1 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Turians. I'm Joel Webber and I'm Eric Bell. Students, Eric, 2 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: do you happen to remember what happened about ten years ago? 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: Right now? Vaguely? Uh? You know, I was thinking, it's 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,760 Speaker 1: the ten year anniversary of two thou great financial Crisis, 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: and when we were preparing for this, I actually didn't 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: have many vivid memories, less than I thought. Neither did I. 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: I actually, for me that it was I can bring 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: this back to a podcast because Planet Money did this 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: amazing episode about the financial crisis, and that I was 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: not in financial journalism yet, and that was the thing 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: that actually helped me understand what what was happening around us. 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: I was in financial journalism at the beginning of my 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: career in the late nineties, so I very much remember 14 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: the Clinton years. But then I went to data. You know, 15 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: I was working in funds, but we just had to 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: get the n A V up, the shares out the holdings. 17 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: Our job was much more mechanical than tied to the markets, 18 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: whether markets up or down, you still have to get 19 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: that data in there, and that was my main focus. 20 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 1: That's why most of my memories are from my own 21 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: account and remembering the political aspect to that crisis more 22 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: than you know the financial aspect. But going back surprised 23 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: me actually, And there's many different ways you could call 24 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: call it a tenure anniversary, right, but I think the 25 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: one that that everyone's gonna hang their hat on is 26 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: gonna be the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, which pappens September. And 27 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: I also think that over time two thous eight becomes 28 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: this boogeyman that is so big you just assume the 29 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: whole year was this giant black hole. It cast this 30 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: long shadow. It still gets brought up, but when you 31 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: go back, there were definitely some some rough points, but 32 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: it was much more diverse than just this general general 33 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: black hole of of market. And then let's bring it 34 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: back to et S because that's what we're going to 35 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: spend the episode, talking about both what happened that year 36 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: and what's happened since. And you found what five or 37 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: so data points that we're gonna walk through. Yeah, So 38 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: in preparing for this, I went through I just found 39 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: I thought five stats that I found interesting, surprising, and 40 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: pointed to deeper issues within how ETFs handled and behaved 41 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: in two thousand eight. And because neither of us were 42 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: really on the front lines. Were joined by a wonderful guest, 43 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: Christine Harper, who is the editor of Bloomberg Markets magazine, 44 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: and in two thousand eight she was actually covering banking 45 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: for Bloomberg News, so she was literally at the front lines. 46 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: That's basically the world started to crumble. So she'll be 47 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: joining us and kind of helping us bring a different 48 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: perspective of what it was actually like to be watching 49 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: this thing in slow motion this week on Trilliance, Remembering 50 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: two thousand eight and what it all means. Now, Okay, 51 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: so Eric, you've got a stat that you want to 52 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: start with. Christine Harper is joining us. She's the editor 53 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: of Bloomberg Markets Magazine. She's also the author of a 54 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: book forthcoming book about Paul Volker, which we're all really 55 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: excited about. Eric, what's the first step. The first step 56 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: is e t f s took in a hundred and 57 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: seventy five billion dollars in flows in two thousand and eight. 58 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: That is a bit right. So first of all, the 59 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,679 Speaker 1: context is I find this data shocking because the word 60 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: on the street, especially from active funds, is hey, all 61 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: you people going to passive that they're all weekends are 62 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: going to flip out as soon as the market gets tough, 63 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: and it's gonna the market will blow up even more 64 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: because of all these e t f s. But if 65 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: you look back in two thousand eight, e t F 66 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: took in a hundred and seventy four billion, index mutual 67 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: funds took in another looks like ninety billion, and active 68 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: mutual funds lost two hundred and fifty nine billions. So 69 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: if anything, it was the active mutual fund investors who 70 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: got um you know, scared or panicked and left, whereas 71 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: the e t F investors. Again, this is a net 72 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: number over the year. Within months, there was definitely some 73 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: volatility in and out of some products, but that is 74 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: quite a shocking number in my opinion, given that you 75 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: would think that e t fs are used more by 76 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: retail and advisors, less sophisticated investors. They trade intra day 77 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: and so they would be sold off in mass and 78 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: people running for the hills. Christine, I want to I 79 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: want to rewind the clock too. You were on the 80 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: finance team covering Goldman Morgan Stanley. How familiar were you 81 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: with ETFs at that point in time? So at that 82 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: point in time, we I knew they existed, but what 83 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: I'd like to say is that at that point you 84 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: can almost think of the run up to the financial 85 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: crisis as a run up in investment in a liquid products. 