Resolve Riffs Investment Podcast

For this podcast we had the pleasure of being joined by Fred Pye, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 3iQ Corp. He is also the Chairman of 3iQ Digital Holdings Inc. 3iQ is a pioneer manager in the digital asset space, with a variety of Canadian and international mutual funds and ETFs providing access to a variety of cryptocurrencies.

On this episode we discuss:

• The early history of trailblazing unique asset classes
• The QSC/OSC and Bitcoin – a commodity, a security or a currency
• Closed-end funds – their advantages for investors
• Four years, plus 10,000 pages of due diligence
• Frontier asset classes and client retention
• The impact of Bitcoin on third world economies
• The future of the Blockchain

We thoroughly enjoyed this episode and hope that you will too. See you next week.

This is GestaltU from ReSolve Asset Management where we debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

 “A year ago, digital assets were a fringe asset class, the mere mention of which could spell career risk. Now, the career risk is likely if you completely ignore the space.”

Global markets are evolving at a blinding pace, and investors often find themselves in a race to catch up with what are sometimes truly tectonic shifts. Nowhere is this more emblematic than in the digital assets realm. We had the pleasure of once again hosting Tyrone Ross Jr, along with his new business partner Eric Ervin – founders of Onramp Invest – for a fascinating conversation that covered:

• A ‘meeting of minds’ that resulted in Onramp Invest
• The fast and furious migration of digital assets into the common zeitgeist
• Trying to seamlessly integrate Onramp Invest into advisors’ workflow – ease of access is crucial
• Onramp Academy – filling the education vacuum and establishing a foundation for conversations
• Integrating traditional finance with the crypto world
• The difference between digital assets and digital currencies
• One third of the S&P500’s market cap is represented by financial services – the size of the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) Pie
• The importance of properly anchored risk expectations for a highly volatile and emerging asset class

The discussion also included frameworks for understanding both the value of digital assets (think network effects) and their possible place in portfolios (where rebalancing is of paramount importance). Eric and Tyrone shared their screen to walk us through their portal and some of the very useful tools they’ve created for investors.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

“There are two types of truths – one that can be derived from first principles, and another that emerges from a common set of beliefs or a shared narrative.”

It was our great pleasure to speak this week with Demetri Kofinas, host of the popular Hidden Forces podcast. We have been keen listeners to Hidden Forces for some time and have admired Demetri’s ability to dive deep into topics as diverse as epistemology, philosophy, global macro and digital assets, to name just a few. Our conversation included:

• Demetri’s background in media and journey to establishing Hidden Forces
• Disillusionment after the Great Financial Crisis and conspiracy rabbit holes
• Is the fracturing US political system beyond repair?
• The Trump Phenomenon – cause, symptom or catalyst?
• Hyperrealism, information bubbles and the struggle to find common ground
• Fiat news and narrative wars
• Defining truth – the trouble with epistemology
• Digital assets, financial nihilism and generational divide
• US, China and Russia – the geopolitical backdrop

Demetri also walked us through his process for generating ideas for episodes and cited memorable guests that have helped shape his understanding on many of the subjects we touched upon. It was a truly fascinating conversation and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

“As the discount rate drives towards zero, it inflates every asset on the planet, including their correlations. Today’s dominant factor is discount rate risk.”

Fasten your seatbelt and dial down the speed on your podcast player, because you are in for an epic ride. With our good friend Corey Hoffstein (CIO of Newfound Research) as co-host, we were once again joined by one of the most interesting and thought-provoking guests we’ve had on the show: Chris Schindler (Co-founder, CEO and CIO of Castlefield Associates). This incredibly rich and nuanced conversation touched on themes that included:

• Who is “on the other side” of trades and investment strategies – persistent wealth transfers that lead to positive utility for both parties, with no “willing losers”
• Crowded and anti-crowded trades – drilling into the reflexive nature of markets
• What leads to crowding – structural and behavioral reasons, along with naturally-long players
• Why alternative risk premia (aka investment factors) have become shockingly crowded, and where investors might find blue ocean in the space
• Behavior doesn’t manifest in a vacuum – why the efficient market hypothesis is naturally at odds with human synchronization
• Alpha in traditional investments implies being early and/or different
• Social media, riot theory and the emergent phenomenon of crowds
• The ultimate CIO’s dilemma – where do we go from here?
• The moral hazard trade – governments, central banks, and self-fulfilling prophecies
• A basket of call options is always preferable to a call option on a basket

We also covered some of the underlying reasons for market synchronization, how many steps ahead of the crowds are likely to lead to profitable trades, and much more. This episode contains more nuggets of wisdom than we could count and is certainly worth saving for future reference.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

“Life – and investing – are more like poker than chess”. This week we had the honor to speak to none other than Annie Duke, former World Series of Poker champion, author of “Thinking in Bets” and “How to Decide”, and thought leader in the field of decision-making. Co-hosted by our good friend Brian Portnoy (founder of Shaping Wealth), the conversation covered:

