Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence

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Reports of active management's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Active continues to grow and evolve in ETFs while mutual funds prosper and define benefit plans. Bloomberg Intelligence strategy team uncover active opportunities and gleam insights from active managers and those who cover the industry.

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30 episodes
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Avg 33 min
English

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Tuesday · 29 min
Tema’s Pot on Special Purpose Vehicles in ETFs
As companies stay private longer, some of the most important emerging businesses remain out of reach for traditional publicly traded funds. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, Bloomberg Intelligence mutual fund and active management analyst, and co-host Sharoon Francis, BI associate analyst, speak with Tema ETFs founder and CEO Maurits Pot about how active ETFs can use special purpose vehicles to invest in late-stage private companies. They discuss how Tema sources and evaluates private-company investments, why due diligence on the SPV itself is as important as research on the underlying business and how managers approach valuation when there’s no continuously traded market price. They also explore how private holdings affect liquidity and portfolio construction, what happens as an ETF grows or a company goes public and how access to companies such as Anthropic, SpaceX, Kalshi and Polymarket can help build more complete thematic portfolios. Recorded Oct. 13. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 21 · 30 min
Laffer Tengler CEO Tengler on Value Beyond Labels
Traditional value investing often focuses on companies trading at low multiples, but cheap stocks can reflect either opportunity or fundamental weakness. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments and a portfolio manager for the Wedbush Laffer Tengler New Era Value ETF (TGLR), about how she applies a broader definition of value. They discuss how relative dividend yield and price-to-sales can uncover opportunities, including among former growth stocks, and how fundamental research helps distinguish temporary mispricing from value traps. They also explore the importance of management, free cash flow and capital allocation, why patience matters when an investment thesis takes time to play out, and how valuation and conviction shape position sizing and sell discipline. Recorded Oct. 7. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 13 · 33 min
Global X’s Dorson on Active’s Edge in EM Markets
Emerging markets are often treated as a single market, but differences in economic cycles, currencies, governance and market structure can create vastly different opportunities from one country to the next. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, and co-host Sharoon Francis, associate analyst, speak with Malcolm Dorson, senior portfolio manager for emerging-market equities and head of emerging market strategy at Global X Management Company, about where active management can add value. They explore how concentration in broad emerging-market benchmarks can limit diversification, why governance and alignment with minority shareholders matter in security selection and how active managers navigate currency, political and liquidity risks. They also discuss targeted country exposure, the interplay between bottom-up research and macro analysis, and what could drive broader adoption of active emerging-market ETFs. Recorded Oct. 8. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 7 · 34 min
Calamos’ Nelson on Finding Fundamental Momentum
Finding fast-growing companies is only part of the challenge for small- and mid-cap managers. The market’s expectations for that growth can matter just as much. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Brandon Nelson, portfolio manager for the Calamos Timpani Small Cap Growth Fund (CTSIX) and Calamos Timpani Active SMID Growth ETF (CTAG), about his fundamental-momentum approach to investing. They discuss how Nelson looks for sustainable and underestimated growth, why management’s handling of expectations matters and how valuation factors into security selection. They also explore the importance of letting winners run while maintaining strict sell discipline, how bottom-up research drives portfolio construction and why Nelson continues to see a broad opportunity set in small- and mid-cap stocks. Recorded Sept. 22. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 29 · 34 min
ICI’s Antoniewicz on Active’s Changing Landscape
Active management is transforming as investors embrace exchange-traded funds, fund expenses decline and financial advice evolves. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Shelly Antoniewicz, chief economist at the Investment Company Institute, about what’s driving those changes. They discuss why active and passive aren’t necessarily competing for the same dollar, what fund flows can and can’t tell us about investor behavior, and why mutual funds remain durable in retirement accounts even as ETFs gain ground elsewhere. They also explore the growth of active ETFs and collective investment trusts, how fee compression and changing adviser compensation are reshaping the economics of active management, and how active management could continue to evolve across investment vehicles and distribution channels. Recorded Sept. 24. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 22 · 35 min
Capital Group’s Wilson on Finding Coiled Springs
Growth investing is often associated with companies delivering rapid revenue and earnings growth, but the potential for capital appreciation can extend well beyond traditional growth stocks. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Alan Wilson, portfolio manager at Capital Group and principal investment officer of the Capital Group Growth ETF (CGGR), about how he defines and identifies growth. They discuss why valuation still matters, how Wilson looks several years ahead to uncover potential investments and why changing competitive advantages can make durable growth difficult to identify. They also explore how Capital Group’s multi-manager system shapes portfolio construction and conviction, why some of the most compelling growth prospects can emerge in unexpected parts of the market and how physical infrastructure constraints could create the next set of “coiled springs.” Recorded Sept. 16. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 15 · 36 min
Touchstone’s Paulin on Looking Beyond Performance