86 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: I mean, Goldman Sachs disclosed in early two thousand seven 87 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: that they had a hundred and eleven billion dollars of 88 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: assets that they defined I gotta read this phrase as 89 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: more difficult to fund on a secure basis during times 90 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: of market stress that was up, that was more than 91 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,559 Speaker 1: double two years earlier, everybody was, you know, plunging into 92 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: mortgage backed securities that were put into c d O 93 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: s and then into c d O squares, things that 94 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: were almost inherently illiquid, with the assumption that they would 95 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: always go up in value or they could always find liquidity. 96 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: And they always had these you know, great acronyms of 97 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: nbs and c d O s. But the point was 98 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: they were all traded through banks that none of them 99 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: were on exchanges. They were very difficult to get out 100 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: of when people wanted to get out of. So my 101 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: theory is that E t F s, almost by dint 102 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: of the fact that they were exchanged traded funds, became 103 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: the one of the go to assets just purely for 104 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: I mean, t bills were trading trading negatively at that period. 105 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: People just wanted liquidity, no matter what the cost. So 106 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: it makes a lot of sense to me that all 107 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: this money that was desperately getting out of a liquid 108 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: credit was going into exchange traded funds. Because also another 109 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: thing that was happening at that point for the banks, 110 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: there became this vogue for reporting what did you ever 111 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: hear this term level three assets? Probably it rings all 112 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: that became very, very very important to investors during the 113 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: financial crisis because what it is is it's the most 114 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: hard to value assets on banks balance sheets, and those 115 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: were the ones nobody wanted, right, So exchanged anything exchange 116 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: traded as a level one asset, that's great. Then level 117 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: two are things where there's some inputs that are a 118 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: little bit less clear. Level three are the ones where 119 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: they're basically it's their own model that tells them how 120 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: much it's worth. And so literally investors were demanding, we 121 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: were sending headlines on the amount of level three assets 122 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: that banks had and that banks were trading on how 123 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: liquid they were. I'm sure those stories were getting highly 124 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: highly read, yes, and so any amount of any any 125 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: It makes sense to me that people are going into 126 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: exchange traded funds purely for liquidity. And the other thing 127 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: which we've talked about a lot, the you know c 128 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: d O s and if he has were part of 129 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: the problem was that you didn't know what you exact 130 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: There was no transparency, and so almost the perfect antidote 131 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: to that was an exchange trade exactly where you could 132 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: see what you're you were getting. When when Um in 133 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: the book I wrote nameless plug, one of the advantages 134 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: that I don't want to hear it again. You don't 135 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: even know what it is, and that's not the name 136 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: the institutional e t F two. Okay, all right, we're 137 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: friends again. Okay, all right. Um. One of the advantages 138 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: that I will riff off this, which was when I 139 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,119 Speaker 1: was going through and interviewing people by advantages, is fiduciary vehicle. 140 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: And I think that speaks to the level one asset, 141 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: the fact that there's a prospectus tied to it, the 142 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: fact that it's a forty act fund. I do think 143 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: that probably give people a lot of comfort in a 144 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: time of derivatives, and the fact that you know it 145 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: trades like futures, but it is backed. Those stocks that 146 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: are in the e t F are with a custodian 147 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: physically backed probably did help that year in terms of 148 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: being a contrast to these other products. And there's real 149 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: time pricing, right, that's very transparent. Okay, Point number two, 150 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: this one riffs great off of the first conversation, which 151 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: is that each f S traded just about trillion dollars 152 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: worth of shares. Now that's significant for a couple of reasons. 153 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: First of all, it's more than the US GDP. That's 154 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: a lot of money exchanging hands. Second, that is by 155 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: and far the most et f s ever traded in 156 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: a year ever to this day, and they only had 157 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: a sixth of the assets back then. Why. Here's why, 158 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: and it just speaks what when the going gets tough, 159 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: E t f s tend to be traded more and more. 160 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: They sort of thrive in volatility. They are trading vehicles, 161 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: so when people are uncertain, that's when they tend to 162 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: go up. And they tend to be about of the 163 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: equity trading every day, but in highly volatile times they 164 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: can be and this has been indicated since then. Um. 165 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: In fact, I've frequently charted sp wise dollar volume with 166 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: the VIX. I mean it perfectly overlays. In other words, 167 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,199 Speaker 1: it's almost like E t F volume is a fear gauge. 