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Investment Uncut is a podcast about investing. In each episode, hosts Mary Spencer, Laetitia Anstee-Parry and Jacob Shah are joined by guests to cut through the noise in the world of investing, bringing clarity to your investment decisions. LCP’s investment team advise large institutional investors including pension funds with billions of pounds of assets under management.
Look out for new episodes every other Wednesday.
Look out for new episodes every other Wednesday.
211 Episodes
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What does investing have to do with gender? Potentially more than you think! This week’s episode, in honour of International Women’s Day, focuses on gender-lens investing: what do we mean, what does it look like, what can investors do next and why does it matter to everyone?
We unpick the three strands of gender-lens investing, covering investment for, in and by women, as well as tackling common misconceptions. Recognising that there is no such thing as a gender-neutral investment, this is all about being intentional on the exposures and impacts that your investments have.
To help us unpick these themes, we’re joined by Isabella Craft, ESG and Impact Manager at ImpactA Global. She brings her experience from various emerging markets approaches, to really bring to life the nuances in this space.
Several firms like MIT’s Nanda Lab and BCG have released reports claiming the vast majority of companies have delivered little to no measurable business value from their investments in AI. But what if they’re wrong?
Join us as we speak to LCP’s very own Ed Bonnett, Head of AI, to find out how companies can deliver real efficiencies and productivity gains from AI. We talk about the common early stumbling blocks companies make when they first use AI, what the future of companies could look like as they struggle with to keep up with the fast pace of change in this landscape, and top tips for anyone looking to better adopt AI into their systems.
Mentioned in this episode: our cutting-edge AI tool designed to revolutionise content accessibility: https://www.lcp.com/en/our-technology/transpose
Over the past decade, the space industry has undergone a profound transformation. Is space finally becoming a mainstream investment opportunity or is it still a frontier market reserved for the bold?
In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak with James Bruegger, Co-Founder and CIO of Seraphim Space, the world’s leading specialist SpaceTech investor. Together, we explore the forces reshaping the industry, the role of private companies, risk-return profile compared to traditional assets, tackle common misconceptions, examine the key challenges for investors, and look ahead to how the space economy could evolve over the next decade.
How are investment managers approaching responsible investment today? Over the past year, there has been plenty of noise from ESG backlash headlines to questions about whether managers are stepping back from their climate and stewardship commitments.
In this episode of Quick Take, we speak with Sapna Patel, Principal at LCP and a member of the responsible investment team, about the findings from LCP’s latest Responsible Investment Survey of investment managers. We unpack what’s really happening beneath the headlines and explore whether anything has materially changed.
Venture capital (“VC”) has had mixed popularity over the years and continues to evolve at pace. We’ve seen a “tale of two cities” both in terms of the AI exposure of start-ups and the size of VC funds over recent years. But where might this go next?
AI impacts not only the types of companies considered by VC investors (and their attractiveness) but is also seeping into the way that venture capital investing is managed – it’s no longer about “if” you’re using AI, your edge comes from “how” you use AI.
To explore what this all means for investment dynamics in the VC space, we’re joined by Peter Harris of the University Growth Fund, who helps us understand current dynamics, why university students are more entrepreneurial these days, and what this means for VC markets.
We’ve seen a flurry of activity in US foreign policy since the start of the year, from military involvement in Venezuela to renewed tensions over Greenland, the return of tariffs as a negotiation tool and a sweeping pullback from global institutions.
In this Quick Take episode, Jacob, Mary and I discuss the fast evolving landscape of US foreign policy under President Trump. We unpack how these moves are interacting with global markets and highlight what this means for the themes we believe investors should be watching as they navigate 2026.
While we focus on the economic implications of these events, we acknowledge and remain mindful of the human impacts of these as well.
As we head into 2026, the macro backdrop is shifting again. Growth surprised on the upside last year, particularly in the US. But is that strength sustainable, or are we heading into a more uneven world with widening gaps between the US, Europe and emerging markets?
Healthcare is under growing pressure from ageing populations, chronic disease, workforce shortages, and administrative burdens. AI is often presented as a solution in the healthcare system, the reality is more nuanced.
In this episode of the Quick Take, we speak with Ben Bray, Partner at LCP Health, to explore how AI is being used in healthcare today, what that means from an investment perspective, who is actually buying these tools, and what success might look like over the next decade. The episode also tackles the harder questions including what looks appealing in healthcare AI but may ultimately be a poor investment.
In this episode, we speak to Martin Lau and Ziqi Deng of FSSA investment managers to find out. We discuss the impact of AI advances on future earnings, whether monetary policy changes are a material development and China’s anti-involution policy.
Are we at a watershed moment in UK PLC’s attitude towards pensions? Will pension schemes start to be seen as an asset, instead of a liability to be managed?
In this Quick Take episode, we’re joined by LCP Partners Steve Hodder and David Fairs to discuss a first-of-its-kind transaction, where Aberdeen Group has taken over as sponsoring employer of the £1.2bn Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme (a DB pension scheme). In particular, we discuss what happened, motives of the different stakeholders (Aberdeen, Stagecoach, and perhaps most importantly, members) and what this might mean more broadly for both regulation and UK PLC behaviour.
