Cls's The Weighing Machine

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by This week, Rusty Vanneman and Robyn Murray talk with Brent Sullivan, Founder of Tax Alpha Insider. Brent Sullivan is a taxable investing specialist, blogger and software developer. He graduated from Cornell's Financial Engineering program, worked on PIMCO's trade floor, wrote code for Parametric Portfolio Associates, left to work at Zillow Group in the software observability team and then raised money as a venture-backed founder. Tax Alpha Insider is a blog, newsletter and media platform focused on taxable investing. Brent consults for advisers on taxable investing product marketing and development.Key Takeaways[01:33] - An overview of some of the things we will cover on The Weighing Machine this year.[03:36] - Learn more about Brent’s professional background and how he ended up in his current role[05:26] - What motivated Brent to found Tax Alpha Insider and who is it aimed at?[06:38] - Why does Brent believe that sometimes the tax tail should actually wag the dog?[08:03]

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Savina Rizova, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Global Head of Research at Dimensional Fund Advisors. Savina Rizova is Co-Chief Investment Officer and Global Head of Research at Dimensional Fund Advisors LP. She was named Co-CIO in 2024 and serves in that role alongside Gerard O’Reilly, who is also Co-Chief Executive Officer. As Co-CIO, Savina helps lead a team of more than 300 investment professionals across six countries. She is also Chair of the Investment Research Committee and a member of the Investment Committee. Since joining Dimensional’s Research department in 2004, Savina has worked closely with leading academics, collaborating on research, co-authoring papers, and partnering with Dimensional’s broader investment team to implement robust research in live portfolios. She has helped drive innovation across Dimensional’s product offering, including the development, launch, and rapid growth of Dimensional exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the expanded separately managed a

Key Takeaways[03:45] - What are some of Rusty’s  and Robyn’s all time favorite walk-up songs from The Weighing Machine?[06:03] - What led Rusty to start The Weighing Machine and what did he want to create with it?[09:27] - How did Robyn and Rusty come to be co-hosts of The Weighing Machine originally?[10:12] - What were three of their favorite podcast episodes from the past year?[16:11] - What is Robyn’s favorite investment idea currently?[16:56] - What is Rusty’s favorite investment idea currently?[18:26] - How does Robyn maintain her energy, both physically and mentally, to perform at a high level?[19:12] - How does Rustry maintain his energy, both physically and mentally, to perform at a high level?[22:05] - Are there any mentors or professional peers that Robyn is particularly thankful for?[23:00] - Are there any mentors or professional peers that Rusty is particularly thankful for?[27:52] - What are Rusty and Robyn watching, reading, listening to or watching at the moment?[33:35] - In this age of informa

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Jack Sharry, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer at LifeYield. Jack Sharry has been a financial industry innovator, collaborator and advocate for 40+ years. He served as an executive at Morgan Stanley, Putnam Investments, Virtus Investment Partners and now, LifeYield where he led sales, marketing, product development and distribution strategy. Jack is the Chair of the InvestmentNews Future of Financial Advice initiative and a frequent contributor to the publication, he Co-Chairs the Money Management Institute Digital Advice Community, and hosts the LifeYield podcast, WealthTech on Deck, where he talks with other industry leaders on their tech strategy designed to improve investor and advisor outcomes.Key Takeaways[03:15] - Jack’s professional background and the highlights of his career[06:15] - What is LifeYield’s big news today and how do they optimize financial outcomes for their clients?[08:26] - What is a Unified Managed Household (UMH), why is it signifi

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Shana Sissel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Banrion Capital Management. For two decades Shana Orczyk Sissel has climbed the ladder of the financial services industry. As Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Banrion Capital Management Shana helps independent advisors navigate the complex world of alternative investing, assisting with investment platform development, alternatives in portfolio construction and developing best practice in alternative investment due diligence. Dubbed the "Queen of Alternatives" by her peers. Shana is a sought after speaker & media contributor, appearing frequently at industry events and on major financial news outlets like CNBC, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg and the TD Ameritrade Network. Shana has maintained fierce, outspoken advocacy for her fellow women in finance for the duration of her career — acting as a mentor for many other young women navigating the battlefield of a male-dominated industry. Having overcom