168 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: And part of the reason is people can use et 169 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: F to short there's options on them. There's all kinds 170 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 1: of ways you can use them to protect yourself, go along, speculate, 171 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,839 Speaker 1: and ultimately their liquids so on the portfolio. If you 172 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: don't want to disturb your individual holdings, the E t 173 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: F might be the first thing you move around to 174 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: deal with what's happening out there. I like the idea 175 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: of E t F s a the fear gauge, right, 176 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: And we talked about that actually a little earlier in 177 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: the year with what happened back in February when we 178 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: also saw some volatility. When you look back and can 179 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: kind of compare the volatility at those two moments and 180 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: the volumes that were happening, what do you what do 181 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: you notice between what we saw earlier this year? How 182 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: do they compare? Just size? Uh, you know, early February 183 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: was pretty intense. Uh. The spy traded about ninety billion 184 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: on a couple of days. That's almost its record was 185 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: a hundred billion just about back in two thousand eight, 186 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: So it had a day or two in February where 187 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: almost trade as much. But you have to remember SPY 188 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: is much bigger than it was back then, so if 189 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: you adjust for the asset size two eight, you could 190 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,679 Speaker 1: argue was two or three times more than anything that's happened, 191 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: since that's how mega that year was in certain days, 192 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: and there was even a month where SPY traded over 193 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: a trillion dollars into this day, that's the most it 194 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,079 Speaker 1: ever traded in a month, which which month was that October? 195 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: That was the roughest month of the of the year. 196 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: So what what how much bigger is the et F 197 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: market now than it was ten years ago? Six times? 198 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: So now it's got three point six trillion and it 199 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 1: had about six billion back then. So that is why 200 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: that number, that dollar volume number, because when you make 201 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: a dollar volume, you adjust for the assets. So that's 202 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: that is an I mean, if you take six billion 203 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: and put into trillion, what is that that's the amount 204 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: of turnover that year in e t F. It's a 205 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: large number, way larger than normal. And Christine, can you 206 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: now that we know October was that that that month 207 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: with that volume, can you put us back in what 208 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: it was like then, Well, October, you're right, I mean 209 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: that was the most dire month. That was a month 210 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: where you know, so it was September every but you know, 211 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: Lehman got went bankrupt. Meryl was acquired by Bank of America. 212 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: A week later, Goldman and Morgan Stanley converted to bank 213 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,959 Speaker 1: holding companies supervised by the FED. They also both got 214 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: equity injections. In Goldman's case it was from Warren Buffett 215 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: and uh Morgan Stanley's case it was from this Japanese bank. Um. 216 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 1: But it wasn't until October that Paulson then sent Secretary 217 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: of the Treasury Hank Paulson brought all the CEOs of 218 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: the nine biggest financial institutions at the time to Washington 219 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:35,959 Speaker 1: and basically told them they were going to all get equity. 220 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: This was the tart the first round of the tarp, 221 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: and that was the point at which people started to 222 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: feel like, okay, there's a bottom to this. But right 223 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: up to that point, and that was Columbus Day. I remember, 224 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,199 Speaker 1: it was a it was a national it was federal holiday. 225 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: Um so one of those convenient federal holidays where everybody 226 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 1: actually works, but yeah, exactly. The markets were open, I 227 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: think yeah, so um, but it was it was really unclear. 228 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: And there was also that vote in Congress I think 229 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: in early October before that when they voted down the 230 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,319 Speaker 1: TARP originally, and that was I think you'll remember that 231 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: was when the market really went. That was one of 232 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: the worst days in the equities market we saw, and 233 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: then they reversed the vote. But I wouldn't be surprised 234 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: if that day when the vote on TARP, the first 235 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: vote on TARP happened, whether that wasn't the day when 236 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: you saw the biggest trading. And one thing to add 237 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: here is even though E t F s I think 238 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: got a good grade in two thousand eight were trading 239 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: and I think they did well. I just saw the 240 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: Turkey et F traded fine through all the drama. Briggs 241 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: that they did well, but they've had a couple problems. 