Benjamin Felix

Welcome to another episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast! Today’s main topic is how to pick an actively managed fund to invest in despite funds of this type producing lower returns than passive ones!

Even though we learn that money is merely a means of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account, it’s so much more than this. Money captures so much of what we grapple with like hope, joy, fear, regret, and envy, yet it’s widely surveyed as being the least spoken-about issue when compared to religion, mortality, and marriage. Dr. Brian Portnoy, the author of The Geometry of Wealth, joins us today to share his view on wealth.

We kick off today’s episode of the Rational Reminder by discussing when Ben will be publishing his new model portfolios and a quick look at some of our upcoming guests and resources you might want to take a look at.

Who better to have on the 100th episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast than Professor Ken French? Ken has been a massive inspiration to us and has remained a guiding light for sensible, evidence-based investors over the last few decades! His work with Eugene Fama stands as the seminal work on the subject of passive investment portfolios and we are so delighted to have him on the show today as we talk through some of his thoughts on a variety of subjects.

We often talk about better planning, reduced spending and a consistent long-term strategy on the show and today we have a guest who not only gives that advice himself but clearly lives it too! Andrew Hallam is the author of the new book Millionaire Expat in which he details some strategies for what has been called geographic arbitrage, or moving to another part of the world in order to maximize your financial independence!

We spend the bulk of today’s episode considering whether Wealthsimple’s use of long bonds and low volatility stocks is really protecting their clients’ downside, and summing up recent arguments by Cliff Asness and AQR levelled against critiques on value investing.

Today on the Rational Reminder Podcast we interview a seasoned journalist from The Wall Street Journal, Greg Zuckerman. With 23 years of experience with the media outlet, Greg has written extensively about the most prominent figures in the world of investing, including Jim Simons, John Paulson and Carl Icahn, generally focusing his attention on significant trades, traders and fund managers.

The economic effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have been unprecedented and the seismic shifts have caused numerous unforeseen challenges. While no-one could have predicted the enormity and speed of the current crash before it happened, several signs indicated that an economic contraction was on the horizon.

The recent film, Playing with FIRE details the particulars of the FIRE Movement in a way that is accessible, informative and impactful. Both Cameron and Ben were hugely impressed with the film and the argument it makes for the framework of FIRE.

When it comes to the question of whether the economy affects the stock market, it’s not about whether the former is in a good or bad state, but how that relates to what the market was expecting. In today’s episode we get into predictions about labour economics during COVID-19, the relationship between the market and the economy, and how to make decisions that suit your risk tolerance.