1
00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,560
Speaker 1: This is Wall Street Week. I'm David Weston bringing you

2
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,520
Speaker 1: stories of capitalism this week. How women are gaining on

3
00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,320
Speaker 1: men in the professional sports race, particularly in soccer and basketball.

4
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,960
Speaker 1: Plus how all professional sports for men and for women

5
00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,320
Speaker 1: has become an important alternative asset class for investors, and

6
00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,840
Speaker 1: putting your money where your faith is the growing role

7
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,479
Speaker 1: of faith based investment. But we start with a story

8
00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,080
Speaker 1: about course correction when things aren't going so well and

9
00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,479
Speaker 1: when some adjustments may be warranted. China began its annual

10
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 1: Two Sessions meeting this week to set its economic course

11
00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,240
Speaker 1: as it faces problems with consumer confidence for an investment, outflows,

12
00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,320
Speaker 1: the housing market, and more tariffs from President Trump. We

13
00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,760
Speaker 1: asked our special contributor, Larry Summers of Harvard, whether China

14
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:05,160
Speaker 1: is on its way back.

15
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:12,160
Speaker 2: I think is too early to know for sure. I

16
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:18,680
Speaker 2: think that the technology developments on around Deep Seak are

17
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:25,480
Speaker 2: an important reminder of China's profound technological capacity. I think

18
00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:31,360
Speaker 2: there are signs that the Chinese government is having, frankly,

19
00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,280
Speaker 2: the kind of experience that often happens in societies where

20
00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,080
Speaker 2: fear does the work of reason.

21
00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 3: Their fear of economic stagnation is driving a reprochmall with

22
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:51,080
Speaker 3: their technology businesses which have enormous potential economic energy, and

23
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,240
Speaker 3: there are some signs that the commitment to economic reform

24
00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 3: is increasing in China. I also have to say that

25
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:06,400
Speaker 3: I think the degree of division that has been created

26
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 3: in the last two weeks between the United States and Europe,

27
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,280
Speaker 3: the degree of abandonment of the developing world that the

28
00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,760
Speaker 3: United States has manifest with its attack on developing countries

29
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:33,239
Speaker 3: with efforts to essentially eliminate our international aid agencies, that

30
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:40,000
Speaker 3: is also an immense strategic gift to China. And I

31
00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,920
Speaker 3: cannot imagine a greater strategic gift over the medium and

32
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:52,079
Speaker 3: long term to China than the prospect that has been

33
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,000
Speaker 3: raised by the Secretary of Defense with White House support

34
00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:02,079
Speaker 3: of eight percent annual defense cuts for the United States

35
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,919
Speaker 3: on an annual basis going forward.

36
00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,280
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Economy, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, gave us

37
00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,239
Speaker 1: an overview of the two sessions, what they could mean

38
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,880
Speaker 1: for the direction of the Chinese economy and how the

39
00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:17,960
Speaker 1: United States might respond.

40
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 4: And it's not just about the economy. They're going to

41
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,400
Speaker 4: look at foreign policy. They're going to look at the

42
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,880
Speaker 4: judiciary and the anti corruption campaign, they'll look at the military.

43
00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,239
Speaker 4: And then third, it's an opportunity to present new proposals

44
00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,120
Speaker 4: and ideas for legislation, and they'll present a couple thousand

45
00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,120
Speaker 4: different proposals over the course of the year and then

46
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,560
Speaker 4: debate them during this period. So it's a kind of

47
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,280
Speaker 4: interesting moment, But fundamentally this is about assessing how successful

48
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,640
Speaker 4: has the Chinese government been and what do they need

49
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:46,640
Speaker 4: to do moving forward.

50
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,160
Speaker 1: Put us in the seats of some of the delegates,

51
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,400
Speaker 1: what are the challenges do you think that they are

52
00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:52,400
Speaker 1: looking at right now?

53
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,320
Speaker 4: And there's no doubt that the Chinese economy, I think

54
00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,840
Speaker 4: from COVID until now has faced a pretty significant set

55
00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 4: of challenge. Is at the same time, you know, January

56
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,320
Speaker 4: was not so bad. You had the breakthrough of China's

57
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:11,440
Speaker 4: ai company Deep Seek, you had some good news in

58
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 4: the property sector, some good news in lending. So I

59
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,840
Speaker 4: think there there's enough that sigen Ping and the sort

60
00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,400
Speaker 4: of Chinese leadership can speak to that's reasonably positive. And

61
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,800
Speaker 4: they'll try to make the case that right now they're

62
00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,360
Speaker 4: going through some challenges, but they see the path forward

63
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,760
Speaker 4: and ultimately they will succeed. So the delegates know the

64
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 4: reality of the economy on the ground. But they're going

65
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,000
Speaker 4: to be also, you know, caught in the middle of

66
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,320
Speaker 4: some pretty positive propaganda that the leadership is going to

67
00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 4: try to feed to.

68
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,160
Speaker 1: Them as they come together with a plan for the future.

69
00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,479
Speaker 1: What levers could they pull? I mean, and let me

70
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,040
Speaker 1: be specific, how much fiscal headspace do they have, because

71
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,080
Speaker 1: I've read a lot of things at the level of

72
00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,719
Speaker 1: debt that actually may be underestimated. I'm part of the

73
00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 1: Chinese government, right.

74
00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 4: So, you know, they put forward an number of steps

75
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,719
Speaker 4: fiscal stimulus back in September, and again it seemed to

76
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,640
Speaker 4: have some some positive have some positive implications for the economy.

77
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 1: How would you describe the overall economic goals of China

78
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:13,679
Speaker 1: of the Chinese government right now?

79
00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,960
Speaker 4: I mean, China has a number of goals, I think,

80
00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:22,000
Speaker 4: you know, one goal certainly is to prompt proof the economy.

81
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,560
Speaker 4: Uh you know, she didn't Ping, you know, announced his

82
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,760
Speaker 4: theory of dual circulation, which is basically the idea that

83
00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,559
Speaker 4: China can innovate, manufacture, and consume largely within itself. He says,

84
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,560
Speaker 4: you know, the Chinese economy is incomparable in terms of

85
00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,600
Speaker 4: its size and its ingenuity. It wants to continue to

86
00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,640
Speaker 4: export to continuing to have you know, foreign manufacturers depend

87
00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,279
Speaker 4: on China for parts of their supply chains. But you know,

88
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,200
Speaker 4: for the most part, he wants to insulate China from

89
00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,680
Speaker 4: the pressures of the global economy. I think that's one

90
00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,560
Speaker 4: big goal. Again, I think number two, they want to

91
00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,880
Speaker 4: you know, make China the leading innovation power in the world.

92
00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,680
Speaker 4: They want to increase GDP per capita that's really slowed

93
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,840
Speaker 4: down in the past couple of years. You know, they

94
00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,440
Speaker 4: want consumer spending to be rebooted.

95
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:09,360
Speaker 5: So I think they have a lot.

96
00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,080
Speaker 4: Of different kinds of goals for their economy. Fundamentally, Xi Jinping,

97
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,159
Speaker 4: i think, is saying this is a difficult period for us,

98
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,560
Speaker 4: but it's part of our industrial upgrading. These are sort

99
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,560
Speaker 4: of normal bumps in the road. Once we get through these,

100
00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,360
Speaker 4: you know, challenges, it's you know, we're going to see

101
00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,080
Speaker 4: the Chinese economy take off. So I think there are

102
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,520
Speaker 4: a lot of different elements to this. In terms of

103
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,479
Speaker 4: what Chi Jinping wants to see moving forward.

