Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence

Earnings season was strong, with profits doubling forecasts and solid margins driving the bull market despite higher volatility. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Christopher Cain, US quantitative strategist at BI, speak with Jerry Parker, founder and chairman of Chesapeake Capital and portfolio manager on funds including the Blueprint Chesapeake Multi-Asset Trend ETF (TFPN). They explore his “trend-following-plus-nothing” philosophy, which adheres to pure, uncompromised trend following without added strategies or smoothing. They also discussed why diversification is paramount, why stocks belong in commodity-trading-adviser portfolios and how the original turtle experiment could be adapted for today’s generation of traders. The podcast was recorded on Nov. 11.

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A potential shift in US monetary policy toward fiscal dominance — where government financing influences rates more than inflation control — could change the risk-return trade-off for CLO investors. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Reto Bachmann, BI’s chief structured finance strategist, spoke with Bill Sokol, director of product management at VanEck and Fran Rodilosso, head of fixed income ETF portfolio management and a portfolio manager on the VanEck CLO ETF (CLOI) and VanEck CLO AA-BB CLO ETF (CLOB), about why active management is essential when it comes to manager selection and loan-level analysis and how effective ETF management mitigates liquidity risk through diversified exposure across tranches. They also discussed why relative value remains attractive as CLO tranches yield more than corporates and other asset-backed securities. 
This podcast was recorded on Nov. 4. 

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AI’s next competitive edge is increasingly tied to vertical integration, connecting digital capacity with physical infrastructure. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, and co-host Breanne Dougherty, BI’s head of thematic strategy, speak with Eli Horton, managing director of equities at TCW and senior portfolio manager for the TCW Transform Systems ETF (PWRD). Horton discusses why he rejects traditional sector-based investing, arguing instead for a systems-based approach, which views the economy as interconnected systems. They also discuss why changing legacy industries is crucial for transformation, how bottlenecks in the power supply present investment opportunities and why he views decentralized energy systems as highly promising. The podcast was recorded on Oct. 14.

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High-quality stocks, measured by profitability, are trading at historically elevated levels, among the strongest in 25 years. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, and co-host Christopher Cain, US quantitative strategist at BI, speak with Sid Jain, deputy portfolio manager at GQG Partners, about the firm’s focus on durable earnings and forward-looking quality, its US Select Quality Equity Fund (GQEPX) and why today’s market — particularly in tech — could prove worse than the dot-com bubble. They also discuss the team’s approach, which blends quant guardrails, investigative research and price-momentum awareness to avoid value traps. The podcast was recorded on Oct. 6.

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Despite tariff-related concerns, corporate earnings, especially in the S&P 500, have been stronger than expected. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual-fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US Small Cap and Sector Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence spoke with Michael Lippert, Vice President and Head of Technology Research at Baron Capital and a portfolio manager for the Baron Opportunity (BIOIX) and Baron Technology (BTECX) funds about the Baron Capital philosophy, which focuses on secular growth trends with durable, compounding potential and the firm’s preference for companies that can expand into multiple growth curves. They also discussed the transformative impact of AI across industries and why physical AI is a powerful but underappreciated theme. 

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Emerging markets have had one of the strongest years since 2017, with currency appreciation a key driver of returns. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Marvin Chen, BI’s senior Asia equity strategist spoke with Robert Marshall-Lee, founding partner and chief investment officer of Cusana Capital about its sword-and-shield framework, which seeks high-quality, founder-led compounders with structural growth and avoids value-destructive companies. They discussed why emerging-market indexes are full of weak companies, why tariffs are seen as short-term noise rather than structural impediments and where future opportunities could be strongest.

The podcast was recorded on Sept. 9.

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Defined-outcome and options-overlay ETFs take in roughly $3 billion a month, reflecting rising investor demand. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, and co-host James Seyffart, ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Arnim Holzer, global macro strategist at Easterly EAB and a portfolio manager for the Easterly Hedged Equity strategy, about the investment philosophy behind the strategy, which focuses on asymmetric return patterns and minimizing drawdowns. They discussed how hedged-equity strategies serve as an alternative to traditional fixed income in portfolios, why the correlation between equities and fixed income has become unstable after the global financial crisis and how the strategy differs from traditional buffer ETFs. The podcast was recorded on Aug. 14.

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The eurozone outlook may depend on an earnings rebound driven by ECB rate cuts and German fiscal stimulus. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, Bloomberg Intelligence’s mutual fund and active management analyst, and co-host Laurent Douillet, senior equity strategist at BI, spoke with Nathaniel Velarde, a partner of Chautauqua Capital Management and portfolio manager for the Baird Chautauqua International Growth Fund (CCWIX). Velarde outlines their long-term, high-conviction approach built around time arbitrage and the three key traits they seek in companies. He also discusses the team’s RVR framework for evaluating positions, why they maintain a thesis book and how non-US markets still offer fertile ground for stock pickers. The podcast was recorded Aug. 6.

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Valuation expansion, not earnings growth, has driven most of the S&P 500’s gains since 2022. In this episode of Inside Active, hosts David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, and BI’s Chief Equity Strategist Gina Martin Adams speak with David Giroux, chief investment officer of US equity at T. Rowe Price and a portfolio manager for the Capital Appreciation strategy. Giroux shares why internal rate of return projections guide his stock selection, the critical importance of avoiding companies with fatal flaws and how counter-cyclical actions historically boost performance. They also discuss private investments, bonds and why independent thinking is essential for long-term investment success. The podcast was recorded on July 21st.

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In June, the equity risk premium was negative for the first time since the early 2000s, indicating that stocks appear expensive relative to bonds and could yield mixed returns going forward. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small-cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with Wellington’s Don Kilbride and Peter Fisher, sub-advisers to Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX) and Vanguard International Dividend Growth (VIDGX), about the importance of sustainable dividend growth. They discussed why a commitment to dividends signals confidence in future cash flows and why high dividend yields can sometimes signal unsustainable dividends. The podcast was recorded on June 12.

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