2023 In Review
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz 2023 was the year of Taylor Swift! We have it under good authority that Taylor Swift helped boost US GDP this year… but on to a more serious note: From global bank failures to the AI revolution, 2023 was action packed. For investors, there were big opportunities for those willing […]
The U.S. Consumer: Buy Now Pay (hopefully) Later
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Following the record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales last week, the “Strong U.S. consumer” headline has resurfaced once again. People are buying things, which means the economy is strong…right? Well, our investment team aligns with what billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffen said earlier this month: The U.S. needs […]
How to Read Treasury Auctions
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz U.S. Treasuries, a usually boring security, have become one of the most widely talked about investments in 2023. We have even started to see commercials from brokerage houses and investment platforms that offer everyday investors access to “Treasury Bills” paying X amount. They market these government backed investments as the […]
Carbon Capture: The Future of ESG
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz “To green, or not to green, that is the question” – William Atmospeare We’ve talked a lot about ESG in a past commentary. In financial markets, it’s a label worn by mostly underperforming, high fee funds as a marketing pitch to attract investors. In corporate America, it has been a […]
Finally: Atlanta Michelin Guide
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz A little background: The Michelin Guide has become the “restaurant bible” in the culinary world. Yes, the guide is owned by the French tire company with its roots going back to the early 1900’s. Over the last 100 years, Michelin inspectors have been reviewing and crowning restaurants and chefs alike […]
Watches & Cars Part II
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz It’s been a year since our last hobby post, and a lot has changed. In the second part of our series of watches and cars, we give an update on our favorite leisurely pursuits. Watches fall, everything else rises. Since the last time I wrote about watches, the S&P has […]
Job Wanted: House Speaker
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz In a once in a century vote yesterday, Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his leadership position as Speaker of the House. Led by representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, the resolution to vacate the House speaker was voted by every democrat and 8 republican members, resulting in a 216-210 vote in […]
ESG Has Failed Investors
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Preface – In a recent pitch to an endowment, our team was grilled about ESG screening criteria, and how we would apply this to the endowment’s “ESG” driven portfolio. As a rational and prudent capital allocator, I conveyed to the endowment committee that we needed to carefully draft policy guidelines […]
Swiss Banks, No Longer Secret
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Swiss banks have historically been portrayed as a haven for offshore money given their nature of secrecy and security. Swiss banking law in 1934 made it illegal to disclose account holder names, and banks could even deny the existence of accounts. Of course, the following decades of cash inflow from […]
Bill Ackman is Short, We’re Long
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz If you don’t know, Bill Ackman is a billionaire hedge fund manager and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. Ackman’s famous for his activist investment philosophy, which involves betting on and against controversial positions and then tweeting about it. His most recent call? To short the 30-year treasury. Here’s his […]