104
00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,560
Speaker 1: Let me ask about two specific sectors. One is I

105
00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,480
Speaker 1: call it green green energy. It can be ev solar panels,

106
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,800
Speaker 1: things like that. The other is tech does Jijimping need

107
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,680
Speaker 1: to win on those or is flourishing enough, and he

108
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,120
Speaker 1: need to beat the United States.

109
00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,000
Speaker 4: Now, I think at this point this is a zero

110
00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,160
Speaker 4: sum game in Chi Jinping's mind. And I think if

111
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,640
Speaker 4: you listen and if you've listened to his rhetoric over

112
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,920
Speaker 4: the past, you know, more than decades since he came

113
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,920
Speaker 4: to power about the East is rising and the West

114
00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,640
Speaker 4: is declining, We're going to have the triumph of socialism

115
00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,440
Speaker 4: over capitalism, and all the targets that he's put in place.

116
00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,600
Speaker 4: He wants China to be the number one innovation power

117
00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,200
Speaker 4: in the world, and that does mean supplanting the United States.

118
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,480
Speaker 4: So I do think that this is to some extent,

119
00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:26,480
Speaker 4: you know, China beating the United States just to look at.

120
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:27,840
Speaker 4: One of the things that they're going to be looking

121
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,840
Speaker 4: at in the two sessions is how successful China has

122
00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 4: been with it's Made in China twenty twenty five program.

123
00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,600
Speaker 4: And this was a plan that was put in place

124
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:40,800
Speaker 4: Undersigen Ping in twenty fifteen to ensure that Chinese companies

125
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,960
Speaker 4: would become the dominant manufacturers in China across ten critical

126
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,240
Speaker 4: cutting edge technologies like clean tech, like new materials, like

127
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:54,120
Speaker 4: semiconductors like medical devices, they'd become domestic champions and then

128
00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,840
Speaker 4: become global champions, so they would dominate the global economy.

129
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,480
Speaker 4: And we've already seen this happen, I think to some

130
00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,200
Speaker 4: extent in the sectors that you mentioned, or at least

131
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,720
Speaker 4: in the clean tech sector. I think we should expect

132
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,240
Speaker 4: to see China in the low end semiconductors, in new

133
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,560
Speaker 4: materials in AI do exactly what it's done in the

134
00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,440
Speaker 4: clean tech sector for those sectors as well. So we're

135
00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,240
Speaker 4: going to be facing an enormous amount of overcapacity, an

136
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 4: enormous amount of competition from Chinese companies moving forward.

137
00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,680
Speaker 1: President Trump seems to have a somewhat different goal in mind.

138
00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:26,960
Speaker 1: So let's flip over to the other side here. As

139
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,160
Speaker 1: we look at a new Trump administration that is imposing

140
00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,000
Speaker 1: and threatening various sorts of tariffs, how big a risk

141
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:34,280
Speaker 1: is that for China.

142
00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 4: I think China has spent the past eight years preparing

143
00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,320
Speaker 4: for the eventuality of more tariffs. There hasn't been a

144
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,880
Speaker 4: moment since the first Trump administration that there haven't been

145
00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,840
Speaker 4: more tariffs placed on goods from China and various kinds

146
00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,080
Speaker 4: of goods. So I think this is nothing new for them.

147
00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,840
Speaker 4: I think they've taken several steps proactively to reduce the

148
00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,760
Speaker 4: share of Chinese exports that over all that go to

149
00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,200
Speaker 4: the United States. They've relocated some of their manufacturing to

150
00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,800
Speaker 4: third countries to try to avoid the tariffs. They've tried

151
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,280
Speaker 4: to make progress in that idea of creating you know,

152
00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,560
Speaker 4: fortress China to become less dependent on the global economy,

153
00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,040
Speaker 4: including the United States. And I think critically, they've developed

154
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,319
Speaker 4: their own retaliatory toolkit. Right, So, when when we put

155
00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,080
Speaker 4: tariffs on China, you know, China responds by putting you know,

156
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,480
Speaker 4: teriffs back on on US goods. They you know, will

157
00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:35,839
Speaker 4: single out US companies like Google or like Micron for investigations.

158
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,520
Speaker 4: And even if those investigations don't amount to much, the

159
00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,559
Speaker 4: mere threat, the mere statement that they're going to do

160
00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,040
Speaker 4: that can often spook suppliers and consumers inside China and

161
00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,440
Speaker 4: make it very difficult for those companies. They've taken up

162
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,200
Speaker 4: export controls, right. So, we've seen arrange now of critical

163
00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:56,000
Speaker 4: minerals that China has placed new licensing requirements on, and

164
00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,360
Speaker 4: those are minerals that we need and metals that we

165
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,400
Speaker 4: need for our you know, defense industry. For our own

166
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,520
Speaker 4: clean tech industry. So China has a lot of tools

167
00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,920
Speaker 4: at its disposal that is prepared to deploy.

168
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,920
Speaker 1: Coming up. Will the money follow the momentum of women's sports?

169
00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:26,680
Speaker 1: That's next on Wall Street Week. This is a story

170
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,600
Speaker 1: about perseverance and the women who are laying the foundation

171
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,400
Speaker 1: for what looks to be a huge investment opportunity women's sports,

172
00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,320
Speaker 1: where two of the fastest growing are the WNBA and

173
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:45,920
Speaker 1: the National Women's Soccer League.

174
00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:49,400
Speaker 6: I think when you're looking at the women's sports space

175
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,760
Speaker 6: specifically in the last five years, what you're seeing in

176
00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,679
Speaker 6: the surge of growth really begins with consumers.

177
00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,600
Speaker 7: It wasn't really until the last five years that women's

178
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,080
Speaker 7: sports has had as much ability to be broadcast than

179
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:03,800
Speaker 7: ever before.

180
00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,360
Speaker 8: You're finally putting this product in the right spotlight, and

181
00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,959
Speaker 8: it is exploding in popularity.

182
00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:15,960
Speaker 1: From tennis to volleyball, to soccer to basketball. Women are

183
00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,960
Speaker 1: bringing it both on and off the courts and the pitches,

184
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,400
Speaker 1: with women's sports sponsorships attracting over a billion dollars and

185
00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,880
Speaker 1: total team valuations predicted to increase from two point six

186
00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,000
Speaker 1: billion dollars in twenty twenty three to four point three

187
00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:32,960
Speaker 1: billion dollars in the next three years.

188
00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 2: Number one, don't live it up.

189
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,640
Speaker 1: There is no question that women are fueling fandoms across stadiums,

190
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,400
Speaker 1: fields and arenas, but is it sustainable.

191
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:47,600
Speaker 7: Little by little we've been able to see huge increases

192
00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,360
Speaker 7: in viewership and investment. With that comes the investment that

193
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,160
Speaker 7: we're now seeing today, where people are really seeing more

194
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,319
Speaker 7: viewership their form, more attendance their form, more sponsorship their form,

195
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,400
Speaker 7: more merchandise being sold, and that all leads to more

196
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,000
Speaker 7: external dollars coming into the ecosystem saying I believe that

197
00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,640
Speaker 7: this is an economy that we can support and that

198
00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,200
Speaker 7: also will have great returns.

