117: What Makes a Great Macro Fund Manager? With Scott Bessent, CEO & Founder of Key Square Capital Management
Today’s guest was a key player on the George Soros team, who in 1992 helped the Quantum Fund make $1bn, shorting sterling ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the ERM. As Soros’s CIO, he was also dubbed ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank of Japan’ by the Wall Street Journal after making approximately $3.5bn on the Abenomics trade from 2012-2015. Scott is widely acknowledged to be one of the world’s most highly respected macro hedge fund managers, and currently runs Key Square Capital Management. He has also taught financial history at Yale and is a prominent philanthropist. In this episode, Scott explains the key ingredients in being a macro manager. He charts his journey, working with legendary investors such as Stan Druckenmiller and George Soros. He opines on a range of key investment themes, including his thoughts on de-dollarisation, debt, commodities, the Ukraine rebuild, and AI. He also shares his analysis of the fast-evolving markets in both China and Japan. Scott goes on to discuss risk, when and how he sizes positions, signposts that influence conviction, and dealing with information overload. A tour de force! Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch us on YouTube The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, Bremont Watches, LiveTrade and IFM Investors.