On the Adjusted for Risk podcast, host Ryan Nauman interviews Haren Bhakta, founder and CEO of the Inside Ownership Index, who explains how the S&P 500’s free-float weighting effectively underweights shares held by controlling insiders and can end up buying more of founder-led companies after key leaders die.

Bhakta describes manually compiling 20 years of S&P 500 proxy filings to aggregate insider-ownership data and creating a passive index that weights companies by insider ownership as a “skin in the game” approach. He argues high ownership aligns management with shareholders, supports long-term innovation, and avoids value-destroying incentives, citing ownership patterns among 100-baggers and major S&P value destroyers. He also warns that proxy voting power concentrated in large asset managers entrenches mediocre leadership.

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Related:Russell’s Rebalance Is a Healthy Pruning Amidst an Epic Small-Cap Run

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:08 Origin of the Index

02:04 Free Float Problem

03:17 Building the Dataset

08:02 Why Ownership Matters

11:50 Power Law Leaders

14:37 Hundred Bagger Evidence

18:00 Long Term Culture Edge

27:24 Downside Protection

33:57 Passive Voting Risks

38:27 How Advisors Use OWN

40:25 Where to Learn More

41:29 Closing and Subscribe

Recorded live at Wealth Management EDGE, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Nate Lenz, co-founder and CEO of Concurrent, to discuss shifts in wealth management and the rise of NextGen advisors.

Lenz explains Concurrent’s platform model supporting independent wealth managers by handling middle and back office functions while preserving advisor autonomy, and highlights growth to supporting over 90 firms, plus newer RIA Capital Partners and Platform-as-a-Service offerings.

They discuss the aging advisor workforce amid rising demand for advice, AI as a productivity and entrepreneurship enabler rather than a job threat, and the increasing importance of human relationships as some services become commoditized. Lenz shares findings on nextgen expectations—mentorship and clear career paths over remote work—and describes Concurrent’s campus recruiting, internship program, training curriculum, and 18-month operational rotation.

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Learn more about Concurrent here.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:33 Live From Edge

01:35 Meet Nate Lenz

02:01 Concurrent Platform

03:07 Advisor Talent Crunch

06:01 AI Opportunity Debate

08:44 AI Boosts Productivity

10:27 Human Element Matters

12:14 Next Gen Expectations

13:48 Internships Recruiting

16:23 Training Rotation Paths

18:22 Attracting Young Advisors

20:49 Wrap Up And Links

From Lake Tahoe on the Adjusted for Risk podcast, Ryan Nauman welcomes back Adam Patti, CEO of VistaShares, to discuss how innovation in ETFs is bringing sophisticated strategies to retail investors and reshaping portfolio construction. Patti shares VistaShares’ focus on building a small set of differentiated products, noting the firm launched its first ETF in December 2024 and has grown to over $2 billion in assets. They emphasize ETF benefits like transparency, low fees, tax efficiency, and intraday trading, while warning investors to “look under the hood” rather than rely on marketing. Patti outlines a durable, cycle-resistant portfolio approach built on diversification across equities, fixed income, commodities, real estate, and cash, and highlights three key ETF categories: growth equity, income, and downside protection. He explains VistaShares’ “bill of materials” process for Super Cycle ETFs, mapping supply chains and weighting companies by economic exposure to themes like AI, space, robotics, and defense, and previews future investor-focused ETFs tied to managers like Druckenmiller and Tepper.

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Learn more about VistaShares: https://www.vistashares.com/

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:54 Meet Adam Patti 01:19

VistaShares Mission 02:36

Buffett and ETFs 03:57

Look Under Hood 05:35

Building Durable Portfolio

08:02 Concentration vs Diversification

11:26 Advisor Edge with ETFs

13:53 Marketing vs Philosophy

16:18 Next ETF Evolution

18:44 Staying Power Process

20:53 Bill of Materials Method

22:55 Whats Next and Wrap

Recorded on location at the Steward Symposium, Ryan Nauman welcomes Maria Condon, Chief of Staff at Steward Partners, to discuss how the firm’s culture is built, reinforced, and scaled amid rapid growth. Maria explains why the annual three-day symposium exists, what makes its energy and access to leadership unique, and how in-person connection complements content like newsletters and podcasts. She details Steward’s ownership-driven alignment and accountability, the planning required as the event has grown from about 50 partners in 2017 to nearly 500 attendees, and what success looks like through engagement and traditions like the NFL-draft-style jersey ceremony. Maria also shares how “Stew-opoly” became a meaningful symbol of the firm’s story, and describes her chief of staff role as driving alignment, execution, communication, and cultural continuity.

