Peter Kraus, CEO of Aperture Investors and former head of Goldman Sachs IMD, explains why Aperture evaluates manager candidates via live paper portfolios rather than relying strictly on backward-looking track records.
0:00 / 0:42exact quote · 42.1s
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“When you watch somebody perform, meaning they tell you why they're buying something, what the thesis is, why they're weighting it that way, why they're selling something, then you can actually see, does that play out? And more importantly, you can see when it doesn't, how they react. Do they rationalize the position? Do they say, well, yeah, I said that, but I think this now. That's not very appealing. Or do they say, yep, that's what I thought. I was wrong. I solved it. That's much more appealing. So, you can have those conversations with managers who have experience, and you can ask them those questions, and they will give you those answers, but you're not seeing it real time. When you see it real time, there's a much higher level of conviction that that's a manager that you want to invest in.”
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More from Peter Kraus
Insight
Kraus: Passive investing and high-frequency trading do not create price discovery
“Passive models do not discover prices. High frequency trading trades around prices, but it doesn't create price discovery. It creates liquidity, but it's not price discovery. It's not determining value.”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 31:11Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
AssertionSupported
Kraus: Hedge funds generated no alpha in short positions over the last decade
“In general, across the industry, for long periods of time, last 10 years, there is no alpha in the short positions.”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 43:54Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
“The whole motivation of the business, the way the fee structure is set up with the way portfolio managers are paid is all based on asset flow and growth. And unfortunately, while We thought that performance-based managers were really based on performance. They…”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 24:07Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
AssertionPartly supported
Kraus: Nearly all ETFs outside US large cap trail their benchmarks
“Virtually all ETFs, with the exception of US large cap, actually earn less than the index. There's friction cost. Security lending doesn't overcome all the friction cost. Can't always buy all the securities.”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 35:53Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
Insight
Kraus: Concentrated portfolios produce better returns than diversified ones on average
“Are concentrated portfolios better than diversified portfolios? Yes. Is it a panacea? No. But on the whole, concentrated portfolios produce better returns, much more volatile.”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 29:31Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Kraus: Active management will keep losing assets without performance-aligned fees
“We need to have a level playing field where active managers can compete with passive and get paid for their performance. Because if they don't, I think over time, active is just going to continue to lose money, which has been the case and continues to be.”
Peter KrausFeb 3, 2020▶ 31:25Peter Kraus - Widening the Aperture on Alpha (First Meeting, EP.14)
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