The Wall Street Lab

Rasa Karapandza is a Professor of Finance, Vice Dean of Education, and the Academic Director of the Master in Finance Program at EBS Business School in Germany. He is also a visiting Professor at New York University. He was previously also visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. Additionally, Rasa is a Member of the board of directors and member of the audit committee of RS2, a payment processing company. The general focus of Rasa's research is investments, empirical asset pricing, and portfolio management. He advised members of the US congress on the topics of regulating cryptocurrencies Rasa received his PhD in Economics and Finance from Graduate School of Economics Barcelona (summa cum laude). He holds a Masters degree in Economics and Finance from University Pompeu Fabra and a Bachelors degree in Astrophysics from the University of Belgrade.   In this episode we cover a lot of ground. We get into Rasa's research about empirical asset pricing aka trying to predict future asset prices. We talk about how he utilises machine learning and language processing methods to extract sentiment from public news sources. We then speak about the controversial topics of High Frequency Trading and Payment for order flow. We cover cryptocurrencies and Rasa debunks some myths about blockchain. Rasa shares insights into his past and encouragements he wants to give to students.

Jens Bernhardt is the Founder and Managing Partner of Bernhardt Advisory, a multifamily office, an M&A service provider, and placement agent for private equity funds in Germany.  Before founding his own company, Jens was Chief Investment Strategist of the family office service provider subsidiary of Sal. Oppenheim, which at the time in 2008, was Europe's largest independent private bank. Jens previously has been a member of the Board of Deutsche Wohnen, a property company listed in Germany's main index, the DAX.    Before that, he was Chief Investment Officer for Germany at Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland's biggest insurance company. And before that, he was Chief Investment Officer at Skandia Life Insurance. And even before that, Jens was a management consultant and fund manager. Jens holds an MBA from Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Kassel.   In this episode Jens gives us an overview of the Private Wealth space. This includes similarities and differences between Family Offices, Wealth Managers, and Private Banks. As an industry veteran, Jens gets into the benefits and struggles of Family Offices.

Jascha Samadi is Co-Founder and Partner at Greenfield One, a Berlin-based early-stage venture fund dedicated to blockchain and crypto. Greenfield One makes long-term bets on early developer teams building towards an open, decentralized and more robust architecture of tomorrow’s web. Prior to Greenfield One, Jascha was Co-Founder and CEO of apprupt, which was acquired by browser maker Opera Software in 2014. He is also Co-Founder of Flux, a scalable open market protocol. Jascha holds a Bachelor and Master of Law from Hamburg University.   This episodes combines two topics we have talked about in the past, Venture Capital and Crypto and how the two can go together. We talk about how crypto VCs invest into new technology, teams, and tokens. We learn how the decision criteria for a crypto VC, the differences, and the similarities between crypto VC and traditional VC. And we learn how the blockchain helps the transparancy on which VCs are all in on the project. Enjoy this deep dive into Web3 Investing. 

Our guest today is Mohnish Pabrai. Mohnish is a legendary investor, a shameless cloner and an effective philanthropist. He is both, the author and the subject of several books. Mohnish is the founder and Managing Partner of Pabrai Investment Funds, Founder and CEO of Dhandho Funds, Founder of the Dakshana Foundation. He is the author of "The Dhandho Investor" and "Mosaic: Perspectives on Investing". In this episode we talk about how Mohnish cloned his investment style from legends like Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, and Charlie Munger. Mohnish shares lessons from his book about businesses and investing. We talk about deep value investing, great compounders and the difference in mindset those styles require. We get into his investment funnel, investing mindset, and what Mohnish focuses his attention on. We talk about other great investors like Nick Sleep, Zak Zakaria, and more. Mohnish shares investing lessons from the sitcom "Seinfeld" and fantastic advice on personal and career development. 

Our guest today is Laurie Menoud. Laurie is a Partner at At One Ventures, a VC that finds, funds, and grows deep-tech startups to catalyze a world where humanity is a net positive to nature. Laurie also joined the board of directors of several Startups, and is a multi board observer. Throughout her career Laurie was a Microbiologist, a Biochemist, and Biotechnologist. She was involved in the characterization of the giant virus, “Mimivirus,” at the French national laboratory, which shed new light on the origins of life and optimized new biological processes for wastewater treatment. All that, before she turned to VC, where she co-founded A DOZEN! deep-tech startups related to computer vision, Natural Language Processing, diagnostics and robotics during her time at SRI International and later as Co-lead of BASF's North America Venture Capital efforts. In this episode we talk about Deep Tech VC Investments. We learn how to invest in Biotech, robotics, AI, and much more. Laurie tells us how her background in research, biotech, biochemistry and biology has helped her be a better investor. We talk about investments in companies to lead humanity to a state where we are a net positive to nature. We learn about sourcing deep tech investments, doing due diligence, and helping net positive companies grow. 