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Nate Conrad, Head of LifeX at Stone Ridge. Nate formerly served as the Head of Markets at Stone Ridge and as the President of NYDIG. Prior to joining Stone Ridge in 2016, Nate worked at Goldman Sachs as a vice president in the Interest Rates Trading business. Nate received his BSE in Computer Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania.Key Takeaways[03:03] - More on Nate’s career and his current position at Stone Ridge Asset Management.[04:19] - What is the philosophy behind Stone Ridge Asset Management and what sets them apart as a firm?[05:51] - What is the elevator pitch for LifeX and why might it be a real game changer for financial advisors and investors?[08:55] - How do LifeX ETFs convert accumulated assets into predictable, monthly distributions?[10:31] - What types of government bonds do LifeX ETFs invest in and how does this strategy support reliable, monthly payments?[11:06] - There are other bond ladder solutions, so what makes this franchise of ETFs

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Joel Shulman and Eva Ados of EntrepreneurShares. Dr. Joel Shulman is the Founder/Managing Director/CIO of ERShares. His 25+ years of research at Babson College (#1 in Entrepreneurship) and best business book written while at Harvard, led to the formation of a proprietary investment model and the Entrepreneur Factor. The formation of his money management practice followed the sale of the Shulman Review, a CFA test-prep company that trained over 12,000+ investment professionals in 110+ countries around the world. Dr Shulman appears frequently in the media including, Fox Business, CNBC, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, WSJ, Barrons, Forbes among others. He has been a consultant to many leading organizations as well as The World Bank in which he helped facilitate capital market development in Central Asian states. He has a Ph.D. and CFA designations along with an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.Key Takeaways[03:26] - What has Joel loved about his caree

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Christopher Norton, Chief Marketing Officer at Potomac. Christopher is an innovative, award-winning, multidisciplinary creative with a passion for storytelling. He has worked with a wide array of large and independent clients in the news, entertainment and financial services. While his skill set is vast, Christopher’s expertise is found in the inner workings of a brand story. He has spent his career leading different marketing teams in the financial sector overseeing campaigns, PR strategies, brand awareness and more. As Chief Marketing Officer at Potomac, Christopher seeks to deliver world-class, story-driven creative to connect Potomac to its audience.Key Takeaways[03:30] - Learn more about Christopher’s career and his current role at Potomac.[05:32] - What is the story behind Potomac’s trademark term “built to conquer risk?”[09:36] - Potomac has become well known for their unconventional market approaches, like sending branded cereal boxes to their clients. What is the

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Charlie Phelan, Head of Business Consulting at Fidelity Investments. Mr. Phelan leads consulting and business development activities focused on helping clients leverage Fidelity to evolve their businesses and drive transformational change. Charles consults with broker-dealers and registered investment advisors on optimizing their businesses including development and execution of business strategy, leverage of technology and operational best practices to drive efficiency. Charles has a demonstrated track record of helping firms maximize the ROI of the Fidelity relationship. Mr. Phelan has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, primarily focused on new business development and consulting. Prior to his current role, Mr. Phelan was responsible for leading the client onboarding team at FCCS. This included oversight of program management, transition and implementation activities to support new business. Mr. Phelan joined Fidelity in 1995 as part of the finance team. Mr

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Cliff Asness, Founder,  Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital Management. He is an active researcher and has authored articles on a variety of financial topics for many publications, including The Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Analysts Journal, The Journal of Finance and The Journal of Financial Economics. He has received five Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Awards from The Journal of Portfolio Management, in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014 and 2015. Financial Analysts Journal has twice awarded him the Graham and Dodd Award for the year’s best paper, as well as a Graham and Dodd Excellence Award, the award for the best perspectives piece, and the Graham and Dodd Readers’ Choice Award. He has won the second prize of the Fama/DFA Prize for Capital Markets and Asset Pricing in the 2020 Journal of Financial Economics. In 2006, CFA Institute presented Cliff with the James R. Vertin Award, which is periodically given to individuals who have produced a

