In this Easter special we explore a slightly different realm: religion! Very occasionally one individual can have a disproportionately powerful impact on a collection of people, but very rarely does that person’s impact grow in time and reach, and expand beyond anyone’s expectations and for millions, be responsible for enhancing their lives. Our guest, the Reverend Nicky Gumbel, talks of his own odyssey from barrister to clergyman, before widening both awareness and access to Christianity to...

Our guest today earned her master’s degree in physics, captained her rugby team at Oxford, and then a few years later was posted as bp’s engineering manager to Baku, Azerbaijan. She then spent time as Country Head in neighbouring Georgia and COO of Lightsource bp, and is now bp’s Senior Vice President, Wells.  In this conversation, Ann explains bp’s mission to become an integrated energy company, built on three strategic pillars: resilient hydrocarbons, convenience and mobility and low...

In May 2021, we turned our attention to an investor dilemma – Should we view wine as a proper asset class? And how should we think about the wine industry, unmodernised for so long, but ripe for change! A disrupter emerged in 1997, in the shape of Bordeaux Index, set up by Michael Spencer and Gary Boom. In this conversation we learn about the shifting sands of supply and demand. We discuss global climate impact and some of its advantages for the wine industry. We discuss wealth creation...

In this bitesize feature, David Einhorn, Founder & President of Greenlight Capital, discusses the potential impact passive investing has had on value investors, and where opportunities may lie.  David is one of Wall Street's most closely followed hedge fund managers, whose public commentary on stocks has had market moving results ('The Einhorn Effect'). He's perhaps most well-known for his short bet on Lehman Brothers in 2007.  This is an excerpt from his appearance at the London Value...

In today’s episode, the Money Maze Podcast takes a short trip back to 2023 to revisit our Second Private Markets Series.  We shared fascinating conversations with guests from the likes of TPG, Tikehau Capital, Nasdaq Private Market, CAIS, and IFM Investors.   In case you missed those episodes, we have compiled together some of the highlights from those episodes, including David Neal of IFM Investors on why infrastructure ‘feels like almost the perfect institutional asset class’ and Matt...

In this bitesize feature, A-Rod Corp’s CEO, Alex Rodriguez, discusses principal capital, creating opportunities for partners, and A-Rod’s geographical scope. In the full interview, Alex speaks about how he came to dominate his sport, developing a substantial portfolio of investments and businesses through his investment firm, invaluable advice given to him by Warren Buffet. Listen or watch here.  Money Maze Moments are short extracts taken from some of our most popular episodes, which we...

With a successful career incorporating 18 years at Goldman Sachs, and then CEO of the Man Group, Emmanuel explains today’s landscape for investors across the fixed income universe. He explains PIMCO’s mission and reach. He discusses how the world is awash with cash and short-term maturities, creating opportunities with interest rates having adjusted upwards. He feels there is a tidal wave of liquidity, underpinning an optimistic view of the possible investments which exist; from credit,...

Why does a teacher trained to help children with special needs decide to  switch, earn an MBA, then work at Pepsi, become an investment consultant, and end up becoming CIO at an $8 billion dollar foundation? In this conversation, Roz recaps on lessons learned with investing organisations, (including CalPERS) before arriving at Helmsley Foundation in 2010. She describes what makes for an effective investment committee, why investment boxes like ‘growth’ and ‘value’ can be counterproductive,...

Our guest today has been referred to as "the English Warren Buffett" for his style and success in investing. His book, published in 1992, Accounting for Growth, and its ensuing controversy helped propel it to the top of the bestsellers chart, displacing Stephen Hawking's ’A Brief History of Time’ from the No.1 spot.  He’s been head of research, CEO of a public company, a former top banks analyst (who won’t own a bank in his fund), and is now highly respected Founder and CIO at the global...

What if clearing out early stage cancers from your body could become as routine as going to your dentist, or what if a single vaccine could protect you against multiple viruses? In this episode, we trace Mike Milken’s journey from developing and popularising high yield corporate bonds, to catalysing changes in the world of cancer, and addressing key unmet medical challenges. Mike describes the centrality of medicine in powering economic growth. He describes the current priorities, progress,...

What do JR Tolkien, Emma Watson, Oscar Wilde, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Niall Ferguson & Dr. Seuss have in common?  They all attended Oxford University, which for nearly 1,000 years has been educating some of the brightest of British and global youth. To have proved so permanent and excellent is testimony to many forces, both financial and educational. In this episode we’re delighted to have its founding Chief Investment Officer and CEO, Sandra Robertson, who explains their...

This week, the Money Maze Podcast is packing up and shutting down for Christmas and New Year. But before we get away, we wanted to catch you up on everything we’ve been up to these last 12 months! Otherwise, we wish all our listeners, sponsors & friends an enjoyable festive break! The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, Bremont Watches, LiveTrade and IFM Investors. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube

If you don’t know about his most recent book ‘Going Infinite’,  you’ll probably want to buy it after listening to or watching this episode with Michael Lewis, author of multiple books and associated films, including 'The Big Short', 'Moneyball', 'Flash Boys', 'The Blind Side', 'Liars’ Poker', and more. In this interview, with co-host Ravi Joseph, we start out with Liar’s Poker and the wild west of the Salomon Brothers trading floor. Then, picking up from where we left off from our interview...

