With the rise of systematic trading and machine learning-driven investment strategies, investors are moving towards faster, higher turnover strategies. For those strategies, the measurement of these costs is crucial and potentially can cause some strategies to become unprofitable if not properly considered. 

The easiest way to boost the alpha of a trading strategy is to reduce costs. But what is the best way to do so with multiple orders in the same direction?  Emidio Sciulli joins Sandy Rattray on The CIO Agenda to discuss how investors can extract more alpha from their trading strategies.

The CIO Agenda: Alpha Opportunities and Hidden Costs in Trading

Is ESG outperformance coming to end? Is an ESG asset bubble brewing? Listen to Jason Mitchell talk with Abraham Lioui, Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School, about his latest paper, Chasing the ESG Factor. In this deep-dive episode, the two discuss how investors may be mispricing ESG, the implications of identifying ESG risk premia and why more rigorous approaches are absolutely essential to understanding ESG in the context of quantitative finance.

A Sustainable Future: Prof. Abraham Lioui, EDHEC Business School, on the Shrinking ESG Premium

Is this latest energy shock a one-off event or a harbinger of more energy crises to come? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Alex Grant, Equinor’s Senior Vice President of Business Development and UK Country Manager, the energy transition; the trade-offs that we may face between security of supply, price volatility and affordability; and the emerging energy technologies like blue and green hydrogen.

Alex Grant is Equinor’s Senior Vice President of Business Development Origination and Execution as well as its UK Country Manager. Alex joined Equinor from Jefferies in 2017. His background is in investment banking where he worked on M&A and financing transactions over the past 20 years in the energy sector.

Find the full transcript of this episode here: https://www.man.com/maninstitute/a-sustainable-future-podcast

Alex Grant, Equinor, on the Energy Trilemma

In this episode we dive into the reasons why trend following strategies work and importantly, when they work. Joining Peter is Otto Van Hemert, Director of Core Strategies at Man AHL, co-author of the award-winning paper Best Strategies for Inflationary Times which highlights trend as one such solution.



Trend Setters

What makes a trend in asset prices? Which environments offer the best returns for quantitative trend-following strategies? 

Introducing Trend Setters, the new multi-part podcast series from Long Story Short. Hosted by Peter van Dooijeweert, Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at Man Solutions, Trend Setters is demystifying the world of trend-following strategies and why they work in volatile markets.

Trend Setters: The Mechanics of Trend-Following

What does the data say about the likelihood to meet our net zero ambitions? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Vaclav Smil, academic and author of the New York Times bestseller How the World Really Works, what the energy transition by 2050 realistically means; how energy transitions have evolved historically; and why the analogy of a climate earthshot is fundamentally different from that of a moonshot.

Vaclav Smil
What does the data say about the likelihood to meet our net zero ambitions? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Vaclav Smil, academic and author of the New York Times bestseller How the World Really Works, what the energy transition by 2050 realistically means; how energy transitions have evolved historically; and why the analogy of a climate earthshot is fundamentally different from that of a moonshot.

Vaclav Smil, author of How the World Really Works, on the Reality of the Energy Transition

In this first episode of Liquidity Matters, Michael Turner, CEO at Man Solutions, joins Robyn Grew, President at Man Group, to discuss why the selloffs of 2023 mean that liquidity is of more importance than ever. In their wide-reaching conversation, Robyn and Michael share how sophisticated investors should be thinking about liquidity in their portfolios, how it can be measured, and how to adapt to sudden liquidity shocks such as the UK’s LDI crisis.

Liquidity Matters: Measuring, Managing and Maximising Your Portfolio Liquidity

Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Andrew Strait, Ada Lovelace Institute, about how to think through the typology of AI harms, what to make of the different national and supranational efforts to regulate AI, and why the development of strong AI governance systems is in everyone’s interest.

Andrew Strait, Ada Lovelace Institute, on a Typology of AI Risks

To what degree can investors control climate outcomes? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Dr. Tom Gosling, London Business School, why investors may need to rethink their net zero commitments; what universal ownership theory represents in the context of climate change; and how engagement at different levels plays a fundamental role in terms of investor influence.

