Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory on Turning Layups into Losses, UK Pension Problems, Building Community & Much More (EP.225)
My good friend Ben Hunt is here for the fourth time on Panic with Friends. He’s my go-to macro guy, and one of the smartest people to talk about the market with. And if I were going to do a show with any two people, like the All In podcast, it’d be Ben and Jim O’Shaughnessy for sure. Ben has been dead on with so many topics, and we’ve got a ton of topics to talk about in this episode. I wanted to talk about the FED, inflation, and what would turn him bullish. I wanted to get some pointers on the global macro and the SPAC market, to include thoughts on Fat Nixon. I wanted to talk about Robinhood and Citadel, and I want him to chime in on Apple having a monopoly. I also wanted to get Ben’s thoughts about monetary policy as it relates to the UK pension debacle. I think you're going to get a lot out of our conversation. Enjoy! Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bhunt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:40) Welcome Ben (06:40) The best thing about getting older (10:17) Turning a layup into a loss (12:40) Lessons from Goodfellas (14:28) Who’s in the PIPE? (18:49) Finance raccoons (20:11) UK pension crisis (22:53) Interest rates repriced globally (23:33) Pension funds can’t make margin calls (29:59) FED creates liquidity crises (31:43) Overexposed to 15 years of low rates (34:35) What the blockchain brings (35:16) Loosening the yoke of Amazon, Apple, Google (35:44) Pension fund return projections (36:55) Ferocious bull rally? (40:54) Will the FED pivot? (43:58) Inflation wasn’t transitory (46:11) Taking real world risks (50:36) Taking on the overlords (57:18) Wrapping up (1:02:12) Closing thoughts (1:05:58)