Beyond The Obvious

By David HobartBusiness Investing

Beyond The Obvious episodes

July 28, 2020Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Ross Israel
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Ross Israel, Head of Global Infrastructure at QIC. Ross and his team manage over AU$14B in assets such as ports, roads, airports, water, electricity, gas and healthcare.
Investing in unlisted long-duration assets like infrastructure requires such a nuanced view of risk and a long, historical perspective on politics and economics; all of which Ross has in spades.
During our conversation, Ross shares how he and his team have managed their investments through this Covid-19 period, which you can imagine owning roads and airports, has presented some challenges.
I learned so much during our chat about a style of investing and an asset class that I knew very little about, yet I found the principles that Ross talks about are so relevant to all forms of investing. I hope you find our conversation as interesting and as educational as I did. Enjoy.
Links to QIC research:
QIC Global Infrastructure – https://www.qic.com/investment-capabilities/global-infrastructure
QIC Knowledge Centre Red Papers – https://www.qic.com/knowledge-centre/red-papers
Ross Israel can be found at:
QIC: https://www.qic.com/investment-capabilities/global-infrastructure/key-people-australia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-israel-a9b9203/
Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192
The post Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Ross Israel appeared first on David Hobart.
50 min
July 09, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with John Carroll
In this conversation, I had the pleasure of chatting with John Carroll, professor emeritus in […]
45 min
July 02, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Jamie Nicol
In this conversation, the first in a series of conversations with some of Australia’s best […]
43 min
June 25, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Ben Farinazzo
In this conversation, I chat with Ben Farinazzo. Ben is an Australia Day Ambassador and […]
48 min
May 28, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Jason McIntosh
In this episode I talk with Jason McIntosh, the founder of Motion Trader, a subscription-based […]
59 min
April 29, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Daniel Want
In this episode, I talk with Daniel Want, Director and CIO of Prerequisite Capital Management. […]
38 min
April 14, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Paul Ross

This
episode is with Paul Ross, the founder of the Citizens Dividend Organization,
which is a not-for-profit organization with the primary purpose of advocating
for the introduction of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy here in
Australia.

I’ve
followed the UBI conversation around the world over recent times, particularly
Andrew Yang’s contribution during the democratic primaries in the US. Paul has
some significant value to add in this debate. He has thought broadly and deeply
about the subject, both from a social science perspective and an economic
perspective. Whilst I’ve been curious about a UBI, I’ve also been skeptical,
but Paul’s logic and reasoning has most certainly shifted my thinking.

When
listening to this episode, I encourage you to lay down any political ideology
you may have for a moment and listen to Paul’s arguments. You may just find
yourself as curious about it as me. I hope you enjoy.

Paul Ross can be found at:

Website: https://citizens-dividend.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.ross.798

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulross2

Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192
29 min
April 01, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Marty Rabjohns

In this episode, I have a chat with Marty Rabjohns about leadership. Marty was the Coxwain for the Australian men’s rowing eight for a number of years, culminating in his representation for Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For those not familiar with rowing, the Coxwain is the small person steering and barking orders at the crew and the good ones are like the captain-coach.

To be able to lead a group of alpha
males at the height of their physical powers takes a powerful type of
leadership, not a forceful type. Marty epitomizes the essence of this
empathetic and powerful form of leadership.

In this conversation, we talk about how Marty brings out the best in others, how he resolves conflict in pressure situations and he provides some usable tools for drawing out performance at the highest levels, regardless of your discipline. It was a great chat. I hope you enjoy.

Marty Rabjohns can be found at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-rabjohns-026b1b8/

Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192
37 min
March 19, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Episode with Aongus O’Gorman

Today’s conversation is with Aongus O’Gorman. Aongus is Head of Delegated and Specialist Solutions at Willis Towers Watson in Australia.

Aongus started out with Europe’s largest systematic trading hedge fund in the mid-1990’s and then came to Australia as Head of Implemented Solutions at Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), where he was responsible for their multi-manager portfolio. This is where I first met Aongus. I was running my own hedge fund and kept pestering him to try to get him to allocate to my fund.

In
this conversation we discuss some of the risks and opportunities of passive
versus active investment strategies and where some of the opportunities exist
in a low interest rate world. We also talk about some of the challenges with
hedge fund investing.

Aongus is such a deep thinker around investing. Just when I’m expecting a certain answer, he brings so much more depth and breadth of perspective, which is so refreshing in a world where everything is a meme. He’s exactly the type of person you would want as a fiduciary and I’m so grateful that he was able to come on the podcast. I hope you enjoy.

Aongus O’Gorman can be found at:

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

Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192
31 min
February 19, 2020 Beyond the Obvious – Bitcoin & my Delusion of Grandeur

What is it
about bull markets that leads to delusional behaviour? How can I immunize my
thinking and behavior when I’m experiencing the collective delusions of the
market?

In this
episode, I talk about my embarrassing herd driven behavior during the Bitcoin
boom of 2018 and the lessons that I learned on how to manage my emotional
attachments around market extremes. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Book
references during the episode:

Kindleberger, C. (1978). Manias, bubbles, panics and
crashes, and the lender of last resort. S.l.

Mackay, C. (2002). Extraordinary popular
delusions and the madness of crowds.. New York: MetroBooks.

About David Hobart

David is a performance coach with a specialist background in
investment management. He works with investment professionals to eliminate all
the obstacles to better investment performance.

David can be found at:

Web: http://davidhobart.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hobart-631281112/

Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192
10 min