The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 10 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Perold: Generating high alpha for low management fees is a complete misnomer
“For the kinds of skill we're looking for, you need talent, and talent is expensive, so the idea that you can generate high alpha for low fees, I think, is a complete misnomer. Very hard to do... But when you find true talent, you gotta pay them, and I think yo…”
André Perold: Concentrated active management will always have a place
“So there is absolutely a sense of time arbitrage in the markets. I think you see it in all markets. And as long as that's the case, I think longer dated, concentrated active management will always have a place. I don't see it going, even in the largest cap sto…”
Perold: Allocators should focus on the opportunity set, not the manager
“And in fact, change the unit of analysis from the manager to the opportunity set. And so if we discover that a certain market is inefficient, let's say it's European micro caps or something. That's the inefficiency. We should focus on that as the unit of analy…”
André Perold: Public markets struggle to price three-to-five-year horizons
“The markets are focused on this quarter, next quarter. They don't look out five years. The markets have a great problem looking out five years for some reason. Three to five years is very difficult for people to want to bet on. And they'd like to see near term…”
Perold: Permanent capital fundamentally changes what Warren Buffett can do
“Warren Buffett has the absolutely wonderful benefit that he has permanent capital, and it completely changes what he can do because he has permanent capital than any other investor can do who does not have permanent capital.”
HighVista Strategy: Hunt Niche Alpha First, Then Passively True Up Market Exposures
“Our view is look for the opportunities where they are, and then true up the exposures you get so that your overall exposures make sense. So how much U.S. Equity exposure am I getting by virtue of these terrific opportunities, and if it's less than I would like…”
Perold: Portfolio risk is the probability of losing a given dollar amount
“Risk to us is for, at the level of a portfolio, having, what is the probability of losing X dollars? Over a certain period of time.”
Perold: At least 50% of HighVista is invested in idiosyncratic areas
“I would say today it's at least 50% in the much more idiosyncratic areas and growing.”
Perold: March 2020 dislocation dumped AAA munis from 140 to 80s
“A great example was in March. When the market, it was a massive dislocation. You had mutual funds being redeemed. They were dumping AAA bonds, especially AAA munis were being dumped at crazy prices. AAA bonds that were trading at 140 were selling in the eighti…”