Show Notes
Choosing the right active manager can be just as important as choosing the right investment strategy, but past performance alone may reveal little about whether a manager’s success is repeatable. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Tim Paulin, senior vice president of investments and practice consulting at Touchstone Investments, about how the firm identifies, evaluates and monitors outside investment managers. They discuss Touchstone’s version of the traditional four- or five-P framework, which looks at organizational stability, personnel, investment discipline, infrastructure and results, as well as how to separate investment skill from a favorable market environment. They also explore how portfolio holdings can reveal whether managers are staying true to their process, when underperformance should be tolerated, why investors often chase managers at the wrong time, and what the best active managers have in common over the long term. This edition was recorded on Sept. 9.
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More from Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence
Traditional value investing often focuses on companies trading at low multiples, but cheap stocks can reflect either opportunity or fundamental weakness. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments and a portfolio manager for the Wedbush Laffer Tengler New Era Value ETF (TGLR), about how she applies a broader definition of value. They discuss how relative dividend yield and price-to-sales can uncover opportunities, including among former growth stocks, and how fundamental research helps distinguish temporary mispricing from value traps. They also explore the importance of management, free cash flow and capital allocation, why patience matters when an investment thesis takes time to play out, and how valuation and conviction shape position sizing and sell discipline. Recorded Oct. 7.
Emerging markets are often treated as a single market, but differences in economic cycles, currencies, governance and market structure can create vastly different opportunities from one country to the next. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, and co-host Sharoon Francis, associate analyst, speak with Malcolm Dorson, senior portfolio manager for emerging-market equities and head of emerging market strategy at Global X Management Company, about where active management can add value. They explore how concentration in broad emerging-market benchmarks can limit diversification, why governance and alignment with minority shareholders matter in security selection and how active managers navigate currency, political and liquidity risks. They also discuss targeted country exposure, the interplay between bottom-up research and macro analysis, and what could drive broader adoption of active emerging-market ETFs. Recorded Oct. 8.
Finding fast-growing companies is only part of the challenge for small- and mid-cap managers. The market’s expectations for that growth can matter just as much. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Brandon Nelson, portfolio manager for the Calamos Timpani Small Cap Growth Fund (CTSIX) and Calamos Timpani Active SMID Growth ETF (CTAG), about his fundamental-momentum approach to investing. They discuss how Nelson looks for sustainable and underestimated growth, why management’s handling of expectations matters and how valuation factors into security selection. They also explore the importance of letting winners run while maintaining strict sell discipline, how bottom-up research drives portfolio construction and why Nelson continues to see a broad opportunity set in small- and mid-cap stocks. Recorded Sept. 22.
Active management is transforming as investors embrace exchange-traded funds, fund expenses decline and financial advice evolves. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Shelly Antoniewicz, chief economist at the Investment Company Institute, about what’s driving those changes. They discuss why active and passive aren’t necessarily competing for the same dollar, what fund flows can and can’t tell us about investor behavior, and why mutual funds remain durable in retirement accounts even as ETFs gain ground elsewhere. They also explore the growth of active ETFs and collective investment trusts, how fee compression and changing adviser compensation are reshaping the economics of active management, and how active management could continue to evolve across investment vehicles and distribution channels. Recorded Sept. 24. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Growth investing is often associated with companies delivering rapid revenue and earnings growth, but the potential for capital appreciation can extend well beyond traditional growth stocks. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Alan Wilson, portfolio manager at Capital Group and principal investment officer of the Capital Group Growth ETF (CGGR), about how he defines and identifies growth. They discuss why valuation still matters, how Wilson looks several years ahead to uncover potential investments and why changing competitive advantages can make durable growth difficult to identify. They also explore how Capital Group’s multi-manager system shapes portfolio construction and conviction, why some of the most compelling growth prospects can emerge in unexpected parts of the market and how physical infrastructure constraints could create the next set of “coiled springs.” Recorded Sept. 16.