A PODCAST CURRICULUM FOR THE ASPIRING BUY-SIDER:
Early in my career I worked at a firm that also had an in-house fund of funds. This fund had a very good up front training program, but the monthly analyst training program really blew my mind.
A few times per year, we had
titans of the HF world come in and speak to the analyst class. Julian Robertson. Steve Mandel. David Einhorn. Eddie Lampert. Steve Cohen. As a 23 year old neophyte investor hungry to learn, I was in heaven.
I learned from David Einhorn not to short open ended growth stories,
and to try to "lose a little when you are basically wrong, and make a lot when you are right".
I learned from Steve Mandel to not fuss about a few points of P/E multiple on a great long-term story, and that stocks with zero terminal value rarely trade at a low enough P/E.
These were absolute GEMS of wisdom, and these insights helped me form my own personal investment philosophy.
Fast forward 14 years to '22, and this unique opportunity that I had in '08 is now open to the entire community, via PODCASTS.
In particular, Invest Like the Best with @patrick_oshag and Capital Allocators with @tseides have become absolutely required listening for buy-siders. Though Masters in Business and Columbia's Value Investing With Legends also pull in some great guests.
I will often see book-lists float around twitter and get many questions "hey I'm starting at a new HF, what should I read?".
In that situation, it's not what you should READ, it's what you should LISTEN to.
Reading the classics is a must for any serious investor, for sure. But reading 50 investing books might take a year or two.
This podcast curriculum might take a WEEK or two, and can be completed while you are building models, on a long road trip, taking a hike, etc.
A great podcast will fly around the IMs of experienced investors. When Steve Cohen gave his wonderful chat with @jsmian, I received it a few times.
And top candidates have figured this out already.
@GavinSBaker on episode 260 of Invest Like the Best, said to @patrick_oshag :
"I think you've done something really really good for the world. It blows my mind when I interview these kids under 25...largely because of your podcast, the kids that come in now...how good they are...and I think you're podcast has a lot to do with it."
10 years ago, a hungry, aspiring buy-sider would have NEVER had the opportunity to access the insights that are now regularly offered for FREE on podcast platforms.
So, hungry to break into the buyside? Or hungry as a junior (or senior) investment professional to learn more from
some of the greatest investment minds out there?
YES, read the classic books, for sure.
But by listening to the wisdom of the following speakers, you can learn the language & mindset of some of the best investors in the world.
Here is the curriculum I would recommend:
TIGER APPROACH TO INVESTING
Steve Mandel on Investing Behind Change:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ste…
Rob Citrone (former Tiger) on Emerging Markets & Hedge Funds:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rob…
Steven Galbraith (former Maverick) on Capital Allocation
capitalallocators.com/podcast/five-t…
Paul Enright (former Viking) Buy-Side Primer
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pau…
Paul Enright on Long-Short Investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pau…
MARKET NEUTRAL INVESTING
Steve Cohen (the GOAT) on the Inner Game
stray-reflections.com/publicevent/30…
Dmitry Balyasny on the Market Neutral Model
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dmi…
Jordi Visser (Weiss Multi-Strategy) on the Multi-Manager Model
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jor…
Dawn Fitzpatrick (Soros) on Multi-Faceted Investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daw…
CURRENT & FORMER HF MANAGERS ON THEIR APPROACH TO ALPHA GENERATION
Gavin Baker on Tech & Consumer Investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gav…
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gav…
podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6L…
Gaurav Kapadia (former TPG Axon, Soroban) on Compounding
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gau…
Eric Mandelblatt (Soroban) on Industrial Investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eri…
Lauren Taylor Wolfe on Activist & ESG investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lau…
Josh Friedman (Canyon) w/ a masterclass in credit
podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/jos…
Brad Gerstner (Altimeter) on tech & crossover investing
acquired.fm/episodes/altim…
David Zorub (Parsifal) on the path to launch a successful fund
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/dav…
Eli Casdin on life science investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eli…
Yen Liow on the quest for the right tail
podcasts.apple.com/mn/podcast/yen…
Brian Bares on qualitative investing
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bri…
Joel Greenblatt on relative value investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joe…
Ram Parameswaran on internet investing
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ram…
THE LONG ONLY MINDSET
Carl Kawaja (Capital Group)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/car…
Jean Hynes (Wellington)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jea…
John Harris (Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb)
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/joh…
Tom Russo (Gardner Russo & Gardner) on the power of consumer brand
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tom…
Paul Black (WCM) on growth stock investing
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pau…
Will Thorndike on Compounders
joincolossus.com/episodes/88167…
INVESTMENT MINDSET
Howard Marks (has his own podcast!) and has been on multiple
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…
Michael Mauboussin (a whole library of Mauboussin podcasts out there)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mic…
Morgan Housel on the Psychology of Money
theinvestorspodcast.com/episodes/psych…
Sam Zell (one of the best contrarian investors of all-time)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/407…
Kiril Sokoloff (editor of the popular HF newsletter, What I Learned This Week)
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/17-…
THE LP MINDEST (Capital Allocators has MANY of these)
Scott Malpass (former CIO of Notre Dame, teaches a highly reviewed investing class)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sco…
Sarah Samuels on analyzing hedge funds (does so for $1.5tn advisor)
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sar…
Larry Kochard on the LP CIO role
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/lar…
So if you want to break in or are new to the HF industry, I recommend doing this podcast "catch up" curriculum, then monitoring the handful of investing podcasts I mentioned (and sending them to your "investing nerd" friends).
Put any great podcasts I missed in the replies!
From my DMs, 4 great additions:
Hey Brett — wanted to flag a few more pods for you (Chuck Akre, Ricky sandler, tetlock on forecasting, and Graham Duncan + Tim Ferris)
open.spotify.com/episode/6lTot2…
open.spotify.com/episode/3xd3KX…
open.spotify.com/episode/4pRFJD…
open.spotify.com/episode/4dV50f…
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