Our guest today is Luis García Álvarez. Luis is an Equity Portfolio Manager at MAPFRE Asset Management. MAPFRE is the world's largest Spanish insurance company and the second largest insurance group in Latin America.   Luis has recently received the 'Fund Manager of the Year' award at the Third Edition of the RankiaPro Awards. The economic-financial publication has recognized Luis as "anticipating volatility and creating a portfolio consistent with the long-term view" in an adverse context in financial markets such as that experienced since March 2020.   Luis is also the Co-Director and Professor at the Executive Program in Value Investing and Behavioural Finance at ICADE Business School.   Since 2013 Luis is a CFA Charterholder. Luis also has co-authored several papers on the field of finance which he has presented at the University of Warsaw, University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin, the European Central Bank and the Spanish Finance Association. Before joining MAPFRE, Luis worked at Banco Santander as a Market Risk Analyst and also at BBVA as an Equity Research Analyst.   Luis holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Francisco de Vitoria University, a Master’s degree in Economics and Finance from CEMFI and the Value Investing Diploma awarded by the Ben Graham Chair at the Richard Ivey School of Business. In this episode Luis explains to us what Value Investing, Behavioural Finance, and Investing in sports have to do with each other. Luis talks about combining the Value Investing approach with knowledge from Behavioural Finance and how that helps him invest into European Football (Soccer) clubs. He explains his investing approach, idea creation, systems to keep his own emotions in check while gauging the emotions of greed and fear in the market to make successful investments. We deep dive into the financial side of European football and sports in general.

Alina Sychova has more than 18 years of experience in Investment Banking. Currently as the head of capital markets origination at Sova Capital, a UK based Broker specializing in Emerging Markets. Previously, Alina was a managing director and the head of equity Capital markets at Gazprom bank. And before that, the head of ECM origination in Russia and CIS that's the Commonwealth of independent states at City. Alina clan the ranks at Bank of America Merrill Lynch from an Analyst to Director. All those jobs have a strong focus on investment banking for emerging markets across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Alina holds a master's degree in finance from London Business School, a bachelor's degree in finance, and a bachelor's degree in international finance, both cum laude from pyramidal College of New Jersey. In this episode we deep dive into Investment Banking, more specifically into IPOs. Alina leads us through the entire process a company does from deciding to go public, to the first days of trading on an exchange. We talk about the checklist IPO items, as well as the creative, artistic parts of taking a company public as an investment bank. We explore Investment Banking in Emerging Markets and the differences to developed markets. Alina shares with us her views on industry trends, opportunities for young bankers, especially women interested in IB. Alina also shares  and her own story making career in this male dominated IB world. And of course she gives great advice for young professionals and many jumping off points for a round 2.

Michael Berns is Director for AI & FinTech at PwC. Michael has a broad background across blue chip names such as Morgan Stanley & Moody's as well as a range of smaller innovative AI Firms. Michael has been a Mentor and Judge for organizations like Startup Bootcamp, Virgin Money Startup, Cocoon Network, Level 39, MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition and the United Nations World Food Program. Michael is als a guest lecturer at London Business School and Mannheim Business School. Michael holds an Executive MBA from London Business School.  In this episode we revisit AI in Finance and Banking and we are busting some myths about common misconceptions people have about it’s adoption. We also get into the difference in AI adoption across several regions across the world. We talk about regulation, use cases, and much more. Michael also gives some advice on getting your career path right and resources on how to start with AI.

Lutfey is a Visiting Professor-in-Practice (IDEAS - "Ranked #1 university-affiliated think-tank 2020") at LSE, the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also is aMember of Scientific Advisory Board at the LSE Systemic Risk Centre. At LSE he is also Co-investigator of the Inclusion Initiative, a Former member of the LSE Court of Governors & Investment Committee. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore, where he also is part of the Advisory board of the Centre for Governance & Sustainability.  Furthermore, Lutfey is a Member of the Global Agenda Council or Global Future Council of the World Economic Forum. He is also a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and on several more boards.  Previously Lutfey was the Global Head of Emerging Markets (FX, Rates & Credit) and Founding Head of the Knowledge Network at UBS, where he also was a Sustainability Council & Opinion Leader. Before that, Lutfey was the Head of FX Distribution & Corporate Risk Advisory for Asia-Pacific at Barclays Capital and Head of FX Structuring at Deutsche Bank. In this episode we explore the realm of global risk management and then deep dive into a key ingredient in making financial firms more resilient: inclusion and diversity. Lutfey takes his impressive vita as a baseline to talk about the changing understanding of risk in the context of a global financial institution. We go into leadership and inclusion frameworks firms and leaders can apply to have a more stable setting for risk management. We talk about the short term cost and obstacles of inclusion and diversity, and why it’s worth the initial trouble due to the sustained long term benefits. Lutfey gives advice on what to possibly anchor your career on in the next decade, how to prepare for a global leadership role, and other great tips for professional improvement. 