199
00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:17,520
Speaker 1: More fair Level is the executive vice president of Wasserman's

200
00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,960
Speaker 1: The Collective, a women focused global advisory business whose mission

201
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,200
Speaker 1: is to drive investment in women's professional sports.

202
00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,000
Speaker 7: The exciting part right now about women's sports is that

203
00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,320
Speaker 7: we're seeing similar types of investors in women's sports, which

204
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,600
Speaker 7: means that women's sports has reached a point where true

205
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 7: capital partners are coming in looking at how can they

206
00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,679
Speaker 7: invest in this Nason economy.

207
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,480
Speaker 1: Women's sports might still be new on the scene, but

208
00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:50,520
Speaker 1: they're growing fast. WNBA attendance almost doubled from twenty twenty

209
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,320
Speaker 1: three to twenty twenty four, and in women's soccer, the

210
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,400
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four final alone drew nearly a million viewers,

211
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,240
Speaker 1: nearly twice the audience as its men's counterpart, and the

212
00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,760
Speaker 1: money is following the eyeballs, as media rights for the

213
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,120
Speaker 1: NWSL jumped from one point five million dollars to sixty

214
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,200
Speaker 1: million dollars in the most recent deal.

215
00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:13,240
Speaker 9: What it's.

216
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,080
Speaker 1: Given the numbers, it's no surprise that investors are paying attention,

217
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,120
Speaker 1: leading Laval to work with RBC to produce a study

218
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,960
Speaker 1: on the investment opportunities that women's sport provide.

219
00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,200
Speaker 7: We started this particular study with RBC, which is our

220
00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,680
Speaker 7: second study with them earlier in twenty twenty four. Really

221
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,959
Speaker 7: wanted to look at the trends that we were seeing

222
00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,120
Speaker 7: about how much money was starting to come into From

223
00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,240
Speaker 7: an investment perspective, we were seeing an enormous amount of

224
00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,720
Speaker 7: private equity coming in different venture capital groups, individual family offices,

225
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,720
Speaker 7: driving some real dollars into women's teams and leagues, and

226
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,320
Speaker 7: so we wanted to stop and think about from an

227
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,640
Speaker 7: RBC wealth investor perspective, how these teams and leagues would

228
00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,440
Speaker 7: prove to be really good investment for them, and so

229
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,199
Speaker 7: we set out to look at this specifically through NWSL

230
00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,720
Speaker 7: and WNBA because they are the most mature leads in

231
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,920
Speaker 7: the United States, and really looked at very specific variables,

232
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,160
Speaker 7: particularly the revenue drivers.

233
00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,720
Speaker 8: It's amazing to me that we've reached a point where

234
00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,000
Speaker 8: this younger generation, this is their normal. They're normal is

235
00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,480
Speaker 8: that female athletes are able to play in a stadium

236
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,440
Speaker 8: like this sold out with an incredible amount of fans.

237
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,479
Speaker 1: Chris and Angie Long are among those who have become investors,

238
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:35,760
Speaker 1: leading the group that bought the NWSLS Kansas City Current give.

239
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:41,480
Speaker 10: It full panoramic view. As more and more opportunities to

240
00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,920
Speaker 10: watch women's sports have arisen, you've naturally now seen this

241
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 10: massive growth and popularity because at the end of the day,

242
00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:51,960
Speaker 10: it's all about the product on the field. When you

243
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:56,720
Speaker 10: have a product that's as fantastic as women's sports, there's

244
00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:58,560
Speaker 10: no doubt it's going to be successful.

245
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:03,880
Speaker 8: We have been big sports fans. We actually were season

246
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,560
Speaker 8: ticket holders to a bi professional women's team that was

247
00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,720
Speaker 8: in Kansas City, and I think you know our experience

248
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,600
Speaker 8: in twenty nineteen being in Paris at the Women's World

249
00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,680
Speaker 8: Cup really was enlightening to see the opportunity from an

250
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,880
Speaker 8: investment side, especially in light of the tremendous amount of

251
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,920
Speaker 8: global growth in the women's game.

252
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,400
Speaker 1: In building their franchise in Kansas City, the Lungs are

253
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:29,840
Speaker 1: focused on their brand.

254
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,360
Speaker 10: One of the leading jersey sales.

255
00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,280
Speaker 1: And one of the things that has limited the growth

256
00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:39,440
Speaker 1: of women's professional sports franchises, a dedicated place to practice.

257
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,160
Speaker 11: And play this whole space is the Kanti State Current.

258
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,240
Speaker 11: I think that alone is a big differentiator because most

259
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,760
Speaker 11: other women's teams are playing in someone else's stadium, so

260
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,720
Speaker 11: they're relegated to a smaller space that might be more

261
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,120
Speaker 11: akin to a visitor's locker room. I think one of

262
00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,240
Speaker 11: the things that is harder to put a value on,

263
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 11: but incredibly important is brand recognition. The first year that

264
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,880
Speaker 11: we had a team, it was a little bit like, oh,

265
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,440
Speaker 11: did you know there's a women's professional team in Kansas City.

266
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:10,960
Speaker 5: Now to the point.

267
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,640
Speaker 8: Where we are now where if we go somewhere and

268
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,640
Speaker 8: travel outside the country, people say, oh, Kansas City, isn't

269
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,240
Speaker 8: that the place that built the stadium for the women's team.

270
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,600
Speaker 8: And the first thing you see when you drive into

271
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,640
Speaker 8: this city is this stadium.

272
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,119
Speaker 5: There's not a person.

273
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,240
Speaker 8: In Kansasity, the Midwest and a lot of the country

274
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,320
Speaker 8: that doesn't know about the Kansas City Current and the

275
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:33,160
Speaker 8: state and they play in.

276
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,000
Speaker 10: I think from a revenue perspective, I'm unaware of another

277
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:42,800
Speaker 10: women's professional sports team globally that's done as much revenue

278
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,080
Speaker 10: as we did this past year, which by the way,

279
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,200
Speaker 10: is only our fourth season in operation. So from a

280
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,640
Speaker 10: financial success standpoint, I think that speaks volumes.

281
00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:02,840
Speaker 8: From a revenue growth perspective, we're doing fantastic. I think

282
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:07,040
Speaker 8: it is north of a twenty million dollars swing in

283
00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:14,480
Speaker 8: revenue being in your own facilities. From a asset appreciation perspective,

284
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:16,360
Speaker 8: we're doing fantastic.

285
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,040
Speaker 10: You look at what you can do in women's sports

286
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:25,000
Speaker 10: today and the multiple invested capital versus the risk taken,

287
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,080
Speaker 10: it's out of whack. It's absolutely in the investor's favor,

288
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,200
Speaker 10: and I think that's part of the reason you're seeing

289
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,960
Speaker 10: a lot more capital pour in, including private equity firms

290
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:37,720
Speaker 10: and these new sports funds and all the things that

291
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,040
Speaker 10: are happening, I think are due to the fact people

292
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,960
Speaker 10: are realizing, wow, if I'm going to take an ill

293
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,400
Speaker 10: liquid asset investment like a sports team, I should get

294
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,200
Speaker 10: compensated for it. And there's no better game in town

295
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,920
Speaker 10: than what we're seeing on women's side.

296
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,080
Speaker 1: But there is another league taking women's sports to the

297
00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:00,919
Speaker 1: next level, the WNBA. Since Caitlin Clark emerged as a

298
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:05,880
Speaker 1: budding superstar at the University of Iowa, women's basketball has skyrocketed,

299
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,120
Speaker 1: garnering the league more fans and opening up new markets.