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Julie Abbett, Head of Americas ETF Sales for Equity and Credit at JPMorgan. Julie focuses on the J.P. Morgan’s ETF execution sales model through strategic partnerships within the ETF market. Julie joined J.P. Morgan from Deutsche Bank where she headed up the ETF execution Sales effort covering the RIAs, ETF Portfolio Managers, and traditional asset manager clients. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Julie was Senior Vice President and Head of Portfolio Management at IndexIQ managing a suite of liquid alternative exchange traded funds. Before IndexIQ, Julie was a Quantitative Equity Portfolio Manager at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM)/DB Advisors for over 9 years.Key Takeaways[02:55] - Learn more about Julie’s professional background and her role at JPMorgan.[04:42] - What other factors are affecting ETF flows?[05:49] - Might Active ETFs eventually challenge traditional Mutual Funds, or even Passive ETFs, in terms of popularity and performance?[07:08] - What shifts is Julie seeing in

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by John Kerschner, Head of US Securitized Products and a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. He is a member of the Securitized Credit and US Fixed Income Teams and leads the teams in finding innovative ways to utilize structured products in JHI portfolios. Prior to joining Janus in 2010, John was director of portfolio management at BBW Capital Advisors. Before that, he worked for Woodbourne Investment Management, where he was global head of credit investing. John began his career at Smith Breeden Associates as an assistant portfolio manager and was promoted several times over 12 years, becoming a principal, senior portfolio manager and director of the ABS-CDO group. John received his bachelor of arts degree in biology from Yale University, graduating cum laude. He earned his MBA from Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, where he was designated a Fuqua Scholar. John holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has 34 years of financial industry exper

In this episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Paul Curley, Director of Savings Research at ISS Market Intelligence. In his role, Paul oversees 529 and ABLE market data, research, events and digital products and services for institutional clients, including the 529 Conference. Also, an Editor-in-Chief of the 529 Dash e-newsletter and the 529 Insiders website for financial advisers, institutions, and the media, Paul presents educational seminars and conferences to financial industry experts on 529 plans and ABLE accounts.Key Takeaways[03:34] - Learn about Paul’s work as Editor In Chief for 529 dash, Director of Savings Research at ISS Market Intelligence and CFA Review Instructor and Practice Exam Writer.[05:34] - Learn more about what makes ISS Market Intelligence unique and how they operate.[07:01] - What are 529 Plans and why should investors care about them?[08:25] - Why are 529 Plans not even more popular, or more widely adopted, than they are?[09:41] - What are the most significant data points or metrics tha

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Saira Rahman, Vice President of New Investor Initiatives at Fundrise. Saira is a board advisor and speaker with 17 years of experience in strategy, payments, modeling and forecasting, financial reporting and interest rates. She believes in effective leadership through cross-functional collaboration, clear communication, people management and robust teamwork. Saira has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Yahoo News advocating for and implementing family benefits in the workplace. She is also Co-host of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, a weekly podcast deconstructing the intimidating world of finance with Megan McShane.Key Takeaways[03:13] - Learn more about Saira’s professional background and what drew her to the investing world.[05:26] - Learn more about Fundrise and their focus on Alternative Investments.[06:20] - How would Saira define Alternatives exactly?  Also, what types of Alts are there?[07:07] - Why should investors consider Alternatives in addition to tradit

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Michael Patchen, Co-Founder and CEO at Colleva. Key TakeawaysMike’s professional background and how he got where he is today.What inspired the founding of Colleva?What are the challenges that Mike is seeing in the RIA space and how is Colleva helping address these? Also, how does he envision it transforming the landscape of professional development and employee coaching?What is Mike’s outlook for AI in the broader investment industry and how it will transform it?What does Mike consider to be the primary focus of Colleva?How does Colleva use AI to create lifelike, interactive coaching experiences? What sets it apart from other AI tools?What makes Colleva’s approach to employee insights so unique?While Colleva is not currently being used to job interviews and screening, what roles can it play in the interviewing landscape?Does Mike have metrics or success stories to gauge the effectiveness of Colleva?Some examples of how using Colleva is engaging, approachable and even fun.A