• How planning for a life in academia led her into a successful poker career
• Applying her background in cognitive science to advance her game – Annie’s “Aha! moment"
• Not all poker is created equal – tournaments, cash games, iterations, and strategic differences
• Nature vs nurture – cognitive flexibility and turning a hedgehog into a fox
• Cognitive Reflection Tests and why they may indicate a larger appetite for conspiracy theories
• The Dunning-Kruger effect, overconfidence and naïve realism
• The pervasive influence of the sunk cost fallacy and how we might keep it in check
• Group think, cognitive laziness and why most people tend to anchor to the first response they hear

We also explored the illusion of explanatory depth (and why often the answer lies within the question), the effects of tight feedback loops, and multiple applications for life and investment decisions. Towards the end we caught on to the fact that Annie had actually been incepting us with ideas from her new book all along. We had been looking forward to this conversation for some time and it exceeded our expectations.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

How we can prepare for every investment scenario.

We discuss:

• Risk Parity and Futures Markets
• Leverage and Value Diversification
• Outsourcing Expertise
• Integrating Asset Classes to Maximize Returns

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

This week we were joined by Brandon Caruana and Brian Tang, cofounders of Cayman-based Cartan Group, a consulting firm that specializes in blockchain technology solutions. The two combine for a deep and broad knowledge base of the emerging digital asset space, which made for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation that included topics such as:

• The full ‘crypto stack’ – core networks and their multiple layers
• Block sizes and transaction speeds – features or bugs?
• Proof of work vs proof of stake – validation methods and relative merits
• Energy costs, algorithm rules and security
• Trade-offs between different blockchains and layers – what problems are they trying to solve?
• Why base layers are always more secure than the stack
• Why Bitcoin is the asset-equivalent of a duck-billed platypus
• Asset-backed coins and varying collaterals for stable coins

We also discussed the attractive features of the Algorand protocol, Helium and ‘proof of space’, and the generational divide between living in the analog and digital realms. The conversation devolved into philosophical musings on Artificial Intelligence and techno-utopia (and at times dystopia), a future of abundance and the pursuit of passions and callings, which left us with the ultimate question: is AI going to eat, rule or serve the world?

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

How can we manage for scenarios when Liquidity evaporates?

We discuss:

• The mechanics of a Liquidity Shock
• The Fed and the Long Volatility Gap
• Diversification, Tail Hedge Protection and Theta Bleed
• Dennis Rodman and the Long Vol Trade
• Yield, Growth and Inflation

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

Our guest this week was Robert Cantwell, founder and CIO of Upholdings, the first hedge fund in the US to be converted into an ETF. His career arc, beginning on the institutional side of the business and then actively seeking out more experience as a business operator, armed him with the flexibility of both mindset and strategy to embrace disruptive new trends. The conversation included:

• The differences between building a company and managing money
• Why ETFs, the modern vehicles, aren’t yet wholly embraced as the premium vehicle
• Size matters – margins vs scalability
• The future is unconstrained by geography or time-zones (and probably lives on the blockchain)
• The tradeoffs between a nimble portfolio and tax implications
• Doing your homework – speak to the five people that know the most about a given company or topic (yes, much easier said than done)
• Time arbitrage – the best alpha you can have is a longer investment horizon than most market participants

We also discussed the time-varying nature of the market’s fear over specific industries and investment categories, seizing the opportunity provided by low rates and volatility spikes, and why the US government’s “business model” is fundamentally flawed. Robert also shared a couple of stories from his experience working with Bono Vox, as well as a take on U2 that you would probably never expect.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

This is GestaltU from ReSolve Asset Management where we debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global.

The Crypto space is gaining more interest every day. David Fauchier is a Portfolio Manager and allocator at Nickel Digital Asset Management, with eight years of experience in the digital asset space. Prior to joining Nickel, David was CIO of Cambrial Capital, a London based fund of funds, which specialized in sourcing and selecting market neutral managers in the digital asset space. He also sits on the Advisory Board of Global Digital Finance, an industry membership body engaging policy makers and regulators to advocate for industry best practice in cryptoassets.

On this episode we discuss:

• The history of money regimes
• The cottage industry and new definition of “Market Neutral“
• Contrasting allocation criteria for digital vs traditional managers
• Fund Managers and “The Five Aces“
• Paranoid Cowboys
• The plumbing of fund management
• The three approaches to Crypto investing
• Cumulative “IQ Points“

As an addendum, we were able to debrief with David on the evening of the May 19th crypto liquidation event to hear first-hand how institutional traders experienced the event in real-time.

This was a wide-ranging conversation as David provided in depth insight into the paths taken during the current evolution of Crypto and where he feels it may lead us from here.

We hope you enjoy this informative interview.