300
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 6: We are the first expansion team since two thousand and eight.

301
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,160
Speaker 6: Last was Atlanta and then following us we have Portland

302
00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,399
Speaker 6: in Toronto next year. So growth of WMBA has been

303
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,800
Speaker 6: a long time coming and it's taken many years to

304
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,240
Speaker 6: get here. This building has actually always been here for

305
00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,480
Speaker 6: the Golden State Warriors, and now it's our Valkyrie's Performance Center.

306
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,680
Speaker 6: So this is the area that you know, the championships

307
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,960
Speaker 6: were one before Chase Center was Bill Steph Curry is

308
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,360
Speaker 6: in Steph Curry. Yeah, small name, right, and now we've

309
00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:40,800
Speaker 6: had an opportunity to make it our own.

310
00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,440
Speaker 1: Jess Smith was the head of revenue for the NWSL's

311
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,600
Speaker 1: Angels City Football Club, where she introduced new sponsorship models

312
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,360
Speaker 1: and broke records in attendance. She is now the president

313
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,640
Speaker 1: of the WNBA's Golden State Valkyries the first expansion team

314
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,280
Speaker 1: in seventeen years.

315
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,560
Speaker 6: When you look back during COVID, WNBA actually got together

316
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:03,080
Speaker 6: and played.

317
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:04,080
Speaker 5: They were the first league to do this.

318
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,560
Speaker 6: It was also a really key moment to where consumers

319
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,600
Speaker 6: were sitting at home on their couch looking for entertainment

320
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,800
Speaker 6: and tuning in and really taking note of these incredible athletes,

321
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 6: really taking note of what they were standing for when

322
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,240
Speaker 6: it came to social justice, and there was an unlock

323
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,400
Speaker 6: that began to happen with consumers and women's sports.

324
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 5: So as consumers.

325
00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:27,320
Speaker 6: Began to unlock giving those ratings, began to unlock buying merchandise,

326
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 6: buying tickets, and understanding that their dollars in time and

327
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,480
Speaker 6: interest was driving the growth of the w Media listened right,

328
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,159
Speaker 6: teams listened, leagues listened, and more investment began to come in.

329
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,840
Speaker 6: And those consumers have really really rewarded everyone in that

330
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,320
Speaker 6: circle that is equated to the growth.

331
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,199
Speaker 1: When we talk about growth, how do you measure it?

332
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,200
Speaker 1: What are the metrics you pay attention to?

333
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,960
Speaker 6: There's two things. One is money and revenue. Right, are

334
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,200
Speaker 6: your revenue lines growing? Are you investing the right way

335
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,840
Speaker 6: to make sure that those are growing exponentially, And two

336
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,440
Speaker 6: is fandom. How many people are coming into your ecosystem

337
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,960
Speaker 6: through purchases but also followship on social media or TV ratings,

338
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 6: And so if you're looking at both of those, the

339
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,480
Speaker 6: growth is very significant, but we have a close eye

340
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:12,680
Speaker 6: on both every single day.

341
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,960
Speaker 1: As fast as women's professional sports are growing, they still

342
00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,840
Speaker 1: lag behind their male counterparts, at least for the most part.

343
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: Where the NBA Playoffs averaged four point five million TV

344
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,680
Speaker 1: viewers last year, the WNBA had one point one million.

345
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,040
Speaker 1: Twenty two point five million fans attended NBA games in person,

346
00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 1: where the WNBA had two point four million, But the

347
00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,680
Speaker 1: gap is closing. Viewership numbers were up one hundred and

348
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,720
Speaker 1: thirty nine percent for the women last year, but down

349
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,040
Speaker 1: twelve percent for the men. You have a foundation in

350
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:50,480
Speaker 1: both men's and women's sports from your experience, what's different

351
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:51,200
Speaker 1: about the two.

352
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:53,760
Speaker 6: That's a really good question. I don't know if I've

353
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 6: been asked that way before. I would say the assumptions

354
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,080
Speaker 6: of things in women's sports, it's been assumed that when

355
00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,440
Speaker 6: you create a product, well, you better not lose any money.

356
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,320
Speaker 6: And it's just interesting the standard that has existed there

357
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,399
Speaker 6: before I joined the Angel City, I was in certain

358
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,680
Speaker 6: rooms where organizations would think about should we get a

359
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 6: women's team, should we explore this? And what was really

360
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 6: interesting about the mindset there was that it was the

361
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,320
Speaker 6: conversation always came back to, well, if we sold four

362
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,879
Speaker 6: thousand tickets, maybe we wouldn't lose money, instead of what

363
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,440
Speaker 6: would it take to sell this out? That advantageous opportunity

364
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 6: to build a product and build a business and seek

365
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 6: revenue and be relentless about it seemed to be lacking

366
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,679
Speaker 6: from my personal experience when having the ability to kind

367
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,240
Speaker 6: of compare it to and think of the rooms that

368
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 6: I was in at Angel City. What was beautiful about

369
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,920
Speaker 6: that experience was we had so many people from outside

370
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,400
Speaker 6: of sport really using sport as an opportunity to create

371
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 6: a better tomorrow, but wanted to build a sports product

372
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,920
Speaker 6: because it was an untapped opportunity. How do we create

373
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,760
Speaker 6: the most robust partnership portfolio and assets, How do we

374
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,720
Speaker 6: have the best content? And then you saw the market respond.

375
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,800
Speaker 6: And now you've seen that effectie and certainly within the

376
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,600
Speaker 6: different leagues and teams. You know, but that's that's only

377
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:05,479
Speaker 6: just getting started.

378
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 7: Only in the last five years have we been able

379
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 7: to see more games online, more clanging of the drum,

380
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,480
Speaker 7: for more viewership of all of these sports through both

381
00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,480
Speaker 7: social media and through these athletes just having a bigger

382
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 7: platform to say, hey, come and watch us.

383
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 1: Hey, Fever fans is Caitlin Clark.

384
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 5: I can't wait to get to Indianapolis. I know you

385
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:24,960
Speaker 5: guys are excited.

386
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,200
Speaker 1: I am to go Fever.

387
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,719
Speaker 6: There's often been so many misconceptions about audience in women's sports.

388
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,719
Speaker 6: So long people have said an NBA fan is a

389
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,399
Speaker 6: WNBA fan, And what we know about our consumers is

390
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 6: that it really is for everyone. I don't know if

391
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 6: you've seen the T shirts that say everyone watches women's sports,

392
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 6: and that statement is so powerful because it's true. The

393
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,119
Speaker 6: audience is actually pretty much fifty percent men and women.

394
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 6: It's not a women's product for women. This is an

395
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 6: incredible product for everybody.

396
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,399
Speaker 1: With all the success of the WNBA, it's still less

397
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: than the NBA in terms of dollars, in terms of audiences,

398
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 1: but it's growing faster the NBA. Can you see a

399
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,920
Speaker 1: day that actually the WNBA overtakes the NBA.

400
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 6: I don't think it's about overtaking. I think there's this

401
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,719
Speaker 6: limiting mindset that there can only be one like can

402
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 6: there only be one NFL versus NBA? The answer is no.