242 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:44,079 Speaker 1: August fifteen, that was that was some crazy days in 243 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: the market. That day, in particular, what happened was E 244 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: t F started trading at discounts. And it wasn't just 245 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: some exotic ones like X I V. There's been some 246 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: sort of exotic blow ups here and there, but this 247 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: was like Vanguard Dividend e t F, and I think 248 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: what what really is important remember here is as long 249 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,599 Speaker 1: as the exchange is having pricing for the stocks and 250 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: the bond market is it available to investors, and there's 251 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: futures pricing. As long as these inputs are available to 252 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: market makers, ets will trade fine. I called that the 253 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: plumbing when the some hiccups start to emerge on August, 254 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: they had made rules from the flash crash that had limits. 255 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: So if an e t F started to trade, um, 256 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: I think it was belower above ten percent, they just 257 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: halted it. So what happens is stocks were halted, but 258 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: the e t F wasn't, and so market makers did 259 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: not know how to price what the e t F 260 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: was worth. That's the worst they've cleaned that up since then. 261 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: That's why Bragg's it did fine. But that's so I 262 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: just want to point out that e t f s 263 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: are they have a good record, but there have been 264 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: some cases. Usually it's involved if there's lack of pricing 265 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: in the underlying holdings of e t f s. That's 266 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: when you can have a problem with the e t 267 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: F trading. That's interesting because I think it was an 268 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: October two thousand night also when they halted sword sales 269 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: because the bank started complaining that their stocks were falling 270 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,319 Speaker 1: to and uh and so it's interesting that e t 271 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: F survived that without any hiccups because that caused a 272 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: lot of issues. If that happens, the e t F 273 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: will trade, but it will move away from its fair value, 274 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: and sometimes that fair value is actually stale. It hasn't 275 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 1: taken into account like other data. Um, So the takeaway 276 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: here is that, uh, you know, they're not they are 277 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: vulnerable if in fact there's a problem with the anything 278 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: that they hold. Okay, Number three, we're gonna talk about active, right, Yeah, 279 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: because two thirds of active mutual funds underperformed the S 280 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: and P five. This was big for a couple of reasons. One, 281 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: the market was down, so you had to be really 282 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: bad to underperform it. That to me, I think left 283 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: the bad taste and a lot of investors mouths because 284 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: I think they thought, hey, look, I'm paying you this money. 285 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: Couldn't you have sidestep this at all? And you're seeing 286 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: some high profile people actually pull off, like, you know, 287 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: the biggest win of all time basically with some of 288 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: their bets. Yeah, and normally two thirds of active equity 289 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: funds will underperform the benchmark. But a lot of the 290 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: active managers will say, well, that's just because of quantitative 291 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: easing in this bull market, it's made it harder to outperform. 292 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: But this data shows that it's kind of doesn't matter 293 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: the market and the two thirds number, to me, is 294 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: really the cost issue. If you took away all their fees, 295 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: you'd have two thirds of them outperforming. So cost is 296 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: a big issue why they underperformed. But the other issue 297 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: is that active managers. I have empathy for them. If 298 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: you're an active equity fund, a lot of times you 299 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: you can't not hold these big stocks in the sp 300 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: because if you don't hold them when the market's going up, 301 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: you'll lag and get fired. So that's what's developed what's 302 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: called closet indexing. And I don't quite blame them because 303 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: advisors like something that mirrors the index, and so a 304 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: lot of them were just holding the same stock, so 305 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: there's no way they could have possibly sidestepped it when 306 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: they're holding the same thing perform and that's the conundrum 307 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: they're currently in. I mean, I'd talk of fund managers 308 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: all that year, and there was a sort of desire 309 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: on the part of a lot of them to believe 310 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: the worst was over. So you had the Barristern's collapse 311 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: in March, and then we interviewed financial stock investors who 312 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: were convinced, Okay, that's it, you know, let's get in, 313 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: and of course they got slaughtered. In the second half 314 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: of the year, the same thing. People were getting into 315 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: Fannie and Freddie convinced that there was no way it 316 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: would I mean, there were just nobody had ever seen 317 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: anything like this, so they kept jumping in trying to 318 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: catch this falling knife and getting burned by it. And 319 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: then and also I mean, I think, I think, I 320 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: think hedge funds didn't didn't prove themselves to be such 321 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: great hedges. And with a few very notable examples, and 322 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: here's one example. The worst of the big active funds 323 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: was Fidelity Magellan. It was down that year. That must 324 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: have been one of