1 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: High and welcome to another edition of the Odd Thoughts podcast. 2 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Alloway and I'm Joe. Wasn't all Joe, I 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: got to ask when you were at school, were you 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: good at math? So it's really funny that you should 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: ask that, um, Because so my dad is a physics professor, 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: and he started me on math training when I was 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: very young. And I was really good at math and 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: really good at mental math and super good at multiplications 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: up until like fourth grade. And then as soon as 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: it like hit the level of like where I actually 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: had to do work and couldn't just do stuff in 12 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: my head, I just like I just totally became very average. 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: So I went from being really good at math to 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: really mediocre very fast. But I do really love math, 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: and I do really like doing a sort of math 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: in my head and think about math and stuff like that. 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: So I think I have a love hate relationship with math, 18 00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: Like I find it very very difficult to do and 19 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: is probably my most hated subject, but conceptually I think 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: it's really interesting and statistics. I was actually quite good 21 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: at UM, so I like thinking about math ideas I 22 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: hate actually doing the math. I mean, I think I 23 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: think we're probably in the same boat on this one. Okay, well, 24 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about maths, and yeah, we're not 25 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: going to do do math because that would be the 26 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: world's most boring podcast ever. But we are going to 27 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: talk about mathematical ideas and specifically how they applied to 28 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: investment and markets and finance. And we have a very 29 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: cool guest who is probably better better able to talk 30 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: about math and investments than just about anyone else. Yeah, 31 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: that's right. So, anyone who's ever heard of long term 32 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: capital Management, you know that there was a quant there 33 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: co founder called Victor Hagani and basically was hugely instrumental 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: in the founding of that firm and is a mathematical 35 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: expert of the highest order, I suppose you would say, right. 36 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: And so these days there's so much interest in like 37 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: algorithms and computers and quantitative finance and stuff, and there 38 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: of course really ahead of the curve on a lot 39 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: of these ideas, and now there's much more interest. So 40 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the connection between math and 41 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: finance and particularly some important mathematical concepts that investors should understand. 42 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: Maybe we'll get an LTCM questioned in there too. Who knows. 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: Let's bring in Victor Hagani. Like I said, he was 44 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: at l T c M, but he is now the 45 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: CEO of ELM Partners, which is basically a portfolio of 46 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: low cost index and exchange traded funds. Victor, thanks so 47 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: much for joining us. Thank you very much for having 48 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: me so. Victor. We actually brought you on after reading 49 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: a paper that you did, UH basically about what coin 50 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: tossing and the probabilities involved in coin tossing? Can each 51 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: us about investment? Can you tell us about that paper? 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: So it came out of an experiment that that I 53 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: did with the colleague of mine UM who I worked 54 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: with at Ellen Partners, Rich Dewey, and we had heard 55 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: about some research that was that had been done involving 56 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: coin flipping and how people UH managed situations where they 57 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: were given a favorable odds kind of investment opportunity. And 58 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: I know we can't remember it with with these things, 59 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: sometimes you can't quite remember where the ideas come from. 60 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: But we decided to do this experiment where we would 61 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: UM give gives depends some some real money and allow 62 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: them to flip a coin that was biased to come 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: up six likely to come up heads tails, and we 64 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: told them that to begin with, and we gave them 65 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: half an hour to flip to bed as much of 66 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: their starting as they wanted. And at the end, however, 67 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: were much money they had left in their bank, we 68 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: would pay them up to a maximum amount of two 69 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: and fifty dollars. And what we found was that UM 70 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: our participants, who were pretty quantitatively quantitatively trained UM young 71 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: men and women, didn't do very well and they didn't 72 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: kind of get some of the basic concepts of UM 73 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: decision making under uncertainty or the they didn't quite get 74 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: the independent nature of the flips and the fact that 75 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: it just made sense to keep betting on heads to 76 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: debt you know, some modest constant proportion of how much 77 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: they had in their bank at any point in time 78 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: on heads and so UM. Yeah, it was, it was. 79 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: It was really interesting to think about, you know, how 80 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: people were we're having trouble with that, and you know, 81 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: to give us some ideas for trying to help with 82 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: UM with education as well. On on that, on that topic, 83 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: explain real quickly the exact mechanics they were supposed to play. 84 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: They had twenty five dollars and they were supposed to bet, 85 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: what explained to us what the nature of the bet is, 86 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: and then what did the lessons show about mistakes that 87 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: people might or might not make when they invest. Sure, 88 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: so the you know, the exact mechanics of it were that, 89 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: you know, we told that the people to come for 90 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: a lecture and uh, and then we asked them to 91 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: get out their laptops and to play this game. So 92 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: we gave them twenty five dollars that turned up on 93 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: their screen and their banks and their bank accounts or 94 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: their bank roll, and then they could bet up to 95 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: the on the flip of a coin, and they could 96 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: do it repeatedly. Some people flipped the coin three hundred 97 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: times in the thirty minutes that they had and if 98 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: they won the slip, then their bank roll would go 99 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: up and and and vice versa. And however much they 100 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: were left with at the end, we actually told them 101 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: and we did pay them as a check or cash, 102 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: which was you know, especially for a bunch of college students, 103 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: which were the majority of our subject. You know, it 104 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: was very welcome. And the two d and fifty dollar 105 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: maximum that we were going to pay them, uh, we 106 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: only told them that if they got close to it, 107 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: so we told them that there was a maximum payout 108 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: to begin with, but it was only when they got 109 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: to a point where they could reach the two hundred 110 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: and fifties. So if they had two d and twenty 111 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: five dollars in their bank account and they were betting 112 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: thirty dollars on heads, we would say, by the way, 113 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: the most will pay you is two fifties. So you 114 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: might want to do see your best from thirty dollars 115 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: to twenty five dollars, because there's no point in winning 116 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty five dollars. We won't pay you that. 117 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: The most surprising thing, uh, in a way, was the 118 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: fact that people would relatively frequently bet on tails, um, 119 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: you know, even though we told him it was likely 120 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: to be heads. You know, even though in general, you know, 121 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: heads was coming up more frequently for most people, you know, 122 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: after they have flipped a number of times, they still 123 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: felled them, particularly after a string of head So like 124 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: if they got four heads in a row, they were 125 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: then more likely to bet on tails. Not everybody. That 126 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: seems like a deep failure of numerousy to ever bet 127 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: on tails, even and to think that something like the 128 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: past streak of flips. Is any bearing on the next flip, Yeah, 129 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 1: it is, But it's just that it's like the deep 130 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: seated need that we have, you know, to sort of 131 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: see a story and random thing. It's very you know 132 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: that given that like half of the people did you know, 133 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: half of these subjects at some point bet on tails, 134 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: and like thirty percent of them bet on tails fair 135 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: amount of the time. So there's something kind of deep 136 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: seated and there my mom. I had my mom through 137 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: the experiment and we talked about it afterwards, and she 138 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: said to me, I know that I should never bet 139 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: on tails, but I just couldn't resist. So she knew it, 140 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: she knew it didn't make any sense, but she just 141 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: couldn't resist. And it was interesting. We did another experiment 142 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: and following up on this, this the same as interview 143 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: question about the family planning that if you uh, you 144 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: know that if if in a if you're going to 145 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: in a society, if if everybody wants to have a 146 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: girl and so they keep having children, each family has 147 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: children until they have a girl, does that change the 148 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: expected number of boys and girls? And most people feel 149 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: that it does, even though when father as a coin flip, 150 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: you can kind of see that they're independent, and you 151 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: know that there's nothing there's really nothing much you can 152 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: do to change the expect number of boys being equal 153 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: to the expect number of girls to any finite horizon. 