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Sep 12 • 26 tweets • 13 min read
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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More from @FundamentEdge

Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 13
CONFERENCE FIELD GUIDE

I got a lot of laughs on twitter from all the GS TMT conference takes today so I thought today would be a good day for my conference field guide, the talk that I would give my new analysts when they joined my team.
"A QUARTER IN THE LIFE"

It bothers me much more than it should when someone asks me about a "day in the life" at a hedge fund. The answer is, I have no idea! Depends on the SEASON. But I can give you a VERY predictable "quarter in the life", particularly for a more trading
oriented pod approach. There are three season in each quarter.

1) EARNINGS SEASON.



Earnings season prep generally starts the last 2 weeks of a calendar quarter (gotta get that IR call in before the quiet period goes into effect!)
Read 34 tweets
Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 8
9 SUGGESTIONS FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR SELL-SIDE EQUITY SALES RELATIONSHIP

When you land on the buy-side, your head is likely to be spinning for the first 6 months. So much to navigate - internal systems, internal culture, how to actually DO THE JOB, and a cadre of of counterparties.
The sell-side will be your most critical counterparty, and your portal to the sell-side will be your equity salesperson. This person has the ability to really help you marshal the resources of the street in a way that can help you do your job effectively.
I had a conversation with one of my top former Equity Sales brokers, and we spit-balled about a framework of suggestions to help you navigate this relationship. Here is what we came up with:

1) KNOW YOUR TIERS. Know how much your firm pays the street and the closest counterparty
Read 20 tweets
Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 6
I am very pleased to announce that I have joined the Alumni Committee on the Board of Directors for STREAM (Strengthening Racial Equity In Asset Management).

STREAM is a 2 year old program that hosts 40 asset management internships for under-represented groups.
My aim on the Alumni Committee is to help STREAM interns find great asset management jobs upon graduation.

Candidates: application for Summer '23 is open now until Nov 30th (see flyer).
Firms: if you have interest in participating in STREAM as an employer, please contact me and I can point you to the right contact at STREAM.

Fundamental Edge is working on partnering with STREAM to provide our training content to help STREAM interns have a productive summer.
Read 5 tweets
Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 5
PITCH LIKE A PRO ✔️

Communicating your ideas succinctly & convincingly is one of the most important skills a buy-side analyst (or PM, for that matter!) can master

And early in my career, I was AWFUL at this. I fell into the "book report" trap - doing 3 weeks of research
and reporting back on every part of the research. I fell into the "rambling, incoherent pitch" trap, talking and talking and not getting into the point. And I also fell into the "I'm so nervous, I'm going to read from a script" trap.
I'll tell you an embarrassing story. 12 years ago when I was an an analyst at a Tiger Cub, I uncovered a very interesting, wide-spread short thesis on Chinese reverse mergers. I was tapped to pitch this thesis to our investors at the annual meeting. And I was SO NERVOUS.
Read 45 tweets
Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 3
NEW EVENT FOR ON-CYCLE HEDGE FUND CANDIDATES

My birdies have told me that buy-side recruiting has officially kicked off for the fresh crop of investment banking juniors. In a hiring ecosystem where PE firms host a super day in a weekend and provide exploding offers, it can be
difficult for I-bankers who want to go the HF route to hold strong for the right HF seat.

Fundamental Edge will be hosting a VIRTUAL (ZOOM) education & connection event Tuesday September 13th from 7-9pm EST for these candidates.
Here are some details. If you are a current investment banking junior (1st or 2nd year), please e-mail me your resume at brett@fundamentedge.com.

I will screen & assess the interest list, and provide invitations to join this event to top candidates.
Read 11 tweets
Brett Caughran Profile picture
Sep 1
DEI EVENT (diversity, equity, inclusion)

Part of our mission at Fundamental Edge is to break down barriers to the buy-side seat and make the buy-side a more friendly place for non-traditional candidates
In that vein, we are in the very early stages of planning a DEI Candidate event with a core fund partner.

These are the outlines.
- Fully virtual via Zoom
- I will give a 90 minute session on "the buy-side analyst process" and "life on the buy-side" with Q&A
- We will have a hiring panel with funds who are highly motivated to hire DEI candidates
- We will screen the resumes of attendees and help to set up break-out meetings with those fund partners

I can't do this alone! If you are passionate about this issue and want to help,
Read 4 tweets

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