority discuss their Research Foundation brief, Causality and Factor Investing: A Primer. They explore why many factor models fail, the risks of confounder and collider bias, and why factor investing requires a causal—not purely statistical—approach. Learn how causal graphs and theory-driven methods can improve attri
Dr. William J. Bernstein on Economic Growth, Passive Investing & Retirement Realities
Larry Siegel speaks with Dr. William J. Bernstein—author, neurologist, and investment thinker—about the pillars of prosperity: property rights, scientific rationalism, capital markets, and infrastructure. They examine cultural influences on economic growth, the Henrich hypothesis on trust, and the future of globalization. Bernstein shares his philosophy on passive investing, liability-matching por
De-risking Global Pension Systems with David Knox, PhD
In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange podcast, host Lotta Moberg, CFA, PhD, speaks with David Knox, PhD, former senior partner at Mercer and author of the Research Foundation brief De-risking Global Pension Systems. Knox explores the complexities of global pension structures, the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, and the growing reliance on private pensions. He
Leadership, Storytelling & Investing: Insights from Sébastien Page, CFA
Sébastien Page, CFA, Head of Global Multi-Asset and CIO at T. Rowe Price, joins the FTE Podcast to explore the intersection of leadership psychology and investment strategy. Drawing from his books Beyond Diversification and The Psychology of Leadership, Page shares how storytelling enhances financial education, the importance of resilience in investing, and how personality traits like openness and
Custom Indexing, Tax Efficiency & Factor Investing with Ehren Stanhope, CFA
Ehren Stanhope, CFA of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management explains how custom indexing builds on direct indexing by integrating tax loss harvesting, ESG preferences, and quantitative equity factors. He discusses how platforms like Canvas enable personalized portfolio construction while maintaining benchmark alignment. Stanhope also shares insights on the implications of rising interest rates, inflatio
Marlena Lee on Factor Investing, Market Insights, and Smarter Diversification
Marlena Lee, Global Head of Investment Solutions at Dimensional Fund Advisors, explains how her team bridges investment research with client needs through systematic, evidence-based approaches. Rather than chasing short-term market moves or stock-picking, Dimensional builds portfolios grounded in decades of academic research and practical data analysis. Lee highlights how the firm evaluates tradit
Decoding Investor Behavior and Avoiding Mistakes with Peter Lazaroff
Welcome to the Financial Thought Exchange, where we bring you insights from the brightest minds in finance! In this episode, recorded live from the CFA Institute Annual Conference in Chicago, we are honored to sit down with Peter Lazaroff. Peter is the author of "Making Money Simple" and the Chief Investment Officer at Plancorp Wealth Management, overseeing $7 billion in AUM. He is also the host o
Energy and Tech Expert Mark Mills Reflects on AI and the Next Industrial Revolution
In this podcast episode, Mark Mills, a physicist, energy expert, and "tech guru," argues that the hype around AI is justified but misunderstood, emphasizing its roots in statistical inference (which is not what humans do when they think). He explains that AI's strength lies in handling fuzzy, human-like tasks, unlike traditional computing's whiz-bang ability to calculate. This making AI transforma
Mark Mills on the Need for Abundant Energy and Rational Tradeoffs between Economy & Environment
In this episode of Financial Thought Exchange, host Larry Siegel interviews Mark Mills, a physicist turned energy and tech expert. Mills argues that there has never been a true energy transition, except for abandoning whale oil. Even as we pursue an energy transition, humanitycontinues to rely on traditional energy sources such as hydrocarbons, wood, even animal power. Mills criticizes the slow ad
Robo-Advisors vs. AI in Financial Planning: What You Need to Know
In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange podcast, Jason Pereira, host of the Fintech Impact Podcast and an advisor to technology and AI startups, delves into the evolving landscape of robo-advisors and the revolutionary impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in wealth management.
Private Credit Panel: Is There an Oversupply of Capital?