the falling knife catchers. Okay, number four. 325 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: Number four Gold showed the meaning of zero correlation. And 326 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: what I mean by that is gold is perceived as 327 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,400 Speaker 1: a safe haven. Gold was up three percent that year, 328 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: so while it didn't go down, it didn't exactly offset 329 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: the losses in the SP correlated with anything correct, It's 330 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: got zero correlation, which interesting the next year when the 331 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 1: market rebounded, gold rebound rate with it. Well, I think 332 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: what it is correlated with is inflation fears, and so 333 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: as the central banks went in and started pumping in 334 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,479 Speaker 1: liquidity late in two thousand eight early two thousand nine, 335 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: that's when you saw a lot of big investors say, oh, 336 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: this is a time to start hoarding gold and buying 337 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: real estate and preparing for you know, hyperinflation, which of 338 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: course by two thousand twelve they realized wasn't coming. And 339 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: I think that's true. Gold has a lot of currents 340 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: coming at it um. You know, there's there's emerging markets, 341 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: buyers that come in and weird you know. You I 342 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: learned to appreciate the zero correlation because it doesn't do 343 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: what anybody thinks it should do. And that's why I 344 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,479 Speaker 1: think it's a decent diversifier, because it's that's special. Almost 345 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: everything is negative or positive correlation, but it's not. It's 346 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 1: a shaky hedge, and I think that's where it gets 347 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: miss characterized a lot. But what was a good hedge, 348 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: what really worked was long dated treasuries T l T 349 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: which is the twenty plus your treasury e t F 350 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: was up the exact same amount of the market was down, 351 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: So if you had long dated treasurys, you completely offset 352 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: your losses in the market. And the best performing e 353 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: t F that year was e d V, which is 354 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: an extended duration TRIST Treasury strips the duration on that's 355 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: like twenty seven years, so it has the highest interest 356 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: rate sensitivity possible. That was up fifty that year. And 357 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: as long as we're talking about performance, you pulled a 358 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: couple of other numbers that are sort of noteworthy to 359 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: write the VIX right. So the VIX was up and um, 360 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: their vix et p s are controversial because they always 361 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: they have role costs that can be a year. So 362 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: VXX is down since launching. However, in a crisis, that 363 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: role cost can turn into roll yield. So the VIX 364 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,400 Speaker 1: Futures Index, which VXX tracks, because VXX wasn't around two, 365 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 1: it was up a hundred and twenty. In other words, 366 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: if you help vicks futures, enrolled them because the demand 367 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: for short term VIXED futures was so high, you actually 368 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: were buying low and selling high constantly, and you actually 369 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: made a one guy in his garage did that, Well, 370 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: that's like the black swan, right. Well, that to me, 371 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: I call that the jackpot potential. And that's why the 372 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: vix products are media proof. They've never gotten a good review. 373 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,880 Speaker 1: They're like an Adam Sandler movie, like they've literally never 374 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: They always get trashed, but they see a lot of 375 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: volume because when they work, there's nothing like it um 376 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: where I like, I like when people UM give possible 377 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: black swans, I'm like, if you know it, it's not 378 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: the black swan, right, because you're being trading it, right, Yeah, 379 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: it's some unknown thing that we don't know. Okay. Number five, 380 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: the junk bond etf saw inflows of one point five billion. 381 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: I found this astonishing because h y G is the 382 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: big junk bond I don't know. In fact, what's interesting 383 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: is if you look at the h y G s 384 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: performance that year, it was okay until about October, and 385 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: then it went down thirty percent in ten weeks. I mean, 386 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: this was a blood bath. It was the It was 387 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: the reason people worry about junk bonds. This was the 388 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: kind of sell off that has people shorting junk bond 389 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,479 Speaker 1: ETFs every now and then. In mass and it went 390 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: down that much, and there was a couple of days 391 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,160 Speaker 1: of outflows, but mostly it saw inflows. There were buyers 392 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: apparently for the e t F at that time. I 393 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: don't remember. Again, I wasn't studying as it closely, but um, 394 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: that's when it saw its most inflows and then when 395 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: it hit that bottom boy, where the flow is really 396 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: coming in. So clearly there are these vulture type buyers 397 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: out there, which should give some comfort because h y 398 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: G to me is the canary in the coal mine 399 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: in terms of people worrying about the et F structure 400 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: because they're like, well, yeah, sure to can do equities, 401 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: but junk bond you can't really wrap that up. I 402 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: mean Carl Icon and Howard Marks had both come out 403 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: and said you cannot have a liquid instrument tracking something 404 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: in