Read the full paper: Gosling, Tom, Universal Owners and Climate Change (February 2, 2024) at https://ssrn.com/abstract=4713536

Dr. Tom Gosling is an Executive Fellow in the Department of Finance at the London Business School and an Executive Fellow at the European Corporate Governance Institute where he contributes to the evidence-based practice of responsible business by connecting academic research, public policy, and corporate action. His projects at LBS have included a collaboration with PwC on whether and how executive pay should be linked to ESG targets and a collaboration with The Investor Forum on What does stakeholder capitalism mean for investors? Tom is also on the ESG Advisory Committee at the Financial Conduct Authority and on the Advisory Panel of the Financial Reporting Council.

Dr. Tom Gosling, London Business School, on Whether Investors Can Save the Planet

Credit risk sharing structures have undergone a significant evolution since the Global Financial Crisis, leading us to explore its emergence in financial markets, and its transformative impact on modern risk management strategies. In this Credit Crunch episode of the Bloomberg FICC Focus podcast, Noel Hebert and Sam Geier talk with Matthew Moniot, Managing Director and Co-Head of Credit Risk at Man GPM, about the risk of CRS, the structure of CRS transactions and the due diligence process involved. The episode also covers the potential risks in the market, including counterparty risk, aggressive competition, and the need for further regulation on the liability side of banks' balance sheets.

The Rise of Credit Risk Sharing

The world of credit is evolving. Gone are the days when investment grade bonds were only sold over the phone and the world of direct lending was a little-known niche. Corporates now have a multitude of ways to access capital and investors can diversify their credit allocation more than ever before. Extra Credit, the fourth season of our Long Story Short podcast, will explore the ways credit is changing and how it fits into your portfolio. Hosted by Danilo Rippa, Head of Global Credit Multi-Strategy and Global Convertibles at Man Solutions, this season will feature experts from across the credit investing spectrum.

In this episode of Extra Credit, Robert Lam and Paul Kamenski, Co-heads of Credit at Man Numeric, join Danilo Rippa, Head of Global Credit Multi-Strategy and Global Convertibles at Man Solutions, to discuss adopting a quantitative approach to investing in credit markets. In their wide-ranging conversation, Robert, Paul and Danilo discuss the rise of quant credit, the alpha opportunities it presents, as well as what the future of trading credit systematically might look like.

Extra Credit: Algorithmic Advantage - Systematic Investing in Credit

In this episode of Extra Credit, Andre Rzym and Tarek Abou Zeid discuss the world of catastrophe (cat) bonds. In 2023, insured losses from natural disasters stood at an estimated $3-5 billion, insufficient to worry the cat bond market but big enough to sustain demand for reinsurance. With low correlation to the major asset classes and higher yields than comparable securities, could this genuinely diversifying asset deserve a place in your portfolio?

Overview of this season of Long Story Short:

The world of credit is evolving. Gone are the days when investment grade bonds were only sold over the phone and the world of direct lending was a little-known niche. Corporates now have a multitude of ways to access capital and investors can diversify their credit allocation more than ever before. Extra Credit, the fourth season of our Long Story Short podcast, will explore the ways credit is changing and how it fits into your portfolio. Hosted by Danilo Rippa, Head of Global Credit Multi-Strategy and Global Convertibles at Man Solutions, this season will feature experts from across the credit investing spectrum.

Extra Credit: Catastrophe Bonds – A Diversifier Like No Other

How prevalent are psychological biases like confirmation bias and black-and-white in your thinking? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Alex Edmans, London Business School, about why misinformation is a problem that affects us all; how we can counter it through more critical, rigorous analysis; and what it means for the world of sustainable investing.

Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex serves as non-executive director of the Investor Forum, on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Responsible Investing, on Royal London Asset Management’s Responsible Investment Advisory Committee, and on Novo Nordisk’s Sustainability Advisory Council. Alex’s book, Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit, was a Financial Times Book of the Year and has been translated into nine languages, and he is a co-author of Principles of Corporate Finance (with Brealey, Myers, and Allen). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. His latest book,  May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It comes out in April 2024.

Prof. Alex Edmans, London Business School, on Why Sustainable Investing “May Contain Lies”

In this episode of Extra Credit, Danilo Rippa, Head of Multi-Strategy Credit at Man Group is joined by Kevin Marchetti, co-Head of Direct Lending and Chief Credit Officer, and Zeshan Ashfaque, Senior Credit Officer at Man Varagon. Private credit has grown significantly over the past decade, representing a secular shift in how companies access funding – and how investors are allocating to credit. This far-reaching episode offers insight into trends in lending, yields, syndication and how they may – or may not – be impacted by an uncertain economic environment.

Extra Credit: Can Private Credit Weather the Storm?

Where are the tensions in the climate science community driving research and real-world policy impact? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Adam Sobel, Columbia University, about what the tropics and wet bulb temperature mean in the context of climate change; how to think about the trade-offs between the applied and theoretical sides of science; and why we need to rethink the social responsibility of climate scientists.

A Sustainable Future: Prof. Adam Sobel, Columbia University

This episode first appeared on Top Traders Unplugged in July 2024. 
Graham Robertson joins Niels Kaastrup-Larsen on the podcast Top Traders Unplugged for a wide-ranging conversation about trend following. They discuss how trend following has stood out in recent years and why April 2024 was especially noteworthy, and how Graham views the current interest from investors around the world. They also address to what extent trend following should play a role in your portfolio and what type of environment tends to influence overall performance for the industry based on Principal Component Analysis. Lastly, they discuss how AI might impact the trend following industry, and whether Trend Followers have started saying goodbye to the short fixed income traded, that lasted for more than 2 years.

Top Traders Unplugged: Taking the Trend Following Temperature

Can human capital drive portfolio returns? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Dan Ariely, Duke University, about what a human capital factor looks like; how incentives and the basic idea of “feeling valued “are fundamental drivers behind employee motivation; and why human capital can represent an overlooked source of alpha.

Professor Dan Ariely, Duke University, on Investing in Human Capital

What’s at stake for climate and nature in the current political environment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Paul Bodnar, Bezos Earth Fund, about the vital role of philanthropic capital; the mission of the Bezos Earth Fund; and how its thinks about funding efforts across mitigation and adaptation as well as the Global North and Global South.

Note: This episode was recorded prior to the recent US election.

Paul Bodnar is the Director of Sustainable Finance, Industry, and Diplomacy at the Bezos Earth Fund. He most recently served as Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, where he helped build the firm's $500 billion sustainable funds business. Prior to Blackrock, Paul was Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Council member at RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute), where he founded the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance. Paul served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council. Prior to that, Paul served at the State Department as US lead negotiator for climate finance.

Paul Bodnar, Bezos Earth Fund, on Climate, Nature, and Catalytic Capital

Is sustainable investing facing its own replication crisis? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Andrew King, Boston University, about what the replication crisis represents for sustainable finance; how to think about the incentive problems impacting academic research; and why academic journals and the academic-practitioner community need to be more open to the replication and challenge of existing studies.

Prof. Andrew King, Boston University, on the Replication Crisis in Sustainable Investing

Will investors reset, recalibrate, or retreat from net zero in 2025? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Tom Gosling, London School of Economics, about how to think about the exits among climate initiatives; what the future of net zero commitments could look like; and why, investors—despite their limitations in driving climate outcomes—are still able to have a material effect on climate policy development.

Prof. Tom Gosling, LSE, on Whether Investors Reset, Recalibrate, or Retreat from Net Zero

What does 2025 hold for sustainable investing? Jason Mitchell talks to Hortense Bioy, Morningstar Head of Research, about how sustainable investing has reshaped asset flows over the last several years; what the suspension of the net zero initiatives could mean for investors; and why sustainable investing can survive Trump 2.0.