Robert Almgren is the Chief Scientist and co-founder of Quantitative Brokers. Rob was previously a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, the University of Toronto, and currently teaches High-Frequency Markets at Princeton University. Prior to QB, Robert was a Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Strategies in the Electronic Trading Services group at Bank of America until 2008. Robert Almgren completed a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in mathematics at MIT, then an M.S. in Applied Mathematics at Harvard University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Princeton University. In this episode we nerd out a bit: We get deep into the weeds of optimal trade execution, particularly in Fixed Income and Futures markets. We talk about the history, theory, and practice of minimizing trading costs by minimizing slippage in fixed income markets. We learn why trade execution is an important topic to think about, how to measure optimal trade execution and what research is done to further improve it. We dive into the ideas of the quantitative models and methods used and get some tips on where to learn more about the increasing quantification of financial markets.

Hello and Welcome to another episode of the Wall Street Lab Podcast.  I am currently in the offices of Solactive in Frankfurt. The second in person interview in a very long time. With me is today's guest: Timo Pfeiffer. Timo is the Chief Markets Officer of Solactive and in charge of Research, Sales, and Communications. He joined in 2017 as Head of Research & Business Development, after working for more than 15 years at Deutsche Bank, where he has held various management positions in London and Frankfurt. Most recently, he served as Managing Director in charge of Structured Products distribution in Europe. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Berufsakademie in Mosbach.  In this episode we explore the world of indices. You all have heard of the biggest indices, use them probably every day, but how much do you know about their origin, creation, administration? This is our topic for today. We look at the life of an index from beginning to end. Who comes up with the idea? How does the creation process work? What are the use cases? How to maintain an index? And in the end, what is the point of termination for an index? We speak a lot about trends and themes, like thematic investing, ETFs, sustainability, and much more.   

Our guest today is Michaela Walsh. Michaela is an activist, scholar, mentor, educator, and author. She was the Founding President of Women’s World Banking. Women’s World Banking is the global leader in women’s financial inclusion. Prior to that, Michaela served as a Project Director for the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and as a Program Associate with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Michaela also was a pioneer woman manager with Merrill Lynch in Beirut, Lebanon, in the ’60s, and the first woman Partner of Boettcher & Company in the ’70s, and in 1980.  This episode is a rare one. Michaela at 86 years old has a treasure trove of experience and is a true force of nature. We talk about the founding idea of women's world banking, the issues it wanted to solve, the story how it came into existence. We talk about Michaela’s experience in female financial inclusion and the positive effects of it. We talk about how WWB financed over 100 million women over the years and became one of the most important financial institutions for female empowerment.  

Daniel Faggella is the Founder, CEO, and Head of Research at Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. He is also a Member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI, a Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Daniel previously founded Science of Skill, CLVboost, and Black Diamond Mixed Martial Arts Academy, so we have someone with a very specific and similarly broad experience set. Dan also hosts a total of 3 podcast: The AI in Business Podcast, The AI in Consulting Podcast, The AI in Financial Services Podcast. Dan holds a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Positive Psychology and a bachelors in Psychology and Kinesiology with a Minor in business. In this episode, we get into AI for financial services. Daniel talks about the true distribution of AI funding for banks, how one needs to cut through the tweets and press releases to check where money in AI is actually flowing. We talk about how to research AI use cases, and how to think about investing in AI as a bank. How to think about ROI (Return on Investment) before doing an AI project, and the answer might surprise you: It is not always hard Dollars that might be a project’s true ROI. And of course Daniel gives us a lot of places to further dive into AI for the finance space.

