Sean McGould – the founder/CEO of the Lighthouse Group – an approximately $17 billion investment management firm. Prior to Lighthouse, Sean was the Director of the Outside Trader Investment Program for Trout Trading Management Company. Before joining Trout, he worked for Price Waterhouse in auditing and corporate finance. In this podcast we discuss:

1. The Multi-Strategy Investment Approach
2. The Selective "War for Talent"
3. Adapting to Trump 2.0 Volatility
4. Targeting Real Returns vs Gold
5. AI: A Digital Tool, Not a Total Bubble
6. Redefining Value in the Digital Age
7. Japan's Shareholder Value Pivot
8. Centralised Planning Risks in China
9. Patience in Tight Credit Markets
10. The 2026 Macro Outlook

You can get more information on Sean's firm here

The commentary contained in the above article/podcast does not constitute an offer or a solicitation, or a recommendation to implement or liquidate an investment or to carry out any other transaction. It should not be used as a basis for any investment decision or other decision. Any investment decision should be based on appropriate professional advice specific to your needs.

Srividya Jandhyala is a professor of Management at ESSEC Business School in Singapore. Her research focuses on global strategy, geopolitics, and international business. She is the author of the best-selling book 'The Great Disruption: How Geopolitics is Changing Companies, Managers, and Work'. Before ESSEC, she was a Fung Global Fellow at Princeton University. She also served on the faculty of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and she received her PhD in Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In this podcast, we discuss:

1. Geopolitics as a Structural Headwind
2. The End of the "Flat World"
3. Why Corporate Nationality Trumps Product
4. Lessons from Mining and Energy Sectors
5. The Jenga Tower of Global Friction
6. Sovereign AI and Geopolitical Tech
7. China's "Singapore" Playbook
8. The Erosion of the Rules-Based Order
9. Localization and the "Societal License" to Operate
10. The Shift from "Event-Based" Thinking

Rory Johnston is a Toronto-based oil market researcher, the founder of Commodity Context, a lecturer at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, as well as a Fellow with both the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Prior to founding Commodity Context, Rory led commodity economics research at Scotiabank. In this podcast, we discuss:

• Trump's Bullish Paradox
• Importance of China's SPR
• Why OPEC+ Hiked Production
• The "Oil on Water" Overhang
• Venezuela and Iran
• 2026 Outlook
• US Shale's H2 Roll-over
• Long term demand outlook

Phil is the founder of Suttle Economics – a leading research consultancy. Before that, he held senior roles at Tudor, the Institute of International Finance (IIF), JP Morgan, Barclays, the New York Fed and World Bank. He was educated at Oxford University and lives in the US. In the podcast, we talk about:

• US Labour Market Dissonance
• Trump's "Elizabeth Warren" Populism
• The Productivity Mystery
• Fed Under Pressure
• Sticky Inflation Through 2027
• Global Business Disruptions
• Extreme Oil Volatility
• Japan's Policy Pivot
• China's Sluggish Consumer
• European and UK Growth
• Historical Parallels to Populism

Robert is Founder, Chief Investment Officer and the Managing Partner of the $5bn EM fund, Gramercy. He founded Gramercy in 1998. Robert has 36 years of investment experience dedicated to emerging markets with a specialization in distressed opportunistic credit strategies. He is a member of Gramercy's Management Team and is Co-Chair of the Risk Management Committee. In this podcast we discuss:

• EM in 2025: From Caution to FOMO
• EM vs DM: A Role Reversal Since COVID
• The Problem with EM Labels & Indices
• China: From 'Uninvestable' to Selective Opportunity
• Russia–Ukraine: Asymmetry, Reconstruction, and Market Blind Spots
• The Boom in EM Private Credit
• Where the Opportunities Are in EM Private Credit
• Mexico, NAFTA 2.0, and Geopolitics
• Venezuela and the 'Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine'
• Fed Policy: The Only Conviction Is Lack of Conviction
• Portfolio Philosophy: Fighting FOMO and Overtrading

Jay Pelosky is the founder of TPW Advisory. He has over 35 years of buy-side and sell-side financial market experience. Before going independent, Jay was at Morgan Stanley, where he was ranked #1 by Institutional Investor in Global Equity Strategy and Global Asset Allocation Strategy. In this podcast, we discuss:

1. Tripolar World (TPW) - regional integration in Asia, Europe, and Americas.
2. Global growth long cycle driven by spending on AI, defense, and climate across regions.
3. China-US AI competition
4. The shift from chip quality to power costs as the key AI competitive advantage.
5. Brazil and Spain's clean energy plays
6. Why 2025 is not like the 2000 dotcom bubble
7. Private credit opportunities
8. Attractive China tech valuations
9. China's five-year plan
10. Europe's potential
11. Countries pressuring institutions to invest domestically rather than in US markets.

Ken Tropin is a legend in the macro space. He is the Chairman and the founder of Graham Capital Management (GCM) - $20bn fund. Ken founded GCM in 1994 and has grown the firm into an industry leading alternative investment manager focusing on global macro discretionary and quantitative hedge fund strategies. Prior to founding GCM, Ken had significant experience in the alternative investment industry, including five years (1989 to 1993) as President and Chief Executive Officer of John W. Henry & Company, Inc. and seven years (1982 to 1989) as Senior Vice President and Director of Managed Futures at Dean Witter Reynolds. In this podcast we discuss:

• Investment philosophy

• Differentiation from multi-strat funds

• Talent recruitment strategy; NY office

• Fed outlook

• Term premium as underpriced

• US deficit concerns and duration risk in long-end rates

• AI and technology

• Global central bank divergence

• Inflation pressures

• Private credit

• Dollar view

• Geopolitical risks

• Robin Hood Foundation

Sangeet Paul Choudary is the best-selling co-author of Platform Revolution and author of the new book Reshuffle. He has advised leadership teams at over 40 Fortune 500 companies—including Nestlé, ExxonMobil, Daimler, ING, and Booking.com—as well as pre-IPO tech firms. Sangeet currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and has spoken at global forums such as the G20 Summit, World50 Summit, and the World Economic Forum.

David Dredge is the Chief Investment Officer of Convex Strategies, which is an agnostic value investor in volatility. David has over 30 years' experience managing risk across global markets. Prior to launching Convex Strategies, David served as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Artradis Fund Management in Singapore, where he was responsible for the fixed income aspects of their volatility strategy. Earlier in his career, David built and ran Asian and Global EM trading businesses for RBS (ABN AMRO Group), Bankers Trust, and Bank of America. He currently sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore Markets Committee (SFEMC).

Marc Rubinstein is author of Net Interest – a leading weekly newsletter on the world of finance. Before this, Marc spent ten years at leading hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, where he was a partner and portfolio manager. This was after he spent time on the sell-side working for Barclays Investment Bank (BZW), Schroders and then Credit Suisse, where he was head of the European banks research team. In this podcast we discuss:.

• AI bubble historical analogies

• 1907 crisis and non-bank growth

• Private credit risks

• Fraud cycles and market corrections

• Jane Street's technological edge

• Exchanges commoditise trading

• Banks adopt blockchain technology

• Fintech challenges incumbents

• AI disrupts entry-level finance jobs

• Books mentioned: 1929 (Andrew Ross Sorkin), Land Trap (Mike Bird)