The MOST Important Thing

The Science and Art of Investment management: Lessons From F1, Basketball & Football

The MOST Important Thing

Show Notes

Most investors underestimate the power of nonlinearity in portfolio construction—and it’s costing them significant alpha. Diego Parrilla unlocks a new way to think about risk, rebalancing, and how defence strategies can generate positive returns even when assets perform poorly. By exploring unconventional frameworks rooted in the science and art of portfolio management, Diego reveals how the dynamics of correlation and volatility can turn perceived disadvantages into opportunities. You'...

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Oct 20, 2026

In this episode of The Long & Short, Ivan Yates and Dr Alan O’Sullivan revisit the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the 2008 global financial crisis and today’s concerns around AI valuations, defence stocks and changing investment regimes. From speculative bubbles to excessive private debt, they explore why crashes happen, what investors can learn from previous cycles, and whether the old investment playbook still works. Featuring insights from previous conversations with financial historian Ed...

Oct 16, 2026

Are Bonds a Buy? This episode explores whether bonds are becoming attractive again amid sticky inflation, rising fiscal concerns, and the AI spending boom. Alan argues that bond markets are pricing in deeper risks, but the best opportunity to buy may come after a significant sell-off in US stocks. Key topics Why Treasury yields have fallen despite hotter-than-expected inflationHow public debt, fiscal deficits, and bond-market volatility may affect equitiesWhy corporate bond yields could be an...

Oct 13, 2026

Will artificial intelligence transform economic growth—or are expectations running far ahead of reality? And what does the rise of AI mean for graduates, white-collar professionals and the future of work? In Part 2 of his conversation with Dr Alan O’Sullivan, renowned economist and Northwestern University professor Robert J. Gordon challenges predictions of limitless AI-driven growth. He explains why many human-centred and physical jobs remain difficult to automate, while roles involving comp...

Oct 9, 2026

Is gold the ultimate portfolio insurance — or has its extraordinary rise made it too risky? And could a changing global monetary order reshape how we invest? In this episode of The MOST Important Thing, Dr Alan O’Sullivan and Ivan Yates examine gold’s role in a diversified portfolio, the central-bank buying driving demand and the question of trust in the US dollar. They also discuss silver, copper, uranium, oil and other real assets, before weighing the opportunities and risks of Bitcoin. Dra...

Oct 6, 2026

Professor Robert J. Gordon, one of the world’s leading economists on productivity and long-run economic growth, joins Alan O’Sullivan to examine why the extraordinary gains of the past two centuries may be becoming harder to repeat. In Part 1, Gordon explains the difference between economic growth and productivity, traces the three major industrial revolutions, and discusses why the period from 1920 to 1970 delivered such exceptional productivity growth. He also revisits the central thesis of...

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