154 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: So the point of those types of experiments is essentially 155 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: that the optimum investment strategy is dictated by maths, right, 156 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: and yet we choose to ignore it for whatever reason 157 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: because we instinctively don't understand probabilities, or there's some emotional 158 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: thing going on. Yeah, I mean I think people, you know, 159 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: understand it. I mean like our subjects were really quantitatively trained. 160 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: I mean they understood all of this, you know, there 161 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: they were some of them were even mathematicians that at 162 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: one of the universities where we did it, and and 163 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: U some of and some of the subjects were also 164 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: professional investment investment professionals that had both know a lot 165 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: of maths and econ and finance training. So they understand it. 166 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: But I think there is this sort of there's something 167 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: deep seated that that sort of comes up and steers 168 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: us off the path. And so you know, it's kind 169 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: of like quite a lot of specific training is probably 170 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: what's needed to get people to be disciplined, and you know, 171 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: to be disciplined, it's not a lot of fun. I 172 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: mean thinking about you're sitting there flipping a coin for 173 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: half an hour and you're just trying to get of 174 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: your bank roll on it and keep betting on head. 175 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: It reminds me of reading about professional poker players who 176 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: know that they can make a steady profit playing limit poker, 177 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: which is a very mathematical, no, very little bluffing version 178 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: of the game of poker, but they're just bored out 179 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: of their minds when they play it. So they no 180 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: limit is more fun and more exciting. There's it's a 181 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: little less mathematical and more sort of based on emotion. Uh, 182 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,560 Speaker 1: they are more inclined to lose, Like you know, these games, 183 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: these sort of sure things are not very enjoyable practices. Yeah. Yeah, Well, 184 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: and think about index investing, right, I mean kind of 185 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: the most you know, the most boring thing you could 186 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: do is to take all of your savings and to 187 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: put it into two index funds. You know, very few 188 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,839 Speaker 1: people really do that, and very you know, very few 189 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: people do that and stick to it. I mean, people 190 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 1: will do it and then they sort of will come 191 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: back and feel that they need to change it because 192 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: you know, there was an election, or there was a 193 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: change in interest rates or something. So it's sort of 194 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: fighting that that urged to us. That fighting the urge 195 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: to be active is difficult in a lot of different contexts. 196 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: We're all suckers for a sense of control. Let's talk 197 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: about a different mathematical concept that's incredibly important to investing 198 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: and that is compounding. This sort of I forget who 199 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: said it. Maybe it's like Einstein, someone famous said something 200 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: about compounding or being one of the most powerful forces 201 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: on earth. Yeah, I think that they say Einstein may 202 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: said something like that. As strange as it me. Yeah, 203 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: I don't know why he would have been talking about it, 204 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: but I think he did say something about it for 205 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: whatever reason. Um, what don't people understand? What is it? 206 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: Why is compounding such an important concept to understand? And 207 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: what do people what do people get wrong about this? Well? 208 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,559 Speaker 1: You know, I think that you know that in these 209 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: sort of investing things or mass things in general. You know, 210 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: one of the things that really gets us is nonlinearities, 211 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,719 Speaker 1: you know, as things that are not proportional, and compounding 212 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: is one of those things. So, um that the growth 213 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: of your money doesn't kind of go up in a 214 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: straight line. It goes up in this exponential line. It 215 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: starts off growing slowly, and then as it gets bigger, 216 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: it's growing faster in terms of the amount of money 217 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: by which it's growing, I mean, the rate of growth, 218 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,599 Speaker 1: let's say, stays the same. And and so you know, 219 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: when you start to look at relatively long periods of time, 220 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: which are the kinds of periods of time that are 221 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: relevant to us in terms of building savings for retirement 222 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: or or uh, you know, our our our sort of 223 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: personal security longer term, or for our family or our kids. Um, 224 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: you know, those long term horizons are important, and and 225 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: compounding and small effects really magnify out there. So you know, 226 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: the one that we always that we can hear a 227 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: lot about, right, is sort of the effect of fees. 228 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: You know that, Um, you know that if you're compounding 229 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: at a five percent return because you're paying two percent fees, 230 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,079 Speaker 1: or if your account compounding at a seven percent return, 231 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: that what you wind up with at the end is 232 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:53,079 Speaker 1: not proportional to seven over five, right, that that seven 233 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: winds up giving you a lot more um at the 234 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: end because it's it's you know, it's it's one point 235 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: oh seven being raised to a power divided by one 236 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: point oh five being raised to a power. So you know, 237 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: everything kind of gets magnified by by compounding, and so yeah, 238 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: you get a lot of you know, like another thing 239 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: that you know, sort of similar to sees as taxes. 240 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: So if we can invest in a way where we 241 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: don't pay tax until the end of our investment horizon, um, 242 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: you know, we wind up with a lot more money 243 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: than if we're paying the same rate of tax on 244 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: our growth every year that we go along. So um, 245 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,080 Speaker 1: like you know, an example of that would be let's 246 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: say that you have a uh an investment that has 247 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: an eight percent rate of return and let's say a 248 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: tax rates or fifty percent. Just to make the mass simple, Um, Well, 249 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: after thirty years, if you were well, if you're paying 250 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: tax every year, then your eight percent return duringly like 251 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: a four percent after tax return. So if you have 252 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: a if you have a hundred thousand dollars and you're 253 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: investing it, then after tax, that hundred thousand dollars has 254 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: grown to three four thousand dollars after thirty years at 255 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: this four percent rate of growth. Half of the five 256 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: but it's instead you're deferring your tax to the end. 257 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: Then you're growing at eight percent right, um, because you're 258 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: not paying any tax on it. But at the end 259 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: you have to pay tax on all your games. And 260 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: when you do that, you wind up with clothes to 261 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: double the money. After thirty years, you wind up with 262 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: like five fifty thou dollars and almost a six percent 263 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: instead of a four percent rate of return. So that 264 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: stuff really kicks in over these long horizons and is important. 265 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: You know, small differences wind up being big differences because 266 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: it's compounding. What's your favorite um financial formula for investing? Like, 267 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: if you had to choose one, UM, well, I don't know. 268 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: I guess, uh, you know, one of the simplest ones 269 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: one that there's been on my mind lately. I don't 270 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: know if it's and I think if I had more 271 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: time to think of it, I find a better one, 272 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: but it's been on my mind. Of that is is 273 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: what's known as Sharp equality, from a paper that William Sharp, 274 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize winner, wrote, um in the early it 275 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: was I think the paper was called like the Aristhetic 276 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: of Active Investing, And in that he just made the 277 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: very simple, uh statement, that the return on the average 278 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: actively managed dollar has to equal the return of market 279 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: minus minus fees on the active stuff, and that comes 280 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: about the market return is UM must equal a weighted 281 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: average of the reach end of the passive and active 282 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: segments of the market. So if the uh, if the 283 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: total market return is the same as the index thing 284 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: return of the passive part, then you know, it's sort 285 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: of like, you know, if if two equals one plus one, 286 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: then two minus one equals one is kind of um. 287 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: You know, I guess I suppose the way of seeing it. 288 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: So it's a very simple. It's kind of like in physics, 289 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: the the idea of the conservation of energy UM and 290 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: you know, so what are the practical ramifications of that? 291 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: From an investor standpoint? This sort of I get it 292 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: sounds like an identity essentially, what do the how does 293 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: that manifest itself practically in terms of making investing decisions? Well, 294 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: it just helps us a lot in terms of thinking 295 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: about what we're doing when we choose active strategies. That 296 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: for an active strategy to be working for us UM 297 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: that we have to believe that there's some other active 298 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: strategy that's losing money and we have to be able 299 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: to identify, um, you know why and who that's likely 300 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: to be. You know that if we're that that, if 301 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: we're if we think that we're making you're kind to 302 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: make money, we really be sure of who we're making 303 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: the money from. And it's not really it's some game essentially, yes, 304 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: you know, within that space. I mean, at least too, 305 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: you know, I think that at least to a first approximation, 306 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: it's the it's a valid identity. I mean, there's some 307 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: caveats and so on that people would bring into it, 308 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: but I kind of like that. It's simple. Um. It 309 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: reminds us of Bill Sharp, who is a really cool guy. 310 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's a really useful It's 311 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: really it's a really useful one. Um to to remember. 312 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: Oh um, I promised a potential l t c M question. Um, so, 313 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,400 Speaker 1: I guess like one of the other things we've observed 314 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: in markets recently is the rise of smart beta, but 315 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: also risk parity strategies, and some people have likened risk 316 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:47,880 Speaker 1: parity to the old black shoal portfolio insurance of THEES, 317 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: and some people have connected l t c MS collapse 318 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:55,360 Speaker 1: with black shoals. So I guess I'm just curious how 319 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: you feel about risk parity and how you feel about 320 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: the downsides of math addicts in finance. For me, the 321 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: really short answer is that the the the leverage, you know, 322 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: my ltc M experience has just made me not want 323 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: to use leverage, um explicitly in any sort of investment strategy. Uh, 324 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: you know, for myself, for anybody that I would be 325 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 1: trying to help. Um, you know it. Leverage has its 326 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: place in our financial system. It has its place perhaps 327 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,159 Speaker 1: within the investment community, but personally, um, you know, it 328 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: was that that was you know, that's that was the 329 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: primary cause of the problems at ltc M. And so 330 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,919 Speaker 1: for me anyway, I mean, I know the arguments for 331 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: risk parity, UM, you know, it may well be that 332 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: the aversion to leverage by people like me is what 333 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: makes using a moderate amount of leverage a good idea. 334 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,399 Speaker 1: You know, That's what some people that are proponents of 335 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: risk parity would argue that it's an inefficiency that a 336 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: bunch of people like me now are averse using leverage. 337 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: But I'm averse using it. I don't. So I'm not 338 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: a fan of risk parity because I'm sort of you know, 339 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: I just don't want to. I don't feel that I 340 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: need to use leverage to get better quality returns. I 341 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,360 Speaker 1: think that the returns afforded by the marketplace without using leverage, 342 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: and the risk attached there too, is all sufficient for me. 343 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,439 Speaker 1: And then I can go to sleep and not worry 344 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: about having to reduce exposures because my leverage is causing 345 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: me to do that. What about financial formulas in general 346 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: and maths in investing, what are the downsides? Well, you know, 347 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: models used in investing are are very useful. That they're 348 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: they're a way of us um you know, thinking that 349 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: that if we in one one of my colleagues one 350 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,159 Speaker 1: said that, uh, think about just the yield, yield to 351 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: maturity of a bond. Think about that as a model. So, 352 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: you know, for a while, you know, at some point 353 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 1: in time, yield to maturities didn't wasn't really used. So 354 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 1: people used to talk about the price of a bond. 355 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: They talked about the current yield the coupon divided by 356 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: the price, and then somebody and then people started to 357 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: use yield to maturity or yield to worse more, Well, 358 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: yield is just a much more useful thing to use 359 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: and thinking about comparing different bonds with each other, implies 360 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: volatility is a more useful way of thinking about comparing 361 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: stock options to each other. There's nothing kind of magical, 362 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: It doesn't tell you what to do, but it's just 363 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: a more useful that that these models are a useful 364 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: way of decomposing things into more intuitive quantities that we 365 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: can that we can use in our decision makings. So 366 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: I think that um, you know, math in finance is 367 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: is useful, for sure, there's no doubt about that. But 368 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: you know, but when we start to try to optimize 369 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: things too much using math, when we when we try 370 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: to get um, you know, trying trying to become too 371 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: optimal and following you know, sort of narrow mathematical rigor 372 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: too far, is extremely dangerous. Right. So it's it's sort 373 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: of the you know, you you come up with a 374 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: whole portfolio of different investments and you look at an 375 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: optimization of that, and it tells you to do things 376 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: that that common sense would tell you probably don't make 377 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: sense to do. So taken to an extreme, I think 378 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: that that math, that sort of mathematical outcome can lead 379 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: us to uh, the dangerous places sometimes. But that's that's 380 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: a great question. I wish I had more time to 381 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,919 Speaker 1: think about it and give you a better answer to it. 382 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: That's a great answer, And Victor Hagani of ELM Funds 383 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: really appreciate you coming on. Fascinating conversation, looking forward to 384 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: reading and learning more about some of these concepts, and 385 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: I think uh listeners will have learned a lot from this. Well, 386 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: thank you very much as a pleasure, Joe, was that 387 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: mathematical enough for you? I think that was just like 388 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: the sort of a perfect level of mathematical sophistication while 389 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: being able to understand the concepts without actually having to 390 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: attempt to do math over the over audio, which I 391 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: think would be tough. I mean, I sympathize with the 392 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: coin tossers because if you think that like a coin 393 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: toss has a fifty chance of coming up heads or tails, 394 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: then if you got five in a row, well I 395 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: suck at probabilities. I mean I get like, like you 396 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,360 Speaker 1: know there is something in your gut, like like you're 397 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: something like that's exactly right, Like you really have to 398 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: sort of sublimate your intuition and your feelings about how 399 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: things work. Although then the question is like if you 400 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: had a coin and say it came up twenty times 401 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: in a row, you might think that it's going to 402 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: be heads forever because then it's like broken other way. Um, 403 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: but then it's really fascinating and like you know, like 404 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,520 Speaker 1: I said that the poker comparison, it's like it's not fun. 405 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: Like if you're sticking to rules and it's like, yeah, 406 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: everybody knows we should just put our money in a 407 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: bond index fund, in a stock index fund or and 408 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: leave it there. But it's really tough to be disciplined 409 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: about these sort of rules and investing. Yeah. But conversely, 410 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 1: you know, as LTCM to some extent demonstrated, it can't 411 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 1: all be maths, right, Like the models sometimes need to 412 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,959 Speaker 1: be used with human judgment, even though they're useful in 413 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: many ways. If if something big is happening, or if 414 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: the model doesn't seem to be performing, you kind of 415 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: have to step back and go way to second what's 416 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: going on, or just the intuition that a model you're 417 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: taking a huge risk, even though if you're leveraging thirty 418 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: to one and obviously, as Victor pointed, or much much 419 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: bigger and some at some points and as Victor pointed 420 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: out at this point in his career, he doesn't have 421 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: any interest after that experience in sort of applying leverage 422 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: to finance at this point connotative finance. On his point 423 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: about models, I did think that was really interesting, which 424 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 1: is that you don't necessarily want to over determine what 425 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: markets are going to do for models, but that models 426 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: can provide a lot of insight just in sort of like, uh, 427 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: sort of assessing where things are, and the idea of 428 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: like volatile implied volatility being a sort of yeah, like 429 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 1: the fact that all these things are in fact models 430 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: that help you sort of compare one thing to another. 431 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: I never thought of that because it's everyone uses it, right, 432 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: we don't even think of them as models. Yeah, all right, 433 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,880 Speaker 1: Well that was a fun discussion. That was great. Let's 434 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: say goodbye goodbye everyone. Thank you very much for listening. 435 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: I'm Joe wisn't Thal. You can follow me on Twitter 436 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: at the Stalwart and I'm Tracy Alloway. I'm on Twitter 437 00:24:51,200 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: at Tracy Alloway. Thanks for listening. Year to E