403
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,000
Speaker 6: What I believe in what we're already seeing is that

404
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 6: this league will be one of the most successful sports

405
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 6: leagues in the world, regardless of gender. It's already the

406
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,040
Speaker 6: fifth most watched sport here in North America and we

407
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 6: are only thirty years old. We have the best talent

408
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 6: globally coming to this league, playing in this league, with

409
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,120
Speaker 6: an upward trajectory of expansion and growth and viewership and games,

410
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 6: that's going to be unstoppable. But there's not a this

411
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 6: or that. I do believe that this league will be

412
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:44,200
Speaker 6: amongst the greats globally. When we think of viewership and engagement.

413
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,359
Speaker 1: Coming up sports as an investment class, it's driven in

414
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,919
Speaker 1: part by the rapid growth of women's professional soccer and basketball.

415
00:23:53,480 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 1: That's where weturn next on Wall Street Week. If the

416
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: story of women's sports is one of dramatic growth, it

417
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 1: comes against the backdrop of sports overall growing into a

418
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:19,120
Speaker 1: major asset class that has become an important alternative investment

419
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 1: for many portfolios.

420
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,160
Speaker 12: The rate of change has been pretty incredible.

421
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,719
Speaker 1: Nicole Pullen Ross leads sports and entertainment solutions in private

422
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,600
Speaker 1: wealth for Golden Sacks.

423
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 12: Whether it is the growth in women's basketball starting from

424
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,359
Speaker 12: college through the WNBA, or whether it's the valuations that

425
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 12: we're seeing across various leagues, or whether there's the viewership

426
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,720
Speaker 12: that we're seeing, all of those things have converged in

427
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,359
Speaker 12: a way that has led our clients to think, I

428
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 12: want to have exposure. I want to participate in this growth,

429
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,359
Speaker 12: both from a past perspective but also from a profitability perspective.

430
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 1: As big as investing in sports is today, it wasn't

431
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,680
Speaker 1: always that way. It grew out of agents representing athletes

432
00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 1: and the related businesses that grew around them. George Pine

433
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 1: was one of those at the Iconic IMG and watched

434
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: the private equity business grow around it.

435
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 13: When you kind of take a step back and you

436
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,240
Speaker 13: look at sports, it's primarily been run by governing bodies

437
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 13: and families, and they were very conservative in the application

438
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 13: of capital and the use of capital, and so therefore

439
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,199
Speaker 13: outside sources of the capital didn't see this as a

440
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,679
Speaker 13: viable entry point. But as time has gone by and

441
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 13: the meteorites have increased in sports and the audience and

442
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,479
Speaker 13: the abidity of sports of increase, so has the value

443
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,960
Speaker 13: of the teams, so is the value of the industry,

444
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 13: and so has the opportunities within the sport.

445
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 14: Early in my career I was involved in one of

446
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 14: the sort of archetypal sport businesses, IMG Worldwide, my mentor

447
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,879
Speaker 14: Ted Forsman, acquired in the early part of the Oughts.

448
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,119
Speaker 1: Josh Empson is another IMG alone. He is now the

449
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,400
Speaker 1: new co head of Sports at investment and advisory firm

450
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: Sixth Street, owner and investor in sports teams such as

451
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and the San Antonio Spurs.

452
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 14: And the fascinating thing about the history of IMG is

453
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 14: that the founder, Mark McCormick, was effectively the financial advisor

454
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 14: for Arnold Palmer and then Jack Nicholas, and as he

455
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,760
Speaker 14: looked at this, he realized that Palmer and Nicholas were

456
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 14: the value, not the league, not the tour that was

457
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,959
Speaker 14: organizing them. And McCormick realized and built that entire business,

458
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 14: which became a multi billion dollar business, on the idea

459
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 14: that they could be their own brand, they could bring

460
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,120
Speaker 14: the unique value to events, and I think that actually

461
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,400
Speaker 14: allowed in some ways gender parody. At an earlier stage

462
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 14: and I think a lot of that is about the

463
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,239
Speaker 14: sponsorship ecosystem, right that they didn't have to win just

464
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 14: on the court for the purse. You could find someone

465
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:12,119
Speaker 14: whoever was the charismatic number one in the world in

466
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 14: either sport, could command a global audience for the period

467
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 14: of their ascendancy and monetize it.

468
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 1: Sports and investing in sports have come a long way

469
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,120
Speaker 1: from the days of representing Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicholas.

470
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:30,479
Speaker 1: In their size and scope including geographic scope, Yield Street

471
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,439
Speaker 1: estimates the sports universe to be a five hundred billion

472
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:38,959
Speaker 1: dollar market worldwide, with revenue coming from media rights, ticket sales, licensing,

473
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: and sponsorships.

474
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 13: So sports aggregates millions of people in a way that

475
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:46,920
Speaker 13: nothing else does. As a Super Bowl at one hundred and

476
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 13: twenty six million viewers, it's very few things in America

477
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 13: that bring one hundred and twenty six million people together.

478
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,919
Speaker 13: And then you have people that are passionate like Philadelphia

479
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 13: Eagles fan. Though you have big audiences in a world

480
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 13: that's fragmenting, that zero in around something that they love

481
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 13: and have a passion for. That's what makes sports unique

482
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,240
Speaker 13: and then being more global, so for all of those reasons.

483
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,160
Speaker 13: Sports is becoming more and more attractive, and it wasn't

484
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,919
Speaker 13: that complex or sophisticated twenty years ago. In terms of

485
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 13: capital markets.

486
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,919
Speaker 1: It's bigger and broader. But what is it that investors

487
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,439
Speaker 1: are looking for when they seek to own a piece

488
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,359
Speaker 1: of the sports pie.

489
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 5: It really ranges.

490
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:33,440
Speaker 12: I would say some of our clients who are long

491
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,399
Speaker 12: term investors in the space have been investing as a

492
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 12: private family for generations, and those families have really leaned in,

493
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 12: mostly around passion, and we're seeing them look not only

494
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 12: to the sport that they may have started with, but

495
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 12: look at multiple sports, potentially in the same city or

496
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,960
Speaker 12: potentially across the world. And we see new investors who

497
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,880
Speaker 12: are trying to put a toe in the water, and

498
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 12: they're doing that through some of the many growing number

499
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 12: of private equity and institutional investors.

500
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 5: Who have exposure to the space.

501
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 12: Or they're doing it through a minority interest.

502
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: It seems to me that owning a team might be

503
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: a very different investment from having a minority interest in

504
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 1: a team. Are they really different investment propositions?

505
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 12: They cost a lot more, that's for sure. The average

506
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 12: NFL team, for example, when the CBA was signed, was

507
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 12: worth one point three billion or something like that. Today,

508
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 12: the average team is worth more than nearly one and

509
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 12: a half times that value, and so although there's been

510
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 12: a lot of growth of billionaires, that's a much smaller

511
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 12: list today than it was twenty years ago. And so

512
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 12: when individuals are coming together to invest in this space,

513
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 12: they're very much doing it in partnership. What they get

514
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 12: for that investment very significantly. It could be great seats,

515
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 12: good parking, increased engagement with the team, But in many

516
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 12: cases it's not control. It's not the ability to direct

517
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,040
Speaker 12: where the team is going. So there's a very big

518
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 12: difference between majority shares and minority shares.

519
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,239
Speaker 1: And it's not just team ownership in whole or in

520
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,360
Speaker 1: part that provides sports businesses to invest in. A host

521
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 1: of ancillary businesses have grown up around teams that can

522
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 1: provide attractive investment opportunities, which is at the center of

523
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 1: Pine's private equity business.

524
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 13: There are different ways you can look at sports today.