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Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome and Disclaimer

00:27 On Location at Symposium

01:12 Meet Maria Condon

02:28 What Symposium Is

05:13 Why It Feels Different

07:16 Culture at Steward

10:21 Proof Culture Is Real

12:48 Planning and Success

14:41 Jersey Ceremony Tradition

18:29 Scaling Culture with Growth

20:43 Stewopoly Culture Moment

23:10 Chief of Staff Explained

25:00 Culture Drives Outcomes

27:22 Why You Must Attend

28:35 Wrap Up and Links

From the “Adjusted for Risk” podcast, host Ryan Nauman interviews Wayne Penello, founder and CEO of NextGen EMP, about practical risk management for investors and advisors. Penello shares his background as a NYMEX options market maker and commodity risk consultant, emphasizing translating risk into meaningful metrics like budget outcomes and drawdowns rather than simple volatility. He argues advisors often diversify but don’t actively manage risk, and recommends using high-watermark/drawdown analysis to improve tactical entry decisions. Penello discusses why market timing fails and frames the opportunity as an allocation problem, advocating long/short strategies—especially in an ETF wrapper—for downside control, potential tax efficiency, and scalability for smaller accounts. He critiques buffered products for embedded costs, addresses misconceptions about long/short funds, and points listeners to the EMPB ETF and nextgenemp.com for more information.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryannauman1/

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Learn more about NextGenEMP: https://nextgenemp.com/

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

01:10 Meet Wayne Penello

01:46 Wayne’s Risk Journey

05:26 Defining Investment Risk

06:47 Drawdowns and Timing

09:20 Buy Hold Hope

11:22 Advisors and Risk Gaps

14:13 Process Over Timing

18:22 Why Long Short Works

23:40 Long Short Myths

27:14 Market Cycles and AI

32:42 Core Portfolio Role

37:26 Advisor Practice Benefits

40:42 Where to Learn More

42:07 Closing Thanks

Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast with guest Phil Palumbo, CEO/CIO of Palumbo Wealth Management and host of the Palumbo Pulse, to discuss aging demographics and implications for retirement planning and advisors. Palumbo describes leaving UBS to go independent for fiduciary alignment, better economics, and broader investment access, and explains his firm’s focus on helping founders prepare for and execute business exits, then manage taxes, planning, investing, and wealth transfer. He contrasts “retirement” with “make work optional,” emphasizing saving discipline, compounding, and long-term exposure to risk assets (stocks, real estate, private equity) to combat inflation and longevity risk. They stress the need for written financial plans, tax-aware investing, appropriate risk during distribution, bucket-based income planning, diversification, and client education to avoid panic selling during market volatility.

Learn more about Palumbo Wealth Management here.

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00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

01:13 Meet Phil Palumbo

02:59 Going Independent RIA

04:54 Make Work Optional

07:50 Saving and Compounding

10:26 Spending and Longevity

12:14 Inflation and Risk Assets

15:39 Why Plans Matter

17:38 Tax Smart Investing

19:28 Exit Planning Playbook

24:14 Retirement Spending Strategy

29:14 Ignore Market Noise

32:05 Emotions and Marathon Mindset

34:13 Wrap Up and Where to Find

From Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast, Ryan Nauman interviews Jim Jessup, income strategist at Virtus ETF Solutions, about ETF innovation and today’s fixed income environment. Jessup explains Virtus’s product-development approach: focus on commercially viable ETFs where managers can add alpha rather than chasing trends, and notes some highly specific ETFs may close or the industry may consolidate. On fixed income, he says despite macro and geopolitical noise and a new Fed chair (Warsh), market conditions look relatively normal: prices near par, default rates below but moving toward historical averages, and strong demand shown by oversubscribed new issues. He argues this is a “bond picker’s market” favoring active management, discusses private credit as a growing but varied space with both risks and liquidity benefits, and highlights the surge in AI-related investment-grade issuance as hyperscaler capex increasingly financed by debt.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Virtus Investment Partners here.

