177: The Courtship of Investment Allocators & Managers: Inside iConnections - With Ron Biscardi

If you are an asset allocator, what is the most effective way to widen your lens on identifying potential investment managers? And if you are an investment manager, how can you be more effective in meeting some of those key allocators who might transform your business?  In April 2020, Ron Biscardi launched iConnections, whose platform allows managers to share fund information with allocators.   Ron started iConnections as a small virtual events platform during COVID-19, with 'no money, no employees, no software and no clients'. In just five years, it's grown into the world's largest cap intro platform (facilitating 35,000+ meetings, so far!). Ron explains how his background in engineering and then capital introduction led him to found the business. He explains why they built the technology, rather than buying it, and discusses the enduring attraction of conferences. Plus he also covers why data is the great enabler to help attendees maximise their productivity.  Finally, he discusses why conferences such as iConnections Global Alts (Miami) is so successful, and how gathering intelligence, meeting your peers and building your brand can follow.  The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by  Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.  Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

Today we welcome one of the Middle East’s most successful angel investors and venture capitalists, listed in 'FORBES 100 Most Powerful Business Women 2025'. Noor Sweid explains her journey, from early career in management consultancy and relocating to Dubai, followed by growing and listing a business on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai in 2008 (Depa), through to establishing her VC business, Global Ventures, in 2018. She sets the scene for the investing dynamics of MENA (Middle East North Africa), where the domestic market comprises 450 million people, half of whom are below 30 years old. Noor explains both the geographic and industry opportunities, why she established Global Ventures, and the priorities in their investment process. From fintech, agritech, consumer goods and solving the most pressing medical challenges, she details their approach, selection criteria, and the characteristics they look for.  She explains how they prioritise, how much they become involved in their investee companies, what they look for in “winning entrepreneurs” and why they believe their success rate can be higher than typical industry norms. Subscribe to stay up to date with our range of fascinating interviews, featuring some of the biggest names in global finance and business! The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

From the 1950s onwards, the foundations of investment consulting were laid, as pension funds and institutional investors sought professional guidance on asset allocation and portfolio management.  This was enhanced in the 1960s & 70s by the introduction of Modern Portfolio Theory by Harry Markowitz and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) by William Sharpe.  Today, the investment consulting industry has become a vast cog in the investing machinery, increasingly extending its reach from institutional through to individual investors.  In this interview, Michael Manning, CEO of NEPC, with nearly $2 trillion under advice, sits at the epicenter of these developments.  We learn how the world of consulting has developed, the reasons behind its growth, how it has adapted, and its move into the individual market.   Michael then discusses the investment terrain. Is the US peaking relatively, and what might that mean? How to assess passive versus active? Is private equity due to disappoint? And how to assess the risk/returns of private debt, infrastructure and real estate.  The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.  Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

Through direct, entertaining & insightful interviews with masters of the real life money maze, we hope to learn about different approaches to allocating capital, making business decisions and navigating the pitfalls that line the paths to prosperity. Each episode, with invite leading figures from the investment management and finance sector onto the show, who share their investment insights and career tips with our community. We're driven by a commitment to opening up the industry, which can often be shrouded in the fog of jargon and apparent complexity. To provide listeners with a wider perspective, we also occasionally feature guests from the arts or wider business world. The interviews is available completely free on all major podcast apps, on YouTube and via www.moneymazepodcast.com If you have any questions or guest ideas, feel free to email us at [email protected]. Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, World Gold Council, IFM Investors and LSEG.

 Chris Wood, former guest and highly respected global strategist, recently made a bold prediction, namely that the US stock market has reached its all-time relative peak, similar to Japan in 1989.  His recent commentaries include one describing Trump’s “Liberation Day” as “Impoverishment Day” and that Trump is the “Bull in the China Shop”.  In this conversation, Chris gives his take on whether US equities are peaking, or just pausing. Alongside sharing some thoughts on US equities, Chris also analyses the dollar, the bitcoin/gold dilemma, EM fixed income, private equity, and private debt.  ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube

Economic theory suggests that when competition decreases, remaining firms may have more market power, which can lead to increased opportunities to expand, innovate, or capture a larger market share. Does that analogy apply to the world of shorting? And even if you are considered one of the best in the business, can you stay afloat with a rising tide of bullishness and asset inflation? To discuss what’s changed and where might the opportunities lie, we welcome back Carson Block, who first appeared in September 2021. He discusses sourcing ideas and the warning signs and characteristics of companies they typically like to short along with examples of companies that meet their criteria. He discusses if AI can assist in screening for pattern recognition in potential candidates. He then reflects on the resilience needed to survive bull markets and hostile adversaries, and just as short-sellers leave the field, what may lie ahead! Recorded January 2025.  ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube

Some of our conversations are deliberately different, and the man I interview here has cost me a lot of money! I also consider him a friend and somebody whose perspective I have valued.   It could be said that Neil Woodford, CBE, has had a career of two halves, the first of which encompassed extraordinary investment success at Invesco Perpetual and then at Woodford Investment Management (2014-2019).   At its peak, Woodford’s business managed £15bn and was backed by Hargreaves Lansdowne and St. James’s Place. Its clients included Kent County Council’s pension fund, a range of wealth management firms and 300,000+ retail investors.   Yet in 2019 the fund was suspended and then liquidated, following a shift in asset allocation from blue-chip public equities to illiquid, unlisted companies (he denies this was the cause of the collapse in this discussion). In the run up to the collapse, he experienced approximately £7bn of outflows.   Using an investment lens, here we try to examine and understand what went right, what went wrong and now what may lie ahead.   Neil remains under investigation by the UK Financial Conduct Authority at the time of this interview (March 2025).  ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, World Gold Council, LSEG and IFM Investors.  Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube  

In the world of mythology, Apollo is one the most revered and significant of all the ancient Greek and Roman Gods.  It was also the name given to an asset management business created in 1990 and today with assets of over $750 billion*, it’s a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement solutions.   In this conversation we understand Apollo’s growth, reach and specialisations. More importantly we discuss the convergence of the public and private asset management industries, where the accelerating marriage of alternatives and traditional assets appears irreversible. From institutional portfolios, now expanding into individual allocations, the trend appears early in its evolution.  Scott Kleinman, Co-President of Apollo Asset Management, reviews the liquidity aspects implied by this phenomenon. He discusses the role of banks, where regulation has allowed the growth of non-bank enterprises like Apollo to blossom, and the trade-offs, risk, reward and liquidity, investors will make.  He also describes opportunities and challenges, outside of the US where capital is less abundant, and securitisation malfunctioning. Finally, Scott offers some great advice to youth that “you can’t escape hard work” and “you should never stop asking why?!”  The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.  Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube | As of 31st December 2024 

When Warren Buffet singles you out for praise, it might be fair to say you have summited the investment equivalent of K2, Annapurna and Kangchenjunga, the most challenging of mountain peaks!   In a capricious investing world, where success is often transient, reputations easily tarnished and hubris punished, to have not only stayed the course for 55 years, but thrived, built Oaktree Capital into one of the largest investors in distressed securities worldwide and cemented a vast loyal following is extraordinary. His investment memos written over the years are world class: engaging, lucid and approachable. In this 1 hour conversation, Howard Marks shares some of his most important investing lessons. It’s a conversation everyone interested in investing should hear. Howard explains, why it’s not what you buy, it’s what you pay that counts, why you need to be contrarian to succeed in investing, why over confidence is the enemy of performance, and  - given the inevitable nature of cycles - why he subscribes to Voltaire’s comment that “history never repeats itself, but man always does”. And that is before he discusses the role of luck, the future of the US, the “illusion of knowledge”, and much more with one of the investment greats! ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, World Gold Council, LSEG and IFM Investors. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube 

In this episode we’ve been very fortunate to find someone who ranks amongst the most qualified anywhere in the world to discuss this topic. He was the former CFO of Billiton, then as CEO, built Xstrata into one of the world’s largest diversified mining companies, helping grow their market value from US$500m to US$60bn, at one point employing over 90,000 people. In this conversation we examine the most important supply and demand mismatches of critical materials. We assess the energy transition, discuss where the opportunities and challenges lie, what Vision Blue Resources is seeking to build, and how investors are positioned. We expand the conversation to discuss valuation opportunities in the wider commodity space, geopolitical hotspots and their implications for commodity prices.  Mick also talks about effective management, building optionality into your business and why investors misunderstand how mining companies frequently demonstrate much better governance and responsibility than standard thinking suggests. ​​The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG. Sign up to our Newsletter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Watch on YouTube