A lively debate on the state of the private credit market, recorded live from the CFA Institute Annual Conference! Financial historian Mark Higgins and alternative investment strategist Alfonso Ricciardelli face off on a critical question of whether the massive influx of capital into private credit is a dangerous bubble or a new, permanent structural shift. Hosted by Lotta Moberg, this panel expl
Elroy Dimson on Rates of Return Since the Middle Ages, University Endowments, the Equity Risk Premium, and Wine
Elroy Dimson and Larry Siegel discuss the origins of long-term investing by medieval universities, then move to rates of return, both past and future, on stocks versus bonds – there are some surprises in the older data suggesting the equity risk premium may not be as high as it appears. Dimson recounts his involvement with long-term investors such as the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, and presen
Elroy Dimson on a Hundred Years (or More) of International Investing
Elroy Dimson, who co-authored the first very long-term study of worldwide asset returns, explains to Larry Siegel how he was inspired by Roger Ibbotson to research the topic. Then, he and Larry discuss the relative merits of investing in the United States, other developed markets, and emerging markets as their economies have evolved. While U.S. stocks now form the dominant market in the world, tha
U.S. Fiscal Dominance and Sovereign Default Scenario
This episode of the Financial Thought Exchange Podcast features a discussion between host Lotta Moberg and James Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer. They explore the U.S. fiscal situation, potential default scenarios, and the implications for interest rates and bonds, highlighting the complexities of fiscal dominance and historical precedents in U.S. monetary policy. This
A Fundamental Deep-Dive into Interest Rates
In the Financial Thought Exchange podcast, host Lotta Moberg interviews James Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, about interest rates and their fundamental nature. They dig into the fundamental nature of interest rates and how they reflect scarcity, opportunity cost, and the human tendency to prioritize immediate gratification over future benefits. The discussion also tou
Tom Coleman on Inflation, Inequality, and Risk
Thomas Coleman, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, discusses a novel theory of money and inflation, inequality, and risk management with the CFA Institute Research Foundation's Larry Siegel. The "money" referred to in monetary economics is a thing of the past, says Tom, because nobody has any "money" (cash, checking accounts, savings accounts). They have marketable assets instead
Frontier Investing with Larry Speidell: Diamonds, Mobile Money & Exotic Opportunities (Part 1)
In this two-part episode, Lawrence Speidell, founder and CIO of Frontier Global Partners, discusses his Indiana Jones-like foray into frontier markets in search of stocks to buy for his firm's clients. Frontier markets are countries that are less developed than those in emerging market indexes. Larry's interest in frontier markets began during a lecture trip to China in the 1980s. Frontier market
Frontier Investing with Larry Speidell: Diamonds, Mobile Money & Exotic Opportunities (Part 2)
In this second episode segment, Larry Speidell, founder and CIO of Frontier Global Partners focuses on personal stories, travel experiences, and deeper insights into frontier markets. For example, Speidell praises Botswana's development, aided by diamond discoveries, but also discusses the "resource curse," where reliance on natural resources can hinder broader economic growth. Speidell's firm doe
David Booth on Founding a Firm Based On Revolutionary Academic Innovations (Part 2)
In Part 2, David Booth reflects on how Dimensional Fund Advisors expanded by partnering with fee-only financial advisors, helping to bring academic investing principles to individual clients. He emphasizes the importance of low fees both in appealing to personal investors and in delivering superior results to them. Booth discusses how his collaboration with leading finance professors led him to re
David Booth on Founding a Firm Based On Revolutionary Academic Innovations
David Booth, one of the best-known investors in the world, founded Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) along with Rex Sinquefield and brought asset-class investing, a description that embraces both index funds and the index-based but value-added strategy that DFA pursues, to individual investors as well as institutions. David, who received a PhD from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Busi
The Hidden Skeletons of Financial Reporting: Part 1
In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange podcast, host Lotta Moberg, CFA, and Marty Fridson, CIO at Lehman Livian Friedson Advisors, delve into the complexities of financial statements and corporate reporting. They discuss how companies often present financial health to their advantage, using Fridson's book, "Financial Statements," as a guide. The conversation covers regulatory impacts, t
