Due diligence happens in hallways, not conference rooms. Kristof Gleich explains why the pitch deck is theater—real signals appear when managers think you're not watching. His best red flag: a "long-term investor" day-trading during the site visit.

The biggest trap isn't picking wrong managers, it's buying what just worked. Money-weighted returns trail time-weighted because investors chase performance—buying high, selling low, repeat. Commodities tend to be underrepresented because they disappointed in the 2010s. Yet 26% inflation since 2020 suggests physical backing matters again.

Active ETFs aren't automatically tax-efficient. Mean reversion may be dead. And if you ever think "I didn't sign up for this," you calibrated risk wrong—because that's when psychology destroys portfolios.

This episode reframes asset pricing by replacing symmetric “risk” with asymmetric fear.

Using evidence from the 19th through 21st centuries, Arnott and McQuarrie show that market returns are nonstationary, that equity premia depend on cycle and starting conditions, and that premia can go negative when FOMO dominates fear of loss.

The practical takeaway is behavior‑aware portfolio design and expectation‑setting grounded in regime dynamics, not static averages.

This TREUSSARD TALKS interview with Jane Buchan examines “alternatives” by mechanics rather than labels.

We talk about private equity as levered equity, private credit as floating‑rate credit with still‑evolving default and workout paths, and hedge fund strategies as instruments that change exposure, correlation, and payoff shape via long/short construction and constraints.

We cover how globalization has raised cross‑market correlations, where diversification still adds value, and why separate accounts, custody clarity, and transparent execution are first‑order risk controls.⁠⁠​

We also work through failure modes such as narrative‑driven allocation, overreliance on brand, and ignoring capacity and liquidity.

Join Jonathan Treussard, Ph.D. for a thoughtful conversation with Michael Imerman, Ph.D. — Professor of Finance at UC Irvine and author of The Economics of FinTech (2025).

They talk about what truly counts as FinTech, map the FinTech ecosystem, trace the post‑GFC innovation cycle, and separate durable signal from hype across AI, cloud, and blockchain.

They also explore inclusion, alternative data, and fairness in credit decisions, and close with teaching, purpose, and the skills that create day‑one value in finance.

Jonathan Treussard sits down with David Kotok to connect history, civility, and investing. Kotok traces formative lessons from a decade in his family’s grocery store through a principled career in money management.

The conversation links historical cycles to today’s markets. Drawing on research behind Kotok’s book, The Fed and the Flu, they outline a shift from post‑pandemic dynamics to war‑finance dynamics. The takeaway: geopolitics and debt‑funded military spending have implications for policy, rates, and asset allocation⁠⁠.

The conversation ties strategy to purpose and horizon. And it teaches us lessons that only a lifetime of studying markets and history can bring to the thoughtful listener.

On this episode, I sit down with Larry Kotlikoff — Boston University economics professor, influential policy thinker, and longtime mentor — for a candid conversation about what economics really means for families and investors.

We cover Larry’s path from Harvard to the halls of Washington and BU leadership, unpack the birth of the Auerbach–Kotlikoff model, and explore why fiscal language can mislead real‑world decisions.

The discussion connects rigorous theory to practical choices, helping investors navigate uncertainty from first principles and with discipline. Valuable for business leaders, families, and professionals seeking durable wealth aligned with purpose.

On this episode, I sit down with Anna Paglia, Chief Business Officer at State Street Global Advisors, for a candid conversation about democratizing investing, purpose‑driven leadership, and breaking down barriers to wealth creation.

We trace Anna’s journey from waiting tables in Rome while in law school to executive leadership at a $4.7T asset manager, and explore how ETFs opened market access with small starting amounts⁠⁠.

We dig into why investing is as much about behavior as it is about strategy—navigating volatility with discipline, learning from unexpected mentors, and aligning purpose with long‑term goals. Valuable for families, founders, and professionals looking to build durable wealth with clarity⁠⁠.

On this episode, I sit down with Anne Rhodes, Chief Legal Officer at wealth.com and attorney Dave Haughton for an important conversation about reclaiming control, navigating family dynamics, and how proactive estate planning shapes our wealth, legacies, and relationships across generations.

Anne and Dave share their journeys from major law firms to legal tech and public education. We dig into why estate planning is about much more than technical documents or tax savings—it’s about empowering families, resolving conflict before it starts, and connecting actions to the things that matter most.