Choosing the right active manager can be just as important as choosing the right investment strategy, but past performance alone may reveal little about whether a manager’s success is repeatable. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Tim Paulin, senior vice president of investments and practice consulting at Touchstone Investments, about how the firm identifies, evaluates and monitors outside investment managers. They discuss Touchstone’s version of the traditional four- or five-P framework, which looks at organizational stability, personnel, investment discipline, infrastructure and results, as well as how to separate investment skill from a favorable market environment. They also explore how portfolio holdings can reveal whether managers are staying true to their process, when underperformance should be tolerated, why investors often chase managers at the wrong time, and what the best active managers have in common over the long term. This edition was recorded on Sept. 9. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 8 · 26 min
Midas’ Winmill on Free Cash Flow Over Narratives
A broad investment mandate gives active managers the freedom to search across markets but also requires discipline in deciding where capital belongs. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Tom Winmill, president and director of the Midas family of mutual funds and portfolio manager of the Midas Special Opportunities Fund (MISEX). They discuss why growing free cash flow and returns on capital are central to identifying quality businesses, how valuation changes with the margin for error and why Winmill prefers fundamentals over market narratives. They also explore portfolio concentration, letting winners compound, sell discipline, the impact of higher interest rates and why he is willing to wait for the economics of AI businesses to become clearer. Recorded September 2. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 2 · 35 min
Horizon’s Davolos on True Inflation Beneficiaries
Inflation investing is often associated with commodities and real assets, but benefiting from rising prices can depend as much on a company’s business model as the assets it owns. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual-fund and active-management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with James Davolos, a portfolio manager of the Horizon Kinetics Inflation Beneficiaries ETF (INFL), about how he identifies businesses positioned to benefit from inflation. They discuss why capital-light business models can offer advantages in inflationary environments, how royalties and exchanges can provide exposure to rising nominal activity without the same operating and capital costs, and why commodity prices don’t necessarily need to rise for these businesses to compound. They also explore how Horizon Kinetics evaluates scarce assets, why the market may misprice businesses with lumpier cash flows, the importance of valuation and long-term terminal value, and how inflation-beneficiary equities can complement traditional portfolio allocations. Recorded August 25. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 25 · 26 min
Bloomberg’s Jim on Europe’s Active ETF Outlook
Europe’s active ETF market is expanding rapidly, but rising product launches don’t necessarily signal broad investor adoption. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Henry Jim, ETF analyst at BI, about what’s driving the market’s growth and why its development is likely to differ from the US. They discuss how issuer-led launches and solutions-based strategies are shaping the category, why Europe’s fragmented distribution system and investment culture remain important hurdles, and how private banks and white-label providers could broaden adoption. They also explore why fixed income may be a natural fit for active ETFs, what JPMorgan has done to gain traction in Europe, how ETFs could eventually pressure traditional active-management fees and what would need to happen for active ETFs to capture a meaningfully larger share of the European market. Recorded Aug. 19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 18 · 32 min
GSAM’s Lake, Innovator’s Day on Active Outcomes
As investors increasingly focus on managing risk, generating income and achieving specific portfolio outcomes, the definition of successful active management is expanding beyond simply outperforming a benchmark. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Bryon Lake, global co-head of third-party wealth and chief transformation officer at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Graham Day, partner and chief investment officer at Innovator from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, about how that shift is reshaping active strategies. They explore the growth of active and defined-outcome ETFs, why the traditional active-versus-passive debate may be giving way to a more solutions-oriented approach, and how derivatives can help investors customize risk, income and downside protection. They also discuss the importance of advisor education as product innovation accelerates, the role of technology and data in active management, and why fixed income could be the next major area of ETF innovation. Recorded Aug. 4. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 11 · 40 min
Moerus’ Wadhwaney on Asset-Based Value Investing
Value investing often means looking past near-term problems to determine whether a company is temporarily impaired or permanently damaged. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Amit Wadhwaney, co-founding partner of Moerus Capital Management and portfolio manager of the Moerus Worldwide Value Fund (MOWIX), about an asset-based approach to global deep-value investing. They discuss why Wadhwaney focuses on conservatively estimated asset values, balance-sheet strength and survivability rather than projected earnings, and how he distinguishes temporary adversity from permanent impairment. They explore how market dislocations across companies, industries and countries create opportunities, why being macro-aware differs from making macroeconomic forecasts, and how overlooked assets can drive returns. The conversation also examines why risk should be understood as permanent loss of business value rather than short-term market volatility. Recorded Aug. 4. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 5 · 31 min
Michael Ervolini on Separating Skill From Luck
Selecting active managers has always been one of investing’s greatest challenges, in part because strong performance doesn’t always reflect repeatable skill. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Michael Ervolini, author of “Skill Versus Luck,” about why investors should rethink how they evaluate active managers. They discuss the limitations of traditional performance metrics, how decision-based analytics can help separate skill from luck, and why analyzing buying, selling and position-sizing decisions may offer deeper insight into manager ability. They also explore the role of investment process, behavioral biases, AI and whether better skill measurement can improve manager selection and alter the balance between active and passive investing. Recorded July 16. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 30 · 41 min
Rainwater’s Shaposhnik on Predictable Businesses