liquid. And it was a rough year. There was 405 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: premium discounts of eight percent, but it it survived, It 406 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: saw inflows, and then after that it's obviously built its 407 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: fan base. Was it relatively small at that stage? Yes, 408 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: I will say the small is a double edged sword, 409 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: because yes it was. And that's a great point you 410 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: bring up, because I will say that prims and discounts 411 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: and h YG have shrunk so much over the past 412 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,159 Speaker 1: ten years because more and more market makers make a 413 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: market in it. However, h y G has vampired away 414 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: some of the liquidity from the high yield market. And 415 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: this is my big worry about et f s is 416 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: not the asset growing, it's the vampire of liquidity. Because 417 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: if more and more people just get lazy and say 418 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: I'm just going to trade h y G instead of 419 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: trading high yield debt myself because it's easier, that does 420 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: steal some of the liquidity. So we have a stat 421 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 1: that says h y G is still only two percent 422 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: ownership of all the junk bonds, but it accounts for 423 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: of all high yield debt trading today and it was 424 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: nowhere near those numbers back then. So on one hand, 425 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: there's more market makers watching it, which you could argue 426 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: is good, but another hand, it's way bigger part of 427 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: the market, which means there's probably arguably less liquidity in 428 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: the junk bonds. And this gets back to something I 429 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: think Christine can talk about, which is complacency that now, 430 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, when everything's going up, as we've 431 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: just described, all of these products and everything going up 432 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: for the longest period. So everything was terrific in two 433 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: thousand and seven when all of the subprime c dos 434 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: seem to be performing and people weren't so worried, So 435 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: that's why people were loading up on them. But as 436 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: soon as it turns around, people were completely shocked at 437 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: how a liquid and how you know, little they understood 438 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: these products. And the fear I think is that E 439 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: t F have become such a part of the furniture 440 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: now people just assume they're always going to work. There's 441 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: no example of them failing in a big way, and 442 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: so people get complacent about that. And and yet the 443 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: market is morphing in really important ways, as you've been describing, 444 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: and so that could mean the whole landscape is extremely 445 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 1: different if and when as a classes fall, especially if 446 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: they've fallen some kind of correlated way. Yeah, and I 447 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,200 Speaker 1: think E t F s right now, Um, they own 448 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: about eight percent of stocks, but the account for about 449 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: like I said, twenty five, the trading in a crisis, 450 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: as long as the stocks are trading, somebody can rbin. 451 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: The E t F investor will have a market. But 452 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: if there are no buyers for junk bonds for that time, 453 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: there's probably going to be a huge discount that uh 454 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: happens in H Y G or whatever E t F 455 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: it is. So I always tell people, ask yourself this question. 456 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: You have three choices. You can use the E t F, 457 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: you can use the active mutual fund, but that manager 458 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,199 Speaker 1: will have to try to sell those securities the end 459 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: of the day anyway if you redeem. And the third 460 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: thing is do it yourself. So on a really hurricane 461 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: type day when the big one hits, which would you 462 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,239 Speaker 1: rather try to sell? Because none of them are going 463 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: to be great, and so you sort of have to 464 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: just decide from there. And if you pick the E 465 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: t F knowing like all of that, it's good. But 466 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: if you go into the E t F thinking it 467 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: is utopia because it has traded so perfectly, I do 468 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,440 Speaker 1: think you'll be disappointment disappointments because you went in there 469 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: thinking it's like this perfect magical vehicle, but in effect 470 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: it's not. So I also want to talk about a 471 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: few people who who doubled down in the midst of 472 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: all of this. Can we talk about that? Sure? Because 473 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: Vanguard in particular, what what happened when you looked at 474 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,360 Speaker 1: those investors. This is this is unbelievable numbers. I was shocked. 475 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: Um Again, I looked this up because on Twitter, a 476 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,239 Speaker 1: lot of people will say, oh, wait, till the big 477 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: one hits these passive investors, they're going to lose their marbles. 