The Hidden Skeletons of Financial Reporting: Part 2
In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange podcast, host Lotta Moberg, CFA, and Marty Fridson, CIO at Lehman Livian Friedson Advisors, delve into the complexities of financial statements and corporate reporting. They discuss how companies often present financial health to their advantage, using Fridson's book, "Financial Statements," as a guide. The conversation covers regulatory impacts, t
Author Gregory Zuckerman on Jim Simons And His Unmatched Hedge Fund Returns
Jim Simons, the late founder of Renaissance Technologies, achieved a track record that surpasses Warren Buffett and all the other great investment managers – by a lot. In a beautifully written account, The Man Who Solved the Market, Gregory Zuckerman, the Wall Street Journal who previously profiled John Paulson in The Greatest Trade Ever, talks about Renaissance's unique culture. The firm brough
Allison Schrager on Personal Risk: Big Wave Surfers, Tightrope Walkers, and Big Financial Losses
Allison Schrager is one of the world's foremost experts on personal risk. An economist by training, she has broadened her reach to learn about the risk management strategies of people who jump out of airplanes, surf big waves, and work in brothels. She is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor at City Journal, and a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion and practically everywhe
Cliff Asness Talks Quantitative Strategies and the Less Efficient Market Hypothesis
Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, shares his origin story, detailing his academic background at the University of Chicago, where he was influenced by prominent figures like Eugene Fama, who encouraged him to explore momentum investing although Fama did not think it could possibly work. Asness recounts his transition from portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs to co-founder and princi
Roger Ibbotson on Stocks, Bonds, Bills, Inflation, and the Future of Finance and Humanity
Roger G. Ibbotson, Professor Emeritus at Yale School of Management and chairman and CIO of Zebra Capital Management LLC, has authored numerous articles and books, including Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation, which serves as a standard reference for information and capital market returns. Laurence B. Siegel is the Director of Research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and a writer, speak
Lotta Moberg, CFA, and Brian Singer, CFA: Balancing Active and Passive Investment Horizons
Anthony DeChellis hosts industry veterans Brian Singer, CFA, and Lotta Moberg, CFA, to discuss their recently released CFA Institute Research Foundation brief, Financial Entrepreneurship: Balancing Active and Passive Investment Horizons. The conversation explores the evolution of the asset management industry over the decades, highlighting shifts from traditional investment approaches to innovativ
William Hardin on Education in Finance
In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Dr. William Hardin to discuss the philosophical relationship between education and finance, and how to properly utilize a financial education in the business world at large. Dr. William Hardin is Dean of the FIU (Florida International University) College of Business. He is Founding Director of the Tibor and Sheila Hollo School of Real Estate and wa
Philip Maymin on the Future of AI in Finance
In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Philip Maymin via Starlink to discuss the future of AI in the finance industry. Dr. Philip Maymin is Portfolio Manager and Director of Asset Allocation Strategies at Janus Henderson. He is also the Endowed Schramm Chair of Analytics and the MSBA Program Director at Fairfield Dolan, the CTO for Swipe.bet, and an instructor at Analytics.Bet. In the pa
William Goetzmann on Financial Archeology
In this episode, Prof. William Goetzmann joins host Larry Siegel to discuss financial archeology, and how the early history of financial institutions can inform modern practices. William N. Goetzmann is the Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies at the Yale School of Management, and executive editor of the Financial Analysts Journal. He won the James R. Vertin Award from th
Joseph Simonian on Model Validation in Finance
In this episode, host Lotta Moberg is joined by Joseph Simonian to discuss the importance of understanding the field of model validation and how it applies to the financial industry. His published work on the topic can be found here: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/en/research/foundation/2024/investment-model-validation Joseph Simonian is a globally renowned investor and researcher who has conducted
William Sharpe & Martin Leibowitz on Equity Risk Premium, Spending Rates & Investing for Retirement