Investing often comes down to making forecasts about an uncertain future, but some businesses are inherently more predictable than others. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Joseph Shaposhnik, portfolio manager of the Rainwater Equity ETF (RW), about his philosophy of investing exclusively in businesses with durable, recurring-revenue models. They discuss why predictability can be a competitive advantage, how free cash flow and disciplined capital allocation drive long-term value creation, and what separates exceptional management teams from the rest. They also explore how Shaposhnik identifies recurring-revenue businesses across industries, why avoiding negative surprises is as important as finding winners, and where he sees opportunities as investors continue to concentrate capital in AI-related companies. Recorded July 16. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 21 · 36 min
JPMorgan’s El-Asmar on Active ETF Growth in APAC
Active ETFs have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the investment industry, but their evolution in Asia Pacific is unfolding very differently than in the US. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Rebecca Sin, a senior ETF analyst at BI, and Philippe El-Asmar, APAC head of ETFs at JPMorgan Asset Management, about what’s driving adoption across the region. They discuss why Taiwan has emerged as one of the industry’s biggest growth stories, how investor demand differs across markets and why regulations, distribution models and local preferences are shaping the active-ETF landscape. They also explore how institutions and retail investors are using active ETFs, the misconceptions that continue to slow adoption and what could define the next phase of growth across Asia-Pacific. Recorded July 13. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 14 · 22 min
Liberty Street’s Moss on Private Company Research
As companies remain private longer, investors increasingly need new ways to access growth that once occurred in the public markets. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Kevin Moss, managing director at Liberty Street Funds and portfolio manager of the Private Shares Fund (PRIVX), about how active managers research, value and manage portfolios of late-stage private companies. They discuss the role of governance and management quality in investment decisions, how disciplined valuation frameworks help separate compelling investments from compelling stories, and why diversification, position sizing and liquidity planning are critical in private markets. They also explore the evolution of secondary markets, the growing push to expand retail access to private investments and the trends shaping the next generation of private-company investing. Recorded July 8. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 7 · 24 min
NEOS’ Mathews on the Evolution of Option ETFs
As option-based income ETFs move deeper into adviser portfolios, product design and implementation are becoming just as important as the income they seek to deliver. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Wes Mathews, senior managing director and head of investment strategy at NEOS Investments, about how the category has evolved from early covered-call strategies into more dynamic, tax-aware approaches. They discuss why investors have turned to options-based ETFs as an alternative source of income, how NEOS seeks to balance monthly distributions with equity participation, and why flexibility around option coverage, strike selection and volatility can matter across different market environments. They also explore the role of tax-loss harvesting and index options in after-tax outcomes, how advisers are using these funds across equities, fixed income and alternatives, and where options-based ETF strategies may expand next. Recorded June 23. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 30 · 27 min
Invesco’s Burrello on Option Income Trade-Offs
Option-income ETFs have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the ETF market, but headline yields often obscure meaningful differences in portfolio construction, risk profile and objectives. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with John Burrello, senior portfolio manager for Invesco’s Global Strategies team, including the Invesco QQQ Income Advantage (QQA), about how investors should evaluate these funds beyond their headline yields. They discuss the trade-offs between income generation, equity participation and downside protection, why total return may matter more than distribution rate alone and how volatility can affect option-overlay strategies. They also explore the differences between systematic and passive approaches, the risks of chasing unusually high yields and why advisers may view these products more as equity replacements or complements than fixed-income substitutes. Recorded June 11. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 23 · 25 min
Baron’s Matt Camuso on Bringing Active to ETFs
The rapid growth of active ETFs is pushing traditional and boutique managers to adapt mutual-fund strategies into ETF wrappers without compromising their investment identity. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Matt Caumso, Head of ETF Solutions at Baron Capital about how boutique active managers can translate established mutual-fund strategies into the ETF wrapper. They discuss why Baron entered the ETF market, how mutual fund conversions can give active managers scale and continuity, and what liquidity, capacity and transparency mean for long-term, high-conviction strategies. They also explore the operational demands of launching ETFs, the importance of dedicated capital markets expertise, and how active ETFs can complement passive-heavy portfolios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 16 · 35 min
Morgan Stanley’s Rogers on Consistent Growth
Growth investing has faced no shortage of challenges over the past decade, from shifting interest-rate regimes and benchmark concentration, to the rise of AI and unprecedented flows into passive strategies. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Doug Rogers, managing director at Morgan Stanley and portfolio manager on funds including the Eaton Vance Growth Fund (ELCIX) and Eaton Vance Focused Growth Opportunities Fund (EIFGX) about what it takes to generate alpha as an active growth investor in today’s market. They discuss why Rogers focuses on companies capable of delivering consistent, sustainable growth, how his team identifies innovation-driven inflection points, and the role rigorous debate plays in building conviction and challenging investment assumptions. They also explore valuation discipline, risk management, the impact of passive investing on markets, and why separating signal from noise has become increasingly important for long-term investors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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