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

01:14 Meet Jim Jessup

03:12 ETF Boom Explained

04:05 Product Innovation Filter

06:52 Will ETFs Consolidate

08:22 Fixed Income Snapshot

10:36 Fed Chair And Signals

15:12 Defaults And Debt Wall

19:37 Private Credit Debate

25:14 Cash Yields And Risk

28:11 AI Driven Debt Wave

30:07 Where To Learn More

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Recording on location at the Steward Symposium, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Scott Danner (Chief Growth Officer) and Valerie Rivera (Chief Operating Officer) of Steward Partners to discuss growth in wealth management, where organic expansion has become harder and M&A has become a major driver. Danner shares his background building Freedom Street Partners and joining Steward in 2023, noting Steward’s growth from about $30B to over $50B in AUM largely through acquisitions. They explain why Steward frames the function as “strategic growth” rather than recruiting, emphasizing attraction, culture, and relationship over transaction. Rivera highlights advisors’ priorities beyond payout—clients, employees, legacy, and transition support—while outlining due diligence, integration, communication, and repeatable operational processes. Danner addresses misconceptions, the importance of scalable, team-based practices, and Steward’s long-term goal of becoming a $100B firm.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome and Disclosures

00:41 Symposium Setup and Growth Theme

01:30 Meet Scott and Val

01:54 Scott Career and Steward Growth

03:26 Val Background and Partnership

04:24 Why Steward Calls It Growth

06:32 North Star Relationship First

08:34 Val Perspective on Transitions

12:18 When Advisors Truly Fit

15:35 Due Diligence Beyond Numbers

16:46 Scaling Operations for Growth

18:28 Cutting Through M&A Noise

20:56 Misconceptions and Practice Value

25:35 How Scott and Val Complement

26:53 Future Vision and Closing

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast and speaks with Eden Ovadia, co-founder and CEO of Finny AI, about why organic growth is a major challenge for financial advisors and why reliance on M&A has made firms complacent and increasingly capital-inefficient as multiples rise. Ovadia explains that referrals still drive most industry growth but are largely passive, pushing ambitious firms to adopt more proactive prospecting and marketing strategies. They discuss how AI raises the bar for standing out, making niche specialization and sharp messaging more important, and why personalization matters from the first prospect interaction in a trust-based business. Ovadia describes how AI can automate prospect identification, segmentation, outreach, and content to book meetings, letting advisors focus on client relationships, and shares FINNY’s approach and her experience working with Josh Brown.

Learn more about Zephyr: https://informaconnect.com/zephyr/manager-screening/?utm_medium=Content&utm_source=Content_Podcast&utm_campaign=YT_Adjusted_for_Risk_&utm_content=YT_Adjusted_for_Risk

Learn more about FINNY: https://finny.com/

00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

01:14 Meet Eden and FINNY

04:01 Josh Brown Story

05:56 M&A vs Organic Growth

08:03 Referrals and Limits

09:37 Why Prospecting Is Hard

11:18 AI and Niche Targeting

14:40 Personalization Builds Trust

16:45 Scaling and Automation

22:30 Future of Growth Tech

24:32 Where to Learn More

25:11 Closing and Subscribe

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast from Lake Tahoe and welcomes Zach Conway, CEO of Seeds, to discuss how evolving investor expectations are reshaping wealth management. Conway explains he founded Seeds after seeing a disconnect between advisors’ strong client discovery and the shallow, product-centered approach often used in investment management, alongside inefficient, fragmented portfolio operations. They discuss rising demands for personalization, transparency, values-based investing, and broader solution sets such as direct indexing and alternatives, plus the need to deliver these in unified, scalable UMAs. Conway argues the industry’s biggest threat is its own reputational and process failures more than AI, while noting technology must help advisors provide a better human-led experience. He outlines how Seeds supports deeper investor understanding, proposal creation, and automated implementation, trading, tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing, and cash management.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Seeds here.

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

01:09 Meet Zach Conway

01:40 What Seeds Does

03:18 Why Zach Started Seeds

08:21 Industry DNA Shift

10:55 SpaceX Expectations Example

13:51 Modern Investor Experience

18:13 Human Advisor vs Apps

20:53 Meeting Expectations Today

27:19 AI Balance and Risks

32:34 Scaling New Products

37:08 Biggest Threat Is Us

40:21 How Seeds Helps Advisors

42:45 Where to Learn More

43:02 Final Thanks and Outro

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