525
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 13: So the traditional has been investing in teams or leagues,

526
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 13: which are very safe investments, typically illiquid and the longer holds,

527
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 13: but have a certain return threshold. So we've invested in

528
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 13: data companies We've invested in webs apps and streamings. I

529
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 13: own a company in Amsterdam that lights the pitch and

530
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 13: creates a software so we can predict on the pitch

531
00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 13: or the field whether the moss is going to grow

532
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 13: with the conditions are and you know, as the media

533
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 13: rights go up and the team valuations. The pitch is

534
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 13: the quality of your product and the safety of product.

535
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 12: I think the revenue landscape and the diversity of revenue

536
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,960
Speaker 12: has certainly grown over the past several years. You talk

537
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,719
Speaker 12: to team owners about having the best experience for their

538
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,720
Speaker 12: clients and their players, and then there's everything around the

539
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 12: stadium or the arena. The ability for investors to participate

540
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 12: in the revenue in the surrounding area has certainly been important.

541
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 12: We have seen a community impact. A lot of the

542
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 12: owners with whom we work talk about their investment and

543
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 12: their team as a community investment, a civic investment because

544
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 12: they are prominent players in the community.

545
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: But given the dramatic expansion and diversification in the sports business,

546
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 1: is there a danger of dilution? Typically when I think

547
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: about value, I think about supply and demand. But it

548
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 1: seems like they're is an unending new supply of sports,

549
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:04,959
Speaker 1: How can it be that the value keeps going up

550
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,200
Speaker 1: when there's more and more supply.

551
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 13: People are thirsting for great storylines, right, And of course

552
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,959
Speaker 13: there are sports Formula One think about UFC didn't exist

553
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 13: almost twenty years ago. Look how popular that is today.

554
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 13: So there are sports that can break in in ways

555
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 13: that nobody have an envisioned. And of course women's sports

556
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,760
Speaker 13: as attraction today that it's never had before.

557
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 1: Is expansion your enemy as an investor?

558
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,080
Speaker 14: I think expansion is your enemy as an investor, but

559
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 14: it's really more your opportunity. And that's because every time

560
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,240
Speaker 14: you expand, you light up fandom in a new market.

561
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 14: Was Las Vegas a big hockey market before the Golden Knights?

562
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 5: Probably not.

563
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 14: Is Las Vegas or Nashville now a pretty enthusiastic hockey market.

564
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:51,280
Speaker 9: Yeah.

565
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 14: If you look at the historical returns in sports, they've

566
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 14: been surprisingly good. And some of that's been driven by scarcity,

567
00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 14: but not necessarily scarcity of franchises because all the leagues

568
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 14: have expanded through this, but just a scarcity of other

569
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:12,720
Speaker 14: forms of content that are as engaging and energizing to

570
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 14: such large fan bases. A fan is the value and

571
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:19,480
Speaker 14: if you come in and you're not investing in a

572
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,200
Speaker 14: way that's going to grow the value proposition for the fan,

573
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 14: and that can be through upgrading the venue, it can

574
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 14: be allowing the team to be more competitive.

575
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 1: Sports competes with every other investment opportunity, and its status

576
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,239
Speaker 1: as an alternative investment doesn't stop it from keeping up

577
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 1: with the main asset classes. Sports franchise valuations have outpaced

578
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 1: the S and P five hundreds returns, especially in the

579
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,640
Speaker 1: past decade, but sport is a very different beast in

580
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: a very different jungle. As we look at sports as

581
00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: an asset class, how does it differ from other alternative

582
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: asset investing.

583
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 14: Nobody's ever asked me that. It's a great question. I

584
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 14: think one thing that's really different about sports as an

585
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 14: asset class versus other forms of alternatives is the multiple

586
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 14: layers of partnership. So when you invest in a sports

587
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:17,960
Speaker 14: franchise in the US, you have a partner who's going

588
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 14: to be the control owner, and that's a person who

589
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 14: has needs and ambitions that you're trying to support. You

590
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:29,959
Speaker 14: also exist within the framework of a league that has

591
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 14: very particular rules and has its objectives and its goals.

592
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,040
Speaker 14: And then beyond that, and most importantly, you have this

593
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:45,320
Speaker 14: universe of fans and they care passionately about their team,

594
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,279
Speaker 14: and they are stakeholders in that equation, just the way

595
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,920
Speaker 14: the league and the owner is, and there is that

596
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,279
Speaker 14: implicit compact that if you're coming in, you're going to

597
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 14: make this better for them as well as for the

598
00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,880
Speaker 14: league and the owners. And it interesting to be in

599
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 14: a dynamic where you have those multiple layers of stakeholders

600
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 14: and you're trying to deliver value as an investor for

601
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 14: all levels of that, and that feels pretty different from

602
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 14: other forms of alternative investment. It's pretty satisfying when you

603
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,840
Speaker 14: get it right. But there's something special about investing in

604
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 14: something that you can watch every Sunday, that you can

605
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,680
Speaker 14: come together with your family and sort of share what

606
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 14: you're trying to do. I mean, it was pretty nice

607
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,520
Speaker 14: to be able to have that day where, you know,

608
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 14: my son sort of said, what do you do? And

609
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,120
Speaker 14: I sort of could point to, you know, what we

610
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,479
Speaker 14: do together on a Sunday. The Super Bowl this year

611
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,240
Speaker 14: was held in a venue that just had an almost

612
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 14: six hundred million dollar upgrade to make for a better

613
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,640
Speaker 14: fan experience also help it deal with things like modern

614
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 14: demands for a stadium around climate change. That's not a

615
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,400
Speaker 14: costless proposition. You've got to invest to do that, and

616
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 14: in some cases this can be billions of dollars.

617
00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:58,239
Speaker 8: So far.

618
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,360
Speaker 14: Stadium, you know in Los Angeles was a multi billion

619
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:03,440
Speaker 14: dollar project. And as you start to think about this

620
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:09,680
Speaker 14: going from the actual stadium to the area around the

621
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:14,080
Speaker 14: stadium and really creating a neighborhood around the stadium, you know,

622
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 14: the capital demand is just increasing, but so too is

623
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 14: the opportunity to profit from it.

624
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 1: Alternative investing may be different when it's not your sports team.

625
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 1: To what extent are your investors we are looking for

626
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: psychic benefits in addition to monetary benefits.

627
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 12: Yeah, it's an interesting part of the equation, right, So

628
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:37,239
Speaker 12: there is a joy element to the return that you

629
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 12: can't necessarily quantify, and what we ask our clients to

630
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:45,000
Speaker 12: do is not just focus on the joy part of

631
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 12: the return, but to think about the overall picture. And

632
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 12: for some clients that joy component is going to.

633
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,879
Speaker 5: Be at a higher higher on the.

634
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,040
Speaker 12: List of things that are important in the return and

635
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 12: for others. For institutional investors, it's on the list. And

636
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,680
Speaker 12: so making sure that we're helping our clients think through

637
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,879
Speaker 12: how to set return expectations for themselves in terms of liquidity, etc.

638
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 12: Is something that we feel is our opportunity to do

639
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 12: to help them navigate the space. Alternatives in general are

640
00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 12: an area of significant interest for our clients, and the

641
00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,800
Speaker 12: type of exposure that they're interested in is quite broad,

642
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 12: and so this is only a piece of that for

643
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,239
Speaker 12: most of our clients. For some they really want to

644
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 12: lean in and look at this as a primier investment.