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Ryan Issakainen, Senior Vice President, Exchange-Traded Fund Strategist at First Trust Advisors. Since joining First Trust in January of 2000, Mr. Issakainen has worked in various capacities with Unit Investment Trusts, Closed-Ended Funds, Structured Products, and Exchange-Traded Funds. As an ETF Strategist at First Trust, Ryan provides in-depth analysis and commentary related to ETF investing, including a monthly ETF webcast for financial advisors, and a quarterly ETF newsletter. In addition to his research responsibilities, Ryan speaks at various ETF industry events and conferences throughout the country. Mr. Issakainen has appeared on a number of radio and television outlets including CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg Radio, and WBBM Newsradio 780. In addition, he has given interviews to numerous print outlets including Investor’s Business Daily, Bloomberg, Reuters, InvestmentNews, Investment Advisor Magazine, TheStreet.com, Index Universe, MarketWatch, The Wall Street Jour

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by  Yuri Khodjamirian, Chief Investment Officer of Tema ETFs. Yuri spent over a decade at Majedie Asset Management managing UK and Global portfolios. As co-manager of the Majedie UK Income Fund, he helped build the fund from start-up stage, raising several billion in assets. He later set up his own long-only fund and sits on the board of a private Scandinavian biotechnology company. He holds degrees in Economics from University of Cambridge and LSE (distinction), as well as a degree in Bioscience Enterprise from University of Cambridge. Yuri is a CFA charter holder.Key Takeaways[03:31] - Yuri’s professional background, career highlights and what brought him to Tema.[05:06] -  More on Tema ETFs and what makes them stand out from their peers.[06:10] -  Learn more about Tema’s investment process and philosophy.[07:24] -  How does Yuri think up the ideas behind the funds they launch? What is his process?[08:37] -  What is the trend of “American reshoring” and how does Tema select

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by John Hoffman, Ryan Alderman, Jimmy Dooling, Greg King and Chris Hart from Brinker’s Due Diligence team.Key Takeaways[04:10] - The professional background of each of our guests today and what led them to Brinker.[09:06] - If they had to do due diligence on a due diligence team, what would they look for in that situation and what are some of the characteristics of a good due diligence team?[11:35] - How do they set themselves apart from other due diligence teams in the industry?[14:02] - How does the team go about finding new ideas and how does their “shopping list” get created?[15:58] - When the team is considering managers and strategies, what factors and attributes are they looking for in particular?[17:46] - Learn more about the Brinker Capital “guiding star” reports. What do they cover in these reports and who gets to read them?[19:40] - Do they have any stories of due diligence meetings that have gone terribly wrong?[22:55] - Advice and preparation tips for investment

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Jerry Parker, CEO of Chesapeake Capital. Mr. Parker is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake and Chesapeake Holding Company. Mr. Parker received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce, with an emphasis in Accounting, from the University of Virginia in 1980. Mr. Parker started his trading career in 1983 as an exempt commodity trading advisor for Mr. Richard J. Dennis, in his “Turtle” training program. My. Parker, a Portfolio Manager, has overseen Chesapeake’s operations and its trading since its inception in February 1988.Key Takeaways[03:36] - What drew Jerry to investing in the first place? Also, learn more about his career as the Founder of Chesapeake Capital.[05:46] - Learn more about Chesapeake Capital, what sets them apart as a firm and what has been key to their success.[07:53] - Learn more about how Jerry got involved with “Turtle Trading” and more detail about the experiment.[13:15] - How does Jerry define systematic investing and why does he thi

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Joe Smith. Joe is Co-founder, Chief Investment Officer and head of Parti Pris’ Investment Strategy Committee. He has executive responsibility for wealthtech platform development, and thought leadership. In his leadership role, he brings deep expertise in applying technology and portfolio optimization tools to portfolio design and implementation issues specific to wealth management. Joe is the primary architect of Parti Pris’ investment approach including Parti’s proprietary Household investment management process and our Advisor SketchBook™ portal. Joe brings almost 20 years of financial industry experience to his position at Parti Pris. Previously, he served as Senior Market Strategist and later Deputy Chief Investment Officer of CLS Investments, LLC. He has held several other investment management and product development roles including Manager of ETF Product Research & Development at Russell Investments and Senior ETF & Index Product Specialist at Charles Schwab