Bill and Marty Join host Larry Siegel to discuss equity risk premium, spending rates, and investment strategies for retirement. William F. Sharpe, born in 1933, is the STANCO 25 Professor of Finance, Emeritus at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He was one of the originators of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and is the best-known exponent of it. He developed the "Sharpe Ratio" f
Mark Kritzman on Relevance-Based Prediction, An Alternative to Machine Learning
Mark joins host Lotta Moberg to discuss relevance-based prediction, a transparent and adaptive alternative to machine learning. Mark Kritzman, CFA is a Founding Partner and CEO of Windham Capital Management, LLC. He is also a Founding Partner of State Street Associates, and he teaches a graduate finance course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mark served as a Founding Director of the
Tom Idzorek & Paul Kaplan on Lifetime Financial Advice: Part Four
In this episode, Tom & Paul join host Lotta Moberg for the fourth time to finish their conversation covering how life-cycle finance provides a practical, integrated three-stage model for financial planning that not only embraces life-cycle finance but also integrates it with single-period optimization models. Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, is chief investment officer, retirement, for Morningstar Investme
Tom Idzorek & Paul Kaplan on Lifetime Financial Advice: Part Three
Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, is chief investment officer, retirement, for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. He also serves as a member of Morningstar's 401(k) committee, Public Policy Council, Global Investment Committee, U.S. Investment Policy Committee, the editorial board of Morningstar magazine, and the Journal of Investment Management conference series Advisory Board. Paul D. Kaplan, CFA, was
Tom Idzorek & Paul Kaplan on Lifetime Financial Advice: Part Two
Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, is chief investment officer, retirement, for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. He also serves as a member of Morningstar's 401(k) committee, Public Policy Council, Global Investment Committee, U.S. Investment Policy Committee, the editorial board of Morningstar magazine, and the Journal of Investment Management conference series Advisory Board. Paul D. Kaplan, CFA, was
Mike Dowdall on the Future of Alternative Credit
Mike Dowdall is Chief Investment Officer of Alternative Fund Advisors and the portfolio manager of the AFA Private Credit Fund. He is responsible for the investment sourcing, due diligence, and positioning of the AFA Private Credit Fund. Prior to joining Alternative Fund Advisors, Mike was a director and the portfolio manager at BMO Global Asset Management, where he managed the US multi-asset an
Nick Cleary on Infrastructure Debt
Nick joined Vantage Infrastructure in 2012 to build out the global infrastructure debt platform and has more than 25 years of relevant experience. Nick leads the North American business, including investments origination, execution and portfolio management. He is a member of the Investment Committee and the firm's global Executive Committee. Prior to joining Vantage Infrastructure, Nick spent ov
Zack Ellison on Venture Debt
Zack Ellison, CFA, CAIA is the founder and managing general partner of Applied Real Intelligence (A.R.I.) and the chief investment officer of the A.R.I. Senior Secured Growth Credit Fund, which provides debt financing solutions to premier startups in North America. He previously worked as a loan structurer and underwriter, investment banker, corporate bond trader, and fixed income portfolio mana
Thomas Idzorek & Paul Kaplan on Lifetime Financial Advice
Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, is chief investment officer, retirement, for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. He also serves as a member of Morningstar's 401(k) committee, Public Policy Council, Global Investment Committee, U.S. Investment Policy Committee, the editorial board of Morningstar magazine, and the Journal of Investment Management conference series Advisory Board. Paul D. Kaplan, CFA, was
Stephen Sexauer & Laurence Siegel on Remembering Harry Markowitz, the Father of Modern Finance
Stephen Sexauer is SDCERA's Chief Investment Officer and oversees SDCERA's $17 billion pension Trust Fund, investment team, and investment consultants. Sexauer graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Economics and from the University of Chicago with an MBA in Economics and Finance. Laurence B. Siegel is the Director of Research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and a writer,
Alfonso Ricciardelli on Alternative Credit
Alfonso Ricciardelli, CFA, is based in New York City. He is a Co-Founder at Noosk, a social platform for knowledge-based content. Alfonso's career spans 15 years between politics and finance. Alfonso joins host Lotta Moberg in the first ever episode of the Financial Thought Exchange podcast to discuss the basics of alternative credit and its usefulness as an asset class. His published work on the
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