The Investors First Podcast

Insurance companies sit at an increasingly important intersection of investing, private credit, and financial stability. Andrew Granato and Pranjal Drall have been studying how the growing involvement of private-equity firms in insurance is changing insurer balance sheets and potentially shifting risks among policyholders, other insurers, and taxpayers. Andrew Granato is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas School of Law and holds a J.D. and Ph.D. in Financial Economics from Yale, previously serving as a Senior Associate Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, while Pranjal Drall is a J.D.-Ph.D. candidate in Financial Economics at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management.
In this episode, Andrew and Pranjal trace the evolution of private-equity ownership of insurance companies, from the traditional relationship between insurers and asset managers to the rise of firms such as Apollo and Athene. We discuss why annuity assets have become attractive sources of long-term capital, the growing role of private and structured credit on insurer balance sheets, and how affiliated transactions can create potential conflicts between policyholders, asset managers, and private-equity investors.
We also explore the unusual structure of U.S. insurance regulation, including state-based oversight, offshore reinsurance, and the mechanics of state insurance guarantee funds. Andrew and Pranjal explain what happens when an insurer fails, why healthy insurers can ultimately be responsible for supporting policyholders of failed competitors, and how tax credits can shift some of those costs back to taxpayers over time. We close with potential reforms, including prefunding guarantee systems and tying insurer assessments more closely to balance-sheet risk, as well as what advisors and policyholders should consider when evaluating increasingly complex insurance products and carriers.
Today's hosts are Steve Curley, CFA (Founder/Co-Managing Principal, 55 North Private Wealth) & co-host Chris Cannon, CFA (CIO/Principal, FirsTrust).
Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn or at investorsfirstpodcast.com.
Show Notes:
[Andrew Granato – University of Texas School of Law Faculty Profile](https://law.utexas.edu/faculty/andrew-granato/) [law.utexas.edu]
[Pranjal Drall – Yale Planetary Solutions Profile](https://planetarysolutions.yale.edu/profile/pranjal-drall) [planetarys...s.yale.edu]
Private Credit's State Backstop: How Private Equity Socializes Risk Through Insurers – Pranjal Drall & Andrew (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7152239) [papers.ssrn.com]
Private Credit's State Backstop – University of Texas School of Law [law.utexas.edu]

Today's guest on the Investors First Podcast is Roger Bayston, CFA. Roger has been with Franklin Templeton since 1991 and has spent more than three decades in the investment industry. Roger holds an undergraduate degree from University of Virginia, and an MBA from UCLA. He is also a CFA Charterholder. Based in Alamo, California, Roger discusses Franklin Templeton's global operations and the firm's growing digital-asset and blockchain capabilities.
In this episode, we discuss Franklin Templeton's early exploration of blockchain technology and how that work evolved into tokenized money-market funds and a broader digital-asset platform. Roger discusses Bitcoin as digital gold and how it differs from Ethereum and other blockchain networks. We talk about Franklin Templeton's Benji platform, tokenized money-market funds versus stablecoins, and why the tokenization of traditional assets may ultimately represent a much larger opportunity. We also discuss private credit, trade finance, collateral, and public securities; regulation and custody; cybersecurity and quantum computing; and how faster settlement could both improve financial markets and increase the speed of financial contagion. 
Today's hosts are Steve Curley, CFA (Founder & Co-Managing Principal at 55 North Private Wealth) & co-host Drew Papke, CFA (Director, Private Bank Investments at Fifth Third Bank).
Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn or at investorsfirstpodcast.com
Show Notes:
· Franklin Templeton: Franklin Templeton
· Benji Investments: Benji Investments
· Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX)
· Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
· Franklin Crypto Index ETF (EZPZ)

