Hello, as I’m realigning my various content activities, I’d like to take this opportunity to reintroduce myself and what I’m doing here.
First, I’m reorganising this Substack.
There are now 2 sections:
The main one, which you are already familiar with if you are a subscriber, will feature articles. I will no longer post podcast summaries there, but I plan to post longer-form content based on the podcast conversations but also broader research on a more or less monthly basis.
The podcast will belong to a different section. I’ve moved the podcast hosting to Substack, so you will find the whole archive there. I will be posting the new episodes on a more or less weekly basis in video format and with references.
As a subscriber, you are by default added to both mailing lists, but you can choose to opt out of one of them.
Second, what am I doing here?
This is an extended version of the transcript of the video, with links.This channel has a simple purpose: to find ways to deliver better outcomes for investors. That’s what I call “Investology.”
I don’t see it in the list of -logy disciplines, but I think it should be added, because we only talk about investment management as a business or as a way to achieve individual outcomes, but who looks out for the broader outcome? An investologist—that’s who!
It can be through tech, innovation, or rediscovering solutions that may be forgotten. I look at it from a business or B2B perspective, but always with the end investor in mind.
You won't find investment advice or tips here. This is not the channel for that. There are plenty of others. Here are some of my favourites on Substack:
- , for macro through charts that are each worth a 10,000 words
- , to engage in investments and decision-making using a philosophical, educated, and unemotional thought process
- , for detailed deep dives in current and evergreen topics in investment management
- , for educational pieces and case studies on private markets
As I’ve been thinking of their outstanding work, and that of all the other better writers than me, I’ve been trying to figure out my edge, or my purpose. I think they are the same thing.
I'm doing this because I used to work in financial markets in London, Singapore, Paris in different roles, but they had a common thread: I was selling sophisticated financial products, derivatives, alternatives to institutional investors (my LinkedIn if you want to check me out or connect).
Naturally I was measured by the PNL I was generating, not the outcome for my institutional clients, although I helped them make more money, and even less about the outcome for the end investor. And that's very normal for the industry, just like any industry. But in finance in particular, there's a lot of cynicism and greed.
But there's also the idea, influenced by Nobel Prize economist Robert Shiller, that finance has historically contributed to the good of society through inventions such as mortgages, savings accounts, pensions, etc. And rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good.
(I didn’t mention it in the video, but Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, is another major influence).
I feel I am in a good position to do that because I was an insider that's become an outsider. I'm not affiliated with anyone, and I really have the privilege to just look out for those better outcomes.
Tech and FinTech promise significant improvements there, but technologies are neutral; it’s how you use them that matters. And in the age of tech supremacy, you need critical thinking to cut through the noise, the hype, the bad actors. And there's a ton of that.
The content will be mostly driven by conversations to rethink investment management for better outcomes (that’s the podcast part), and there's an eclectic mix of speakers: There are founders, innovators, and operators, but also experts, academics, and authors.
But the conversations are only the beginning. And this is where it connects with my actual business of content creation for financial brands—those that deliver better outcomes for investors!
The next posts will be in the new format, but some have been already published but not sent in the podcast section. You can check them out already. There’s some massive data and tech episodes: Finbourne, Quantifeed, Tamarix.
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