For all the narratives around investing and making money, those who have survived the investment cycles for decades and earned above average returns have typically adhered to sound disciplines. This means valuing companies correctly, not taking shortcuts, not being swayed by management ebullience, and digging into the financial statements is key to optimising returns. In this episode, Steve Clapham, veteran analyst, investor and creator of Behind the Balance Sheet explains why effective...

In his report ‘Birth, Death, and Wealth Creation’, Michael Mauboussin observes and then claims that corporations are surviving longer and winning more.  This week, we welcome Michael Mauboussin, Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, to discuss the unique patterns of wealth creation in  public equity markets.  After explaining the similarities between ice hockey and investing, Michael discusses why corporate ‘death rate’ is higher than...

'Contrary to what was widely expected at the start of the present century, the world has not seen the end of major wars, confirming that Plato was right when he wrote that “only the dead have seen the end of war.”' These lines come from a new book, just published, titled ‘Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.’ The book was written by Lord Roberts, a widely respected UK author, and General Petraeus, former CIA Director and former Commander of US Central Command. In this...

According to Bloomberg, Ray Dalio and his firm Bridgewater have “made more money for investors than any other hedge fund in history”. In this interview, Ray outlines his investment thinking and analyses some key trends shaping the global economy. Ray is an investor, commentator, philanthropist, and analyst of history’s relevance is assessing today’s economic and social challenges. He’s been dubbed the “Steve Jobs of investing" and Fortune has referred to the company he founded as the "5th...

Today’s guest was a key player on the George Soros team, who in 1992 helped the Quantum Fund make $1bn, shorting sterling ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the ERM. As Soros’s CIO, he was also dubbed ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank of Japan’ by the Wall Street Journal after making approximately $3.5bn on the Abenomics trade from 2012-2015.  Scott is widely acknowledged to be one of the world’s most highly respected macro hedge fund managers, and currently runs Key Square Capital Management. He...

Today’s guest has performed with Pavarotti, but in his day job he is a financial commentator and author, who spent 29 years at the Financial Times, including as Global Head of the Lex Column, before moving to Bloomberg as Senior Markets Editor. He is responsible for ‘Points of Return’, the highly regarded and followed commentary, and has the unusual appeal of a career spanning geographies, asset classes and employers. John recaps on his investing lessons from years of writing ‘The Long...

There are certain geopolitical developments that need to be examined in an objective and timely manner for their profound strategic ramifications. After the attack by Hamas and the ensuing conflagration, we welcome two seasoned Middle East thinkers from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). We attempt to disentangle the key forces at work and the motives. In the context of the wider Abraham Accords and Biden’s push for a Saudi/Israeli détente, we discuss how...

In this bitesize feature, Amgen’s CEO explains why Iceland’s isolated population make it a useful sample for understanding how disease arises from a genetic standpoint, and what this means for the drug discovery pipeline.  In the full interview Bob discusses timelines and priorities, the use of AI in accelerating drug development, biologics, facing setbacks on the road to approvals, and the challenge of running a company which has a presence in over 100 countries. Listen or watch here. ...

William Butler Yeats, the great poet, observed, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” It may be easy to agree that education is the passport to a better future, but in this episode we wanted to discuss how we should be thinking about education today and tomorrow, and are we failing? Our guest, Sir Anthony Seldon, is recognised as one of the most distinguished and respected figures in the world of education. He’s a headmaster who has led some of the UK's...

In this conversation with David Neal, CEO of IFM Investors, we explore the origins of this highly unusual institution, an ‘investor-owned global investment manager’. Set up around 30 years ago to invest on behalf of more than 600 like minded institutions worldwide, it now manages approximately $143 billion (USD, as of 30/06/23).  David discusses what he believes makes for an effective CIO, lessons he drew from being CEO at the Australian Future Fund and why IFM was born. He explains their...

In this episode of our Private Markets Miniseries, we explore a French firm, whose growth has now firmly established it as a major force in the global alternatives industry. Started in 2004 in Paris by Mathieu Chabran and Antoine Flamarion, then aged 28 and 31 respectively, with €4m of assets compiled from personal savings, friends and family, today it manages over €40 billion.  Mathieu explains their motivation to leave leading investment banks to build a business specialising in private...

In this conversation we discuss both the changing nature of demand for alternative assets as well as their supply. Matt explains how CAIS is creating the bridge between the alternative investment firms and the wealth management community, whose portfolio allocations to these investments are a fraction of their institutional counterparts. Matt discusses the size of the market opportunity, how technology is enabling this rapid transition, and helping solve the problem of unequal access to...