478 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 1: So I go back to Vanguard. Vanguard took in money 479 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: every month, including October. They took in ninety billion dollars 480 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: that year. The rest of the industry combine lost I 481 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: think about a hundred billion. It's in these times of 482 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: crisis that Vanguard UM sees their absolute flows go down 483 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 1: a little bit, but they increased their market share. That's 484 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 1: when they gobble up a little market share against the 485 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: other competitors. But I was stunned. This is navy seals 486 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: like disciplined if you're actually putting in money. In two 487 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 1: thousand eight October, Vanguard at acts really like hardcore discipline 488 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: bogel head type investors. Now, some people say since then 489 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,119 Speaker 1: they've attracted more common folk who aren't like bogel heads, 490 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: and we'll we'll see if that plays out. But I 491 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: have seen these mini crisis Vanguard does seem to be 492 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 1: stickier than most. There's one other uh two eight anecdote 493 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: that I think, because we're talking about two th eight, 494 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: we have to bring up which was smart Bata was 495 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: around then, and there's a product called called PRF. And 496 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: we talked about this briefly before, but smart Beata basically 497 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: starts its process every quarter and then rebalances, and PRF 498 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: sauce up thing and took advantage of it. Do you 499 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,959 Speaker 1: want to describe what happened? Yes, So in the industry 500 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: we call this the immaculate rebalance. That's just the best 501 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: name this is because if they don't have that on 502 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: their shirts and hand get credit to Ben Johnson at morning. 503 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: Sorry he came up with it, but it's it's actually 504 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,159 Speaker 1: really fascinating. In two thousand eight, let's face it, it 505 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: was it was a tough to buy bank stocks. If 506 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: you're an active manager, you probably fired on the spot 507 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: if you went in and bought City Group, right. Well, 508 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: smart data products are just active but put into a 509 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: rules based index, so they're like robots. They have to 510 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,400 Speaker 1: just screen the stocks every quarter, and if they're cheap 511 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 1: and they passed the screens, they have to buy them. Well, 512 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: PRF is a smart data product and it it bought 513 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: up all these bank stocks in late two thousand eight 514 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: to the point where it had fifty financials in two 515 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: As we've said before, it's like walking into the burning building. Yeah, 516 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, and we trace PRF in the next 517 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: I think it was like six to seven years that 518 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: one trade, that one rebalance accounted for just tons of 519 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: alpha that kept giving for years and years and years 520 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: after that. And what's interesting is the guy who runs 521 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: that index, which power Shares license had institutions using that 522 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: index in separate accounts. They called him up and said, 523 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: do not do the rebounds. We're not buying City Group, 524 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: and so he didn't, and of course the et F 525 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: outperformed the s m A and that I think it's 526 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: value to the robotic nature of smart beta. But my 527 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: colleague Ben will bring up that a lot of investors 528 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: were unable to hang in there in PRF, So the 529 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: this brings up behavior and the importance of hanging in there. 530 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: If you pick a strategy and you like it, you 531 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 1: gotta stick with it. I mean, what what was it? 532 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: Was there any robout buying Lehman Brothers but in sort 533 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: of July or August, I'd have to see if it checked. 534 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: That's a good question. That's a good research note. I 535 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: don't know if Lehman would have checked off momentum, but 536 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: Lehman fell right so fast that it didn't even it 537 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,239 Speaker 1: would have been a quarter because these things usually look 538 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: over quarters or semi annually. It wouldn't have become a 539 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: value stock for long, right, Like it didn't. We didn't 540 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: hang it like a low p for a long time, 541 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: depending on when the robot resets, right, But it's possible. 542 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: But I just did recall seeing some of the bigger 543 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: banks in there that have gone yeah, yeah, yeah, I 544 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: remember distinctly going for drinks with somebody who was a 545 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: consultant and he was he was bragging to me about 546 00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: how he just loaded up in Fannie and Freddie because 547 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,119 Speaker 1: it was so low. I couldn't go any lower, you know, 548 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: very very badly. You know, this idea of buying stuff cheap, 549 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 1: it's it is really tempting. We see this all the 550 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: time with with stocks. And my wife actually like she 551 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: wants to buy J. C. Penny and she's just she's 552 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: like a natural value investor and I understand that, but 553 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: you know, it can go lower the floor there's a 554 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: trap door, but I mean there were yeah, I mean there, 555 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: I think one of the you know, several of the 556 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 1: hedge fund managers sort of made their names also for 557 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: recognizing that some of these banks, for instance, we're not 558 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: going to be allowed to fail, right, and so City 559 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: Group was a good investment because there was no way 560 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: the government was going to let it fail. Christine, can 561 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: we bring it back and you can help us maybe 562 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: put a bow on all of this. You were on 563 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: the front lines. You've seen how everything's evolved for ten years. 