The illiquidity premium (the extra return investors seek for locking up capital in private markets) has long been a cornerstone of alternative investing. But with rising interest rates, massive inflows into private markets, and evolving macro conditions, how reliable is this premium today, and how should investors think about capturing it?
In this episode of Investment Uncut, we speak to Tony Davidow (Senior Alternative Investment Strategist at the Franklin Templeton Institute), a leading expert in private markets and alternative investments, to explore the nature of the illiquidity premium. We discuss how it has evolved over the past decade, the risks and rewards across private equity, credit, and real assets, and what investors should watch for over the next 5–10 years.
What happens when investors suddenly find themselves holding far more illiquid assets than they ever planned?
Join us as we speak to James Fermont (Partner and senior member of LCP’s Illiquid Asset Solutions Group) to explore how to unlock value in secondary market transactions. From liquidity workarounds to broker-led sales, online platforms and direct deals, we examine the practical routes to exit illiquids, how to judge value in an opaque market, and why pricing isn’t always the only metric that matters. For anyone navigating today’s secondary market – whether selling under time pressure or looking to buy quality assets at a discount – this conversation offers a clear, grounded guide through a fast-evolving landscape.
Commodity markets (from oil and gas to metals and agriculture) have been on a rollercoaster in recent years, driven by shifting inflation dynamics, geopolitics, and changing investor sentiment. With so much flux, can commodities still serve as an effective diversifier in a global portfolio?
In this episode of investment uncut, we speak to Chris Watling, CEO and Chief Market Strategist at Longview Economics, to unpack where we are in the commodity cycle, whether talk of a new “supercycle” is justified, and how investors should approach commodities today. We discuss misconceptions, the impact of global tensions on trade flows, and where the biggest opportunities and risks may lie over the next few years.
The UK Autumn Budget 2025 – one of the most highly anticipated Budgets in recent history. Speculation has been building (even the government getting involved) around tax changes, and of course the “will they won’t they” on breaking the manifesto.
In this episode of The Quick Take, we unpick what could happen and what that might mean, ahead of the day itself. And who better to help, but former pensions minister and LCP Partner, Sir Steve Webb! Steve helps us understand the way government might be thinking about the tricky decisions ahead, what’s different this time, and what else we should look out for, aside from big tax headlines.
Climate change has been an increasingly hot topic (pun intended) in recent years, yet its direction isn’t always clear. Different world leaders take different stances and at times there is an unclear balance between the actions of governments, regulators and investor groups.
Chris Dodwell, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Impax Asset Management, helps us understand what to expect from COP30*, but more importantly how we can expect real world change to play out, and who plays the most critical role in this fight. He gives us reasons for optimism, highlights key innovations and explains why tackling climate change naturally aligns with broader business planning.
*COP30 is the 30th annual climate conference (“Conference of the Parties”), where world leaders get together to discuss ambitions, commitments and plans to tackle climate change in the future.
Six months on from “Liberation Day” and with tariffs still six times higher than at the start of the year, how has the global economy responded and what happens next?
Initially billed as a way to rebuild supply chains, bring manufacturing back onshore, and reduce US dependence on imports, the reality has proven more complex. In this episode of The Quick Take, we speak to Anais Caldwell-Jones (Principal at LCP and member of our macroeconomic team) to explore how other major economies have responded to US tariffs, what is the impact on the macroeconomic picture, the market reaction so far, and what investors should be on the lookout in the near future.
Impact investing has rapidly moved up the policy agenda – with the Better Futures Fund, the Mansion House compact and renewed questions around fiduciary duty all signalling that finance can no longer ignore social outcomes. But what does it actually mean to invest for both financial return and societal benefit – and can those aims truly align rather than trade off?
For this episode of The Quick Take, we’re exploring one of the big questions investors are asking right now: What are the best alternative credit ideas when headline spreads are tight? Credit spreads are currently at historically low levels, making it harder for investors to be adequately compensated for risk. While many have turned to asset-backed securities for better yield (which we still like), there are other opportunities worth considering.
In this episode, we speak with Nick Cooney, Partner at LCP and Head of Credit Research, about ways to earn yield within the credit space without taking on excessive risk.
Market valuations on major asset classes are at historically high levels. But does that mean we’ve reached the point where nothing is attractive? And if we’re at that point, how should we think about constructing an investment portfolio?
Howard Marks is ideally placed to help our listeners grapple with these questions – he’s been investing since 1969 and at the helm of Oaktree Capital since it began in 1995.
Welcome to a brand new type of episode from us here at Investment Uncut. This is The Quick Take: our bitesize episodes where we discuss recent market events, topical issues and share our expert opinion on what long-term investors should be thinking about in response.
For our inaugural episode, we’re diving into a pressing topic: the growing concentration in global equity markets – has this risk now become too big to ignore?
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