Hugo Bongers is the Head of ABN Amro Ventures, the 150 million Euro Corporate Venture Capital fund of Dutch Bank ABN Amro. His mission is to make strategic investments in early-stage (series A and onwards) tech and fintech companies which are relevant for the bank. His job is to scout for innovative companies, invest in them, connect them with relevant stakeholders within the bank. Hugo is on the board of a lot of startups, like solarisbank, penta, crosslend, just to name a view. Hugo has a background in acquisition finance and private equity. Hugo holds Masters degrees in law and economics from Utrecht University. In this episode we talk about the Corporate Venture Capital arm of ABN Amro. We talk about how Hugo sources his deals, his decision criteria on when to invest in startups. His value proposition to startup founders and how he deals with internal and external stakeholders of the bank. We go into the latest market developments, the recent rise in valuations even in early stages before hitting a positive cash flow. And of course, we give some interesting career advice.

Colin Lancaster is a 25-year Wall Street professional. He has run two of the highest profile global macro businesses for the top-performing hedge funds in the world and has worked directly for a number of the icons in the investing world. Most recently he was Head of Global Macro Strategies at Citadel and prior to that he was Head of Global Macro at Balyasny Asset Management. He has managed investment operations in London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chicago, and San Francisco. Colin is a graduate of Princeton University and is a lawyer by training. Colin is also the author of the book "Fed Up! - Success, Excess and Crisis Through the Eyes of a Hedge Fund Macro Trader". It tells the story of a global macro trader working amidst the greatest market panic we have seen since the Great Depression. In this episode we talk about hedge funds, and Global macro especially. We get into how the field has changed over the years. We also talk about Colin’s experience about modern financial markets chronicling the men and women who make them move. Can they beat the markets, or will the markets beat them? We further talk about the aspects of repositioning one’s portfolio during a crisis. How does one behave as a trader when the markets crash? We get into Colin's book and the learnings he wants to bring across in writing it. 

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Alan Jones is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of North American Private Investment of ICG Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over 65 billion USD in Assets under Management. Prior to ICG, Alan spent 25 years with Morgan Stanley where he served most recently as Vice-Chairman of Private Credit & Equity. In 2007, he rebuilt Morgan Stanley’s private equity investing business, and from 2007 to 2018 was Head of Private Equity and Chair of the Group’s Private Equity Investment Committee. In this episode, we discussed: - How luck can be a powerful driver for career change - How Alan considers PE investments - How he lets younger professionals into his inner circle - Why humility and curiosity are key traits when hiring More about Alan and ICG here: https://www.icgam.com/people/alan-jones/ More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Today we're joined by Kison Patel, CEO and Founder of M&A Science and Dealroom, a project management software for complex M&A transactions. In this interview, we will discuss: Why current M&A practices are not enough anymore to deal with complex transactions What M&A professionals can learn from agile in software How values in M&A transactions have shifted towards people issues How Kison structures his own companies to capture value in the fragmented M&A market Why he started his podcast despite being an introvert, and what the result of it was His outlook on M&A activity in the current market More about M&A Science: https://www.mascience.com/  More about DealRoom: https://dealroom.net/ Follow Kison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kisonpatel/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Today we're joined by Krista Morgan, a general partner at Stage, an early-stage private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado. She's also the co-founder of Aelin.ai, an artificial intelligence platform helping small businesses prepare for loans. She's currently a board member of Peak Beverage.  Krista holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science and a Diploma in Liberal Arts.  In this interview, we will discuss: How Krista and her co-founder founded Stage Her experiences running a private-equity firm Managing relationships with founders and investors Her approach to funding startups and getting returns   More about Stage: https://stagefund.com/  More about Krista: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristamorgan/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

My guest today is  Maëlle Gavet, the CEO of Techstars. Techstars is one of the world's largest pre-seed investors, with over 3,300 investments. Maëlle is the Author of “Trampled by Unicorns” and an advocate for Empathetic Tech. Today is a special episode. I apologize for the noise in the background because we have the pleasure of recording this episode in person at the Web Summit in Lisbon. Links More about Techstars: https://www.techstars.com/ More about Maelle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maellegavet/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/   You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

Today we're joined by Lisa Marchese, Head of Corporate Development of American Express, where she is responsible for all venture investments, joint ventures and M&A activities. Previous positions at American Express include SVP of International Business Development, VP Corporate Development, and VP Strategic Planning Group within the last 20 years. Lisa holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and a bachelor's degree from Barnard College. This episode is about all things strategic M&A. Buckle up because we'll discuss: What Corporate Development / M&A means for Amex Lisa's path into M&A How Amex identifies great targets The path from prospecting to closing great deals The importance of integration and how Amex deals with that The episode is filled with a ton of frameworks and practical tips for M&A practitioners and professionals interested in the space alike. The Wall Street Lab is brought to you by Fintalent.io - the leading community for M&A and Private Equity professionals.