645
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:42,840
Speaker 1: Faith based activist investing told through the eyes of Robbie Starbuck,

646
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: who has put American corporations on the defense over their

647
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: DEI policies, and why he says he is doing the

648
00:37:50,160 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 1: Lord's will. That's next on Wall Street Week. This is

649
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,759
Speaker 1: a story about putting your money where your faith is,

650
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,160
Speaker 1: something that Americans have been doing since colonial days, but

651
00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:16,120
Speaker 1: that recently has become a powerful tool for activist shareholders.

652
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 15: The greatest savior beyond Jesus, in my view of the

653
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 15: human race, has been capitalism.

654
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 5: Nothing has saved lives the way capitalism.

655
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 16: Has for faith investors' investment decisions and shareholder advocacy is

656
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 16: religious practice.

657
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 17: The Bible is our core tenet that we're seeking to

658
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:37,759
Speaker 17: try to hew closely to.

659
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,560
Speaker 1: There is a long history in the United States of

660
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 1: investors merging their religious beliefs with their personal wealth.

661
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 16: This is a movement inspired by faith.

662
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:50,520
Speaker 1: As Amelia Miazad, acting Professor at UC Davis School of Law,

663
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: laid out in a New Law Review article.

664
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:57,360
Speaker 16: Faith based investing has a very long history in the

665
00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:01,600
Speaker 16: United States. It dates back to the seventeenth century. Some

666
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 16: early examples include the Quakers, who screened out what was

667
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:11,759
Speaker 16: known as sinstocks from their investment so for example, the

668
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,440
Speaker 16: slave trade, alcohol, what not to invest in, what to

669
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 16: screen out with religious beliefs, and the beliefs were rooted

670
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 16: in biblical scripture. During the Civil Rights movement, faith investors

671
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 16: began to use their voice as shareholders through the shareholder

672
00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 16: proposal process. Some of the very earliest social shareholder proposals

673
00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:41,279
Speaker 16: on issues ranging from apartheid to civil rights, to inclusion

674
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 16: to climate risk before it was called climate risk. These

675
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:50,120
Speaker 16: things happened in late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies.

676
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,239
Speaker 1: More recently, faith based investing has grown past issues like

677
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 1: civil rights, apartheid, and the Vietnam War. Some funds have

678
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:03,200
Speaker 1: embraced so called so responsible investing and the well known Environmental,

679
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 1: Social and governance or ESG investing. And as the issues

680
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 1: have grown, so have the total assets in faith friendly funds,

681
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 1: up by some ninety billion dollars over the last twenty

682
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:17,400
Speaker 1: five years, with the pace of growth picking up even

683
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,520
Speaker 1: more between twenty eighteen and twenty twenty four.

684
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,880
Speaker 5: We help those that serve the Lord.

685
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:24,560
Speaker 17: We want to make sure that we're helping people to

686
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:26,640
Speaker 17: start well, stay well, and finish well.

687
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:31,160
Speaker 1: Brandon Pizzuro is the president of Guidestone, a faith based

688
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 1: investment firm tracing its roots back to nineteen eighteen when

689
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,560
Speaker 1: it was started to support retired Southern Baptist ministers and

690
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:43,000
Speaker 1: their families. Today it manages over twenty four billion dollars

691
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: in assets.

692
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 5: So we leave out five key areas.

693
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,919
Speaker 17: That's abortion, alcohol, tobacco, sexual morality, and gambling. But there's

694
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 17: also other areas such as predatory lending, THHC or cannabis production,

695
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,880
Speaker 17: even private prisons. So we're screening out several key areas

696
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 17: verticals that we see that are antithetic to our moral

697
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,400
Speaker 17: and ethical posturing. But you're really only screening out a

698
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,280
Speaker 17: couple of percentage points out of some of the major

699
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,879
Speaker 17: indices the Bloombergaggregate Bond Index or even the SMP five hundred.

700
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:11,160
Speaker 1: Are you growing in the number and the size of

701
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:11,880
Speaker 1: the investments you have.

702
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:14,319
Speaker 17: We're certainly growing. It's been a slow burn. I think

703
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,919
Speaker 17: that's for all of us. In the faith based investing ecosystem,

704
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:19,719
Speaker 17: there continues to be growth. We believe the ecosystem for

705
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,000
Speaker 17: liquid security is in a faith aligned manner or about

706
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,000
Speaker 17: one hundred billion dollars. Our mutual fund complex is about

707
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,879
Speaker 17: twenty billion of that, but there certainly can be more

708
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,480
Speaker 17: than multiples of that two to three times, but some

709
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,560
Speaker 17: of the most current estimates are around one hundred billion

710
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,280
Speaker 17: dollar mark. We're not activists. We do engage in corporate engagement,

711
00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:38,600
Speaker 17: certainly on the margin. We'd like to have our voice

712
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:40,800
Speaker 17: heard where we can, but we're not going after companies,

713
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:42,719
Speaker 17: so to speak. That's not the way in which we

714
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:43,920
Speaker 17: are seeking to have change.

715
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,680
Speaker 15: I'm not arguing that corporations should never do anything good

716
00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:49,400
Speaker 15: for their community. What I'm arguing is they should engage

717
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 15: in ways they're not divisive. But about those so called

718
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 15: faith based investors who embrace DEI, I think that it's

719
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 15: based on false doctrine, and you know, Christians would call

720
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 15: it heresy. In many ways, we are now three for

721
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,240
Speaker 15: three taking down will companies enforcing changes.

722
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,680
Speaker 1: Robbie Starbuck is every bit the activists that Bizzurro says

723
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,240
Speaker 1: he is not. He's made big news by pushing companies

724
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,799
Speaker 1: to abandon their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and he's

725
00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:15,840
Speaker 1: had more than his share of success.

726
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,680
Speaker 4: I push against DEI has spilled into corporate America, while

727
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:22,800
Speaker 4: the legal assault and diversity initiatives has actually gathered some steam.

728
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:27,000
Speaker 18: McDonald is no longer setting aspirational representational goals. The company

729
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:29,920
Speaker 18: is retiring its DEI pledge and its supply chain and

730
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,959
Speaker 18: renaming its diversity team as a Global Inclusion team.

731
00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:38,160
Speaker 9: Walmart is reversing course on diversity equity and inclusion initiatives,

732
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:41,800
Speaker 9: joining a growing list of businesses retreating on DEI programs

733
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:44,160
Speaker 9: targeted by conservative activists.

734
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 15: I've had these conversations with CEOs at major companies where

735
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,000
Speaker 15: they've asked, Okay, if we're getting rid of all these things,

736
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,680
Speaker 15: what are things you do think are non divisive? And

737
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,399
Speaker 15: I'll give them a list of things that I don't

738
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:55,880
Speaker 15: see as devices that I think everybody could broadly accept

739
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,200
Speaker 15: as good. Like look at JP Morgan, they spent thirty

740
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:01,400
Speaker 15: billion dollars on racial equas and it's a very broad term,

741
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,640
Speaker 15: but the way that they spent that money, in my view,

742
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 15: is terribly irresponsible and it didn't do a service to

743
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:09,680
Speaker 15: the shareholders. It's like DEI in theory versus DEI in reality.

744
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 15: I'm the one holding up a mirror of what it

745
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,080
Speaker 15: actually is in reality, because in theory, a lot of

746
00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:15,160
Speaker 15: people really like the theory because it made them feel good.

747
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:16,360
Speaker 5: It's like warm, fuzzy words.

748
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:16,640
Speaker 14: Right.

