John Mathews is the Head of Private Wealth Management in the Americas for UBS. UBS is the world’s largest global wealth manager with $6 trillion in assets, of which $2 trillion are in the Americas. Private Wealth Management is comprised of roughly 230 teams and 661 financial advisors.

Our conversation explores how the largest wirehouse empowers its financial advisors to act as entrepreneurs to bring tailored investment solutions to their clients. We cover the scale and scope of the UBS private wealth platform, the need for personalization, specialization, and customization, the bank’s centralized investment strategy and decentralized implementation, its curated alternatives platform, and the evolving landscape for financial advisors. Here's the Head of Content job posting. 

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Michael Sidgmore is the Co-Founder of Broadhaven Ventures and the creator of the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, which explores the intersection of private markets, technology, and wealth management. His career spans early roles at Goldman Sachs and iCapital, experience building businesses in fintech and asset management, and investing across the private market ecosystem.

Our conversation offers an in-depth introduction to the intersection of private markets and private wealth. We discuss the origins of Alt Goes Mainstream, the rapid evolution of private markets, the convergence of institutional and wealth channels, and the rise of evergreen structures and new distribution models. We close with Michael’s perspective on how the wave of capital flowing into private markets from private wealth will impact investors, and on the importance of content, brand, and community in shaping the industry’s future.

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Two weeks ago, James Aitken suggested sharpening your pencil to find specific individual assets that have been beaten down, while Louis-Vincent Gave declared Latin America an attractive place to look. Combining these themes, I reached out to today’s guest, Rodrigo Bitar, Co-founder of 3B1 Partners, to get his perspective on opportunities in the region. Rodrigo was a past guest on the show three years ago, and that conversation is replayed in the feed.

 

Our conversation this time around covers the investment case for Latin America, 3B1’s experience in Venezuela, lessons learned from operating in high-risk, illiquid markets, the value of bringing capital to the region, the necessity of patience, and a specific individual asset 3B1 is pursuing in Central America.

 

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Original Release Date: 08/29/2022   On today’s show we’ll discuss a classic empty room – an opportunity ignored by most investors. In this case, we dive into the investment case for Venezuela, a non-starter for pretty much every institution because of the country’s autocratic political regime, sanctions, and headline risk. But alongside those known risks are the potential for significant rewards. Rodrigo Bitar is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 3B1 Partners, the leading private equity fund making growth investments in Venezuela. 3B1 invests in high-quality companies with leading positions in basic industries, while looking to capture a change in macroeconomic conditions in the country. Our conversation covers Rodrigo’s upbringing in Chile, professional background, and investment opportunity in Venezuela. We discuss Venezuela’s sanctions, economic contraction, and dollarization of the economy. We then turn to investing in the country, including sourcing, due diligence, and an example of a recent transaction. We close with a discussion of the upside and risks to investing in Venezuela. Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership    Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Show Notes

(3:18) Rodrigo’s background (6:50) Family dynamics (10:13) Investible assets in Venezuela (12:03) Impact of Russian oil restrictions (13:38) Surviving economic turmoil (17:27) Private vs. public markets in Venezuela (19:31) Identifying companies  (21:51) Due diligence process  (23:49) Assessing valuations (25:28) Risks unique to Venezuela (28:09) Conversations with potential investors (32:05) Closing questions 

No one wants to invest in a small manager. There, I said it. But everyone wants to invest in a great small manager. So how does a small manager try to prove that they’re great?

Read Ted’s blog here.

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Ben Forman is the Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, a $1.5 billion manager of financial applications of blockchain technology and digital assets across long, arbitrage, venture, and GP seeding strategies. Ben last came on the show in 2022 as part of our Crypto for Institutions mini-series, and that conversation is replayed in the feed.

 

Our conversation dives into the evolution of blockchain over the past few years, including the industry's "Lehman moment" and subsequent recovery. We discuss Bitcoin, memecoins, the rise of stablecoins as blockchain's killer app, tokenized assets, prediction markets, credit, and the intersection of AI and blockchain technologies. Ben also shares insights into ParaFi’s approach to investing and his long-term vision for building a business in this dynamic industry.

 

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Ben Forman is the Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, a $1 billion investment and technology firm that focuses on decentralized finance across digital assets, venture equity, and quantitative strategies. Ben launched ParaFi in 2018 after a decade in traditional finance roles across investment banking, credit investing, and private equity at venerable institutions such as Rothschild, TPG, and KKR. Our conversation covers Ben’s background, pivot to crypto, and launch of ParaFi into a bear market. We then discuss opportunities in the world of DeFi, including borrowing and lending, stablecoins, scaling, insurance, governance, and capital allocation. We close with ParaFi’s research and valuation approach, engagement with DeFi protocols, and seeding crypto managers.

 

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Last week was one of the most volatile in market history. In the last twenty-five years, it’s likely matched only by the pandemic and Global Financial Crisis in the breadth of potential outcomes for the future. In a change from our typical market-insensitive conversations, I was fortunate to gather three of the most insightful thinkers on global macroeconomics and geopolitics on Friday to share their assessment of the changing landscape.

 

My guests on today’s show are James Aitken, Marko Papic, and Louis-Vincent Gave. James is the founder of Aitken Advisors, Marko is the Macro-Geopolitical Chief Strategist at BCA Research, and Louis is the Co-Founder of Gavekal Research. Each are past guests on the show, and their first appearances are replayed in the feed.

 

Our conversation explores the shifting landscape of global markets and geopolitics, highlighting their shared belief in the end of U.S. exceptionalism. We dive into the conditions leading into Liberation Day, the motivations of the U.S. and China, and the likely outcome of the tariff wars. 

 

We then turn to the markets, covering the weakening U.S. dollar, rise of non-aligned nations, opportunities emerging in Latin America, Europe, and Asia, U.S. Treasuries and the yield curve, and private markets. We close with thoughts on potential winners and losers while unpacking how allocators can navigate this period of profound change.

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Louis-Vincent Gave is the Founding Partner and CEO of GaveKal, one of the world's leading independent providers of macro research, and GaveKal Capital, a manager of $2.7 billion in assets. Louis launched GaveKal alongside his father in 2000 and has become a go-to source for creative research on global economics and asset allocation, particularly in China. He recently penned CYA as a Guiding Principle, dissecting the consequences of Western government responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He joined me to discuss the key takeaways.   Our conversation starts with Louis’ background and founding of GaveKal, and turns to the potential second order impacts of freezing reserves, seizing oligarch assets, end of Swiss neutrality, energy prices, and military spending. We close discussing how the situation may affect China.   Learn More‍ Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn‍ Subscribe to the mailing list‍ Access Transcript with Premium Membership   Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Marko Papic is the Chief Strategist at Clocktower Group, where he provides research on geopolitics, macroeconomics, and markets. Marko recently published Geopolitical Alpha: An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future, an imminently readable book with colorful examples of political analysis. Marko’s approach is akin to Moneyball for politics, challenging the orthodoxy of how others traditionally make investment decisions. Our conversation covers Marko’s upbringing, the flaws of most political analysis, and his constraints-based framework. We then turn to the obvious political topic at hand – next week’s U.S. Presidential election. We discuss his views of different possible outcomes on the U.S. equity market, rates, tech stocks, China, private equity, ESG, Europe, and emerging markets.

 

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