Hortense Bioy, Morningstar Head of Research, on Sustainable Investing Under Trump 2.0

Henry Neville reads his latest article, The Road Ahead: DeepFreak

Listen to this article: The Road Ahead - DeepFreak

How are asset owners reallocating towards sustainability? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Dan Mikulskis, People’s Partnership CIO, about how the People’s Partnership is doing to evolve its investment strategy; what that means functionally for in a responsible investment context; and why asset owners like People’s Partnership are taking on a bigger leadership role in sustainable finance.

Dan Mikulskis, People’s Partnership CIO, on Reallocating Towards Sustainability

What happens if access to US climate data becomes more limited? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Benjamin Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, about what the political changes in the US could mean for the international scientific community; how that impact translates into access and availability of critical climate datasets; and why some climate scientists are already thinking about substitutes plans and worst case scenarios.

Prof. Benjamin Horton, Earth Observatory of Singapore, on the Criticality of US Climate Data

How have politics and geoeconomics turned rare earths and critical minerals into pressure points in the expanding global trade conflict? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Saleem Ali, University of Delaware, about what the energy transition means in the context of environmental security; how multilateral initiatives and increasingly national efforts are working to reshape supply and demand dynamics; and why it’s critical we continue to rethink ways to diversify and secure global critical mineral supply chains.

Prof. Saleem Ali, University of Delaware, on the Global Scramble for Rare Earths and Critical Minerals

How economically grounded is the UK’s net zero commitment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Sir Dieter Helm, University of Oxford, about what new forces and factors are reshaping net zero ambitions; how the UK should think about optimal climate policy; and why a realist approach is critical for navigating the political economy factors of climate action.

Prof. Sir Dieter Helm, University of Oxford, on the Real Costs of Climate Action

Alex Grant is Senior Vice President, UK Country Manager and Global Head of Crude, Products & Liquids Trading at Equinor. He joined Equinor in 2017 as the Senior Vice President for Global Business Development, where he oversaw mergers, acquisitions, and divestments across the oil, gas, and renewables portfolios. Before Equinor, Alex worked in investment banking at Jefferies, focussing on M&A and financing transactions within the energy sector for over 20 years.

Alex Grant, Equinor – UK Country Manager, on the Trade-offs of Net Zero

How are asset owners emerging to drive the sustainable finance agenda? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Daan Spaargaren, PME Senior Strategist for Responsible Investment, about how PME is evolving its investment approach to include more active, sustainability-driven strategies; what that means functionally in the asset allocation process; and why it’s great to see asset owners like PME take on a bigger leadership role in the sustainable finance ecosystem.

Daan Spaargaren, PME Senior Strategist for Responsible Investment, with a Warning for Asset Managers

What could a nuclear renaissance look like? Professor Katy Huff, former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, discusses how to frame nuclear energy in a net zero context where nuclear fits into the US energy mix over the next several decades; and why US nuclear innovation today is different from the false starts of the past.

Prof. Katy Huff, former US DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, on the US Nuclear Renaissance

How could recent legal opinions shift state and private sector climate change obligations? Maurits Dolmans, Cleary Gottlieb, discusses how to rethink the obligations of fiduciary duty relative to climate action; why it may be the key to solving the climate prisoner’s dilemma; and what a legal framework for impact could look like.

Maurits Dolmans, Senior Counsel with Cleary Gottlieb, on the Climate Prisoner’s Dilemma

What’s the value of good governance? What’s a company’s commitment to ESG reporting and greater transparency worth? Learn the story behind Japan’s turn to corporate governance reform and how leaders like Dr Ryohei Yanagi are not only advocating for its wider adoption but also helping to define how we measure its success.

Dr. Ryohei Yanagi, Eisai CFO, on Making Japan Great Again Through Corporate Governance Reform

Talks with the leading voices - both from within Man Group and externally - shaping the conversation around financial markets, responsible investment and more.

Man Group

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