Generating Investment Ideas: Interview with Futurist David Houle

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Aug 13, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments In a recent post, “Generating Investment Ideas,” I interviewed scenario-planning expert Jim Butcher, the former head of Morgan Stanley’s Strategic Engagement Group and current CEO of boutique consultancy Entegra Partners. In this installment, my interviewee is renowned futurist David Houle, who has spoken to or advised more than 2,000+ CEOs and business owners in the past four years — and who...
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Lie Detection 101 for Financial Analysts: How to Spot Manipulators and Actors

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 19, 2012 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 0 comments Financial analysts are in the business of evaluating the truth of information. But there is a shocking lack of academic research about how financial analysts can improve their lie and deception detection skills even though the monetary stakes are measured in trillions (choose your currency). We hope to remedy this situation by covering the topic of lie detection regularly on this blog. For my...
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Capitalism: It’s as Much About Cooperation as Competition

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 16, 2012 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 0 comments We have myopically come to believe that “survival of the fittest” is synonymous with competition and is the highest expression of our nature. Yet survival of the fittest also includes those creatures, including humans, who successfully and continuously cooperate to survive. Case in point: Lions adorn the flags of many nations as symbols of individual power and unparalleled ferocity —...
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Understanding the LIBOR Scandal: Recommended Reading

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 12, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments The scandal surrounding LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, continues to sweep through global finance — so much information, so little time for investment professionals to assess the facts.  Lost in the scandal discussion the last several years are the invisible costs of numerous investment professionals that used LIBOR as the basis of their costs of capital and all of the decisions made...
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Financial Engineers Behaving Boldly: Emanuel Derman

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jun 19, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments MODELERS OF ALL MARKETS, UNITE! You have nothing to lose but your illusions. –Dr. Emanuel Derman Nobody personifies a “quant” like Emanuel Derman. First, there is his educational pedigree: After earning a PhD in theoretical particle physics from Columbia University, he conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania, Oxford University, Rockefeller University, and the University...
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