749
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,680
Speaker 16: There's been a surge of shareholder proposals by Christians who

750
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:26,520
Speaker 16: believe that company should not embrace DEI and should not

751
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:32,279
Speaker 16: embrace pride parades, for example. This is a relatively new phenomenon,

752
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:36,240
Speaker 16: and there is a lot of ideological diversity even within

753
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:41,800
Speaker 16: the Christian investor community in the United States. The Christian

754
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:46,160
Speaker 16: investor community cannot be summarized on a bumper sticker.

755
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:49,200
Speaker 1: How did you first get started in Call it faith

756
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:52,480
Speaker 1: based investing, call it faith based activism? What got you

757
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:52,920
Speaker 1: into this?

758
00:43:53,239 --> 00:43:55,759
Speaker 15: We think about our values, so it's not even necessarily

759
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:57,799
Speaker 15: we start from the top line of Hey, we need

760
00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:00,279
Speaker 15: this to be Christian investing. Right, It's like what are

761
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 15: our values where do they align? And I think that's

762
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,880
Speaker 15: something a lot of investors do. So when investors from

763
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 15: the outside look at it, if they're not familiar with

764
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 15: faith based investing, they are familiar with values based investing

765
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:11,319
Speaker 15: because a lot of investors do it.

766
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 1: What is your ultimate goal? I mean part of it

767
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:15,800
Speaker 1: is the values of you and your family, your wife.

768
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:18,760
Speaker 1: Is it to sleep better at night and feel better

769
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:20,880
Speaker 1: that you're right with God? Or is it to change

770
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:22,000
Speaker 1: the behavior of the corporation?

771
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,000
Speaker 15: Well, I would say I have fundamentally two different ones.

772
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:28,319
Speaker 15: So from a faith based perspective, it's obviously my wife

773
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:29,920
Speaker 15: and I want to sleep all night. Know we're not

774
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,479
Speaker 15: investing in something that is diametrically opposed to our faith.

775
00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,239
Speaker 15: Secondary goal for me, just as somebody who wants to

776
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:38,319
Speaker 15: see America win, is I want to see corporations get

777
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:40,719
Speaker 15: out of the business of divisive everything.

778
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:42,360
Speaker 5: So if something you're.

779
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,759
Speaker 15: Doing is going to be extremely divisive in the marketplace

780
00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,360
Speaker 15: and it's going to divide your employees divide your consumers,

781
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 15: I think it's bad business. And I think that a

782
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,880
Speaker 15: lot of the corporate world lost side of that, because

783
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 15: ultimately my thesis is many corporate executives lost side of

784
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:59,640
Speaker 15: who their customer actually is. And so if you're embracing

785
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,800
Speaker 15: policies that are going to divide people, your business is

786
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:04,680
Speaker 15: going to suffer in the long run. On the side

787
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:06,719
Speaker 15: of say the DEI and Well policy, I've been very

788
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:10,280
Speaker 15: vocal because my desire there is to conform the companies

789
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:11,920
Speaker 15: to my values, because at the end of the day,

790
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,080
Speaker 15: I know, if they fully conform to my values, you're

791
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:15,960
Speaker 15: going to divide this other group of people when it's

792
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 15: going to be incredibly unfair to them. So I'm not

793
00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:22,040
Speaker 15: advocating for a total theocracy here in corporate America. It's

794
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 15: more so I don't want to invest in companies that

795
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,080
Speaker 15: are going to diametrically oppose everything I believe in in

796
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:31,439
Speaker 15: such a visceral way that I would feel I'm doing

797
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:32,960
Speaker 15: it as service not just to my country but to

798
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:34,239
Speaker 15: my faith by investing in them.

799
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:36,880
Speaker 1: It raises a really fundamental question for me. At least,

800
00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:40,719
Speaker 1: there are other face based investing outfits, investment firms things

801
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:44,080
Speaker 1: like that who have a very different view on diversity,

802
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,120
Speaker 1: equity inclusion. They're all for it, yeah, you're all against it,

803
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:50,000
Speaker 1: and they believe what they're doing is scriptural as well,

804
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,720
Speaker 1: so is one right and the other wrong.

805
00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:54,719
Speaker 15: You know, there'll be people who are mad at me

806
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:56,440
Speaker 15: for this, but that's okay, that's not a new thing

807
00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:58,440
Speaker 15: for me. It's you know, they believe in something that

808
00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:01,319
Speaker 15: I would call comfortable christian which is one where you

809
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:03,640
Speaker 15: want to attract the largest number of people, but it's

810
00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 15: based off false doctrine. And so the idea for them

811
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:10,120
Speaker 15: is that they'll take a cherry picked line and say

812
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:12,520
Speaker 15: this line means that we need to behave this way.

813
00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:13,520
Speaker 5: There is nothing in.

814
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 15: The Bible that says we should you know, encapsulate our

815
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:19,279
Speaker 15: corporate structure around the idea that racism is okay. I

816
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,719
Speaker 15: don't think racism is ever okay and DEI. Ultimately, when

817
00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:24,480
Speaker 15: you break it down, it does not mean that you

818
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:25,320
Speaker 15: love diversity.

819
00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:26,799
Speaker 5: It doesn't mean that.

820
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:29,239
Speaker 15: You love inclusion, because if you look on the very

821
00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:33,239
Speaker 15: top line just rational thinking, you immediately find that they're

822
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:36,880
Speaker 15: actually very much not inclusive of let's say Christians.

823
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 1: No one should question the sincerity of anyone's faith, but

824
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:44,440
Speaker 1: how far does it go? Are faith based investors willing

825
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,759
Speaker 1: to give up returns for their true beliefs? Coming to

826
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:54,160
Speaker 1: investments and value based Christian based religious based investment. Are

827
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:55,760
Speaker 1: you willing to leave money on the table?

828
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:58,439
Speaker 15: Yes, that hasn't been the case, to be perfectly honest

829
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:00,120
Speaker 15: with you, but I am willing to one hundred percent

830
00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:03,520
Speaker 15: because I look at it this way. I could die

831
00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:05,719
Speaker 15: with a pot of money that's bigger, or I could

832
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:08,000
Speaker 15: die on my deathbed one day with my kids able

833
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:10,120
Speaker 15: to look at me and know that their dad had integrity,

834
00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:11,840
Speaker 15: always lived by what he said.

835
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 17: He was going to live by. We do have investment objectives.

836
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,719
Speaker 17: We have to be adherent to indexes and benchmarks that

837
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,400
Speaker 17: are well recognized. We have to compete versus the broad

838
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,280
Speaker 17: group of peers that compete in a similar asset class space.

839
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:26,359
Speaker 17: So while we might be willing to so called take

840
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:29,120
Speaker 17: a hit in some areas, I wouldn't necessarily characterize it

841
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:29,400
Speaker 17: as that.

842
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:31,000
Speaker 5: I think that we still have to have this.

843
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:34,080
Speaker 17: Values alignment as well as the return objective that are

844
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:35,359
Speaker 17: coherent with each other.

845
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:36,720
Speaker 15: At the end of the day, the thing that matters

846
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,719
Speaker 15: the most is that integrity, and so you've got to

847
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:41,440
Speaker 15: stick to what you've believe in even if it hurts.

848
00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:45,319
Speaker 1: That does it for us On Wall Street Week, I'm

849
00:47:45,400 --> 00:48:01,160
Speaker 1: David Weston. Join us next week for more stories of capitalism,