David Booth is one of the most influential figures in modern investing. As the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors, he helped bridge the gap between academic finance and real-world portfolio management, transforming decades of research into practical investment solutions for advisors and investors around the world.
In this episode, David joins us as he approaches his 80th birthday, celebrates Dimensional's 45th anniversary and more than $1 trillion in assets under management, and prepares for the release of his new book, Stay Calm. We discuss the origins of evidence-based investing, the development of the CRSP database, lessons from the University of Chicago during the formative years of financial economics, and the founding of Dimensional alongside pioneering researchers including Gene Fama, Merton Miller, and Myron Scholes.
We also explore implementation, trading flexibility, advisor-client alignment, market behavior, speculation versus investing, AI's future impact on innovation, and David's reflections on wealth, family, purpose, and what matters most after a lifetime in finance. Few individuals have done more to improve outcomes for investors worldwide, yet David remains remarkably humble, continually emphasizing science, discipline, and long-term thinking.
Today's hosts are Steve Curley, CFA (Co-Managing Principal, 55 North Private Wealth) & co-host Chris Cannon, CFA (CIO/Principal, FirsTrust).
Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn or at investorsfirstpodcast.com.
 
Show Notes:
https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/who-we-are/leadership/david-booth
https://www.dimensional.com/
New Book: Stay Calm (David Booth) – Link: https://www.amazon.com/Stay-Calm-Embrace-Uncertainty-Investing-ebook/dp/B0GPGNWDFY
Movie: Tune out the Noise – Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98825bzcKw

In today's episode, we welcome Don Wordell, CFA, Chief Investment Officer of Ceredex Value Advisors, an institutional asset manager specializing in value-oriented domestic small, mid and large cap equity strategies. Don has been with the firm since 1996, starting with Ceredex's predecessor firm as a research analyst covering value equity strategies. He became portfolio manager of the Mid-Cap Value Equity strategy in 2001 and portfolio manager of the Small Cap Value Equity strategy in 2023. Don earned a B.S. in finance and an M.B.A from the University of Central Florida. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) charterholder since 2004. In our conversation, Don discusses his transition into the CIO role, Ceredex's investment philosophy, and why valuation alone is never enough to make a stock attractive. We explore the changing small-cap landscape, the impact of private equity on public markets, and why active management remains critical in less efficient areas of the market. A major focus of the discussion is the emergence of the "Physical Economy." While much of the market remains focused on software and mega-cap technology companies, Don argues that many of the most compelling AI-related opportunities may be found in the power, infrastructure, manufacturing, cooling, and data center ecosystems required to support AI's growth. Today's hosts are Steve Curley, CFA (Co-Managing Principal, 55 North Private Wealth) and Jeff Goll, CFA (Head of Capital Markets, Hillpointe) Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on LinkedIn or at InvestorsFirstPodcast.com. Show Notes:
Whitepaper: Finding Value in the Physical Economy: https://www.ceredexvalue.com/articles/finding-value-in-the-physical-economy
Ceredex Value Advisors: https://www.ceredexvalue.com

In today's episode, we sit down with Ari Rubin, Founder & CEO of Flock Homes, for a deep dive into tax‑efficient exits for residential real estate through 721 exchanges into the Flock Homes fund.

Ari was born in Brooklyn, Harvard undergrad, served in the Israeli military, and attended (then left, like many successful entrepreneurs in the Bay area) Stanford University to build Flock full‑time. Based on his background and our offline conversations, it sounds like he is just getting started with some big ideas.

Today's discussion frames the core problem facing mom‑and‑pop landlords: concentrated property holdings, large, unrealized gains, depreciation recapture, deferred maintenance, and the desire to stop active land lording. Ari explains why many landlords underestimate true yield and why operational burden—not diversification—is the real pain point.

We then explore how Flock Homes works: asset scope, intake process, valuation, fees, liquidity, leverage, and quarterly cash flows. Ari compares Flock's structure to Delaware Statutory Trusts, outlines return expectations. The conversation also covers resident continuity, operations across ~20 markets, impact on vacant homes, and Flock's culture of stewardship. We also cover regulatory updates, policy discussions, and Flock's long‑term roadmap to expand its exchange‑based partnership model into other fragmented asset classes.

Today's hosts are Steve Curley, CFA (Co-Managing Principal, 55 North Private Wealth) & Pedro Bernal, CFA (Managing Director at Foursquare Foundation, and an Advisory Board Member with Flock Homes)

Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn or at investorsfirstpodcast.com.

Show Notes
Flock Homes – flockhomes.com
721 Exchange Overview – IRS partnership rules
Residential Real Estate Benchmarks – HouseCanary, Zillow, Case‑Shiller context