Tl;dr Can your podcast app be more valuable than an MBA? It might. I’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to. Follow these 8 things to cut through the noise and get incredible access to knowledge & thinking to supercharge your investment career.
Recently joined the investment industry? Congrats and welcome, you’re going to love it here! One of the funny things about investing is it’s simultaneously hugely complex and quite simple at the same time depending on how you look at it. There are no immutable laws and no perfect answers (regardless of what some say). Also, change is afoot which makes it a great time to start a career in the business. Investors are re-evaluating their approach to thinking about the impact of their portfolios (carbon emissions being just one example). Investment firms are recognising their lack of diversity and focusing efforts on changing it. You’ve joined the industry right at the start of a once in a generation scale capital flow in infrastructure and decarbonisation .
But here’s what I’m really here to tell you: It has never been easier and less costly to acquire knowledge that can really jump you ahead in your career. I’m proud to have made it through the actuarial exams and a maths degree, but right now my podcast app is giving both of them a run for their money in terms of real value to my career and I’m not even joking.
You can effectively get a fireside chat right now with the industry’s biggest founders (like Ray Dalio, Cliff Asness and Jeremy Grantham), money managers looking after billions of dollars like Dan Ivascyn and Greg Jensen, the best researchers (like Rob Arnott or Michael Mauboussin) , bestselling global authors like Robert Schiller and Stephanie Kelton or global policy makers like Janet Yellen and Mark Carney. Until just a few years ago this would have been the domain of only the most exclusive and expensive MBA programs.
Warning: there is also a HUGE amount of noise, rubbish, hot air and marketing spin masquerading as thinking, it pays to be able to sort the signal from the noise. I’m here to help you with that. Here I’m listing out just 8 things you should follow, based on reading & listening to hundreds if not thousands of things over the years. These are the best of the best!
You know the funniest thing though ? Most people , and most of you reading this, will actually leave all this free knowledge lying on the table, and won’t touch it. But that’s great news for the few of you that do something with it, as you’re going to get a huge amount of compound advantage in your career in just tuning in to a tiny fraction of what’s available. Here’s 8 things you just must be following –
Animal Spirits
This is always first on my podcast playlist. Michael and Ben’s no-nonsense approach to market commentary sprinkled with humour is so refreshing in an industry awash with anodyne corporate guff. A weekly listen to this will keep you current on investing issues of the moment and give you a million hot takes on key themes. You could also do a lot worse than follow Michael and Ben’s blogs as well as the rest of their colleagues at Ritholtz Wealth Management who do a great job of showing the industry what the future of content looks like.
OddLots
Covering everything from shipping to microchips to macro , these great conversations with hosts Joe and Tracy will make you smarter. A couple of recent highlights include Dan Ivascyn (PIMCO) and Greg Jensen (Bridgewater)
Masters in Business
Barry Ritholtz simply gets the biggest guests in the business on what must be one of the longest running investing podcasts out there. Fantastic long form conversations with a range of founders, researchers, money managers and analysts.
John Authers daily newsletter Points of Return
This daily (yes daily) newsletter packs a staggering amount of insight and data synthesis. 10 mins spent reading it makes you smarter and better informed , even if you don’t agree with it all (which i frequently don’t). Especially essential reading after big market events like central bank decisions.
Morning Brew daily newsletter
In the era of memes and crypto , the team at morning brew will keep you up the minute with fresh , short digestible and entertaining content.
Talking Responsibly
The inside track on the biggest mega theme in investing currently. Thoughtful interviews that actually get at some of the tough trade offs in responsible investing and cut through hype and hot air , straight from investing practitioners at pension funds (not managers flogging product)
Axios Macro and Axios markets
Modern media outlet Axios has several fantastic short form newsletters that take under 5 minutes to read and brilliantly cover a range of topical content. Their writing style is also well worth studying to help you communicate better yourself.
Bloomberg Green
Stay on top of the latest news that matters on the big issue of our time.
Interested in more podcasts? I summarise the top podcast episodes each year, you can find my lists for 2021 here and 2020 here.
If following these 8 things is too much for you (and it really shouldn’t be) then my fortnightly newsletter (subscribe here on substack or LinkedIn) brings the best of what I’m currently reading and listening to, including the best of the above, every two weeks.
You can also check out my own podcast: Investment Uncut here .
I hope you found this helpful! If you did, please take a moment to share it with someone else who might appreciate it.
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