564 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: You've seen Eric stats. Now can you help us make 565 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: sense of this? What what's the takeaway that you get 566 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: from this conversation that we thought? Well, for me one 567 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: of the biggest lessons of the financial crisis. Having been 568 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: a reporter covering financial companies at that point for maybe 569 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: five six years, I was pretty convinced that these people 570 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: all knew what they were doing. They're they're very smart, 571 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: they're highly sophisticated, very numerous, very data driven, and I 572 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: was shocked the number of them who were completely taken 573 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: by surprise and didn't see it coming at all and 574 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: actually didn't really understand how things worked. So it gave 575 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: me a sort of much more skeptical view of the 576 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: experts in the financial industry. I mean, you know, people 577 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: who were running these firms really didn't know what was happening. 578 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: So I get I just kind of always keep that 579 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: in the back of my mind, no matter how good 580 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: something sounds, and no matter how well it's worked. I 581 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: I think it's always a good idea to remain somewhat 582 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,719 Speaker 1: skeptical and do your own homework. And the people who 583 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: came out looking smart of the people who ask the 584 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 1: most questions and to that point, you know, uh. In 585 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: going back to the very podcast, when he talked about 586 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: why he thought Passive got so big, he did bring 587 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: up these large sell offs where it did the experts 588 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: did look a little bit like the Emperor wearing no clothes, 589 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: and that over and over, I think is where you 590 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: have a lot of investors going, you know what, screw it. 591 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna put it in this like dirt cheap 592 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: SMP thing and then that that's all I'm doing. But 593 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: there is some concern if everybody feels like that and 594 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: there's a crowd into this one, you know, dirt cheap 595 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: SMP trade, that's I think where I have to think 596 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: there's some credence the SMP in particular, that index is 597 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: so all powerful because it's it's big and passive, but 598 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: also active managers are orbiting around it too, and I 599 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: think that is where there's some legitimacy to it. But 600 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think if you just judge 601 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: this stuff not versus not versus reality, and you think 602 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: of the other options available to you to get exposure 603 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: when you make a choice that way, I think it's 604 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: much better our approach than just buying it because you 605 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: saw commercial or you know, you heard somebody talk about it. 606 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: Everybody else is doing it, right, Christine. One final thing, 607 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: can we talk about your book for a second. What's 608 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: it called? It's First of all, I will say it's 609 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: not My book helped Paul right the right his memoir 610 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: um so he has written the story of his life. 611 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: He's almost ninety one years old. And for those who 612 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: are not familiar with Paul Volker, so, Paul Vulgar was 613 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: the chairman of the Federal Reserve. He killed in the 614 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: hyper and we're not quite hyper inflation, but serious inflation 615 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: problem we had in the United States in the late 616 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: seventies early eighties. And he's a very important rule named 617 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: after him. He has the Vulcar rule named after him 618 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: because he was really he was shocked and horrified during 619 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: the financial crisis and how everything suddenly got treated as 620 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: it was a bank. Right, banks are supposed to be 621 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: special entities, right that you have special rules, I have 622 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: special protections. Suddenly of Goldman, SAX and mor eanxamily were 623 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: treated like banks. Suddenly all mutual fund money market mutual 624 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,719 Speaker 1: funds were treated like banks. Everything was getting bailed out 625 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: as was a bank. And he thought this was a problem, 626 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: which I think a lot of people do, and uh, 627 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: and wanted to make a distinction. You know, if you're 628 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,239 Speaker 1: a bank, there should be certain things protections you get 629 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: because you're important, you're kind of utility for our society. 630 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: But you shouldn't put yourself at undue risk. And that's 631 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,840 Speaker 1: a vocal rule. But anyway, so but he covers everything, 632 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: you know, the end of Bretton Woods, you're fighting inflation, 633 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: financial rulemaking, his personal life story, lots of things he 634 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: did after he left the FED, and so it's a 635 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: it's a good book. And he does it all in 636 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: about three pages, so it's not along yet and the 637 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: books called keeping at It and it comes out. It 638 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: comes out in November seven, can wit good Christmas gift. 639 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening Trillions until next time. You can find 640 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: us on the Bloomberg Terminal, Bloomberg dot com, Apple Podcast, 641 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,959 Speaker 1: and where else you would like to listen. We'd love 642 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: to hear from you. We're on Twitter, I'm at Joel 643 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: Weber Show, He's at Eric Baltunas, and you can find 644 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: Christina Harper at the cr Underscore. Harper Trillions is produced 645 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: by Magnus Hendrickson. Francesca Levy is the head of Bloomberg 646 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 1: podcast by