Jim Lucier - Energy and Infrastructure Policy Expert

Bahir Manios is the CFO of Brookfield Infrastructure, one of the largest diversified infrastructure companies in the world. Tune in to hear Bahir discuss BIP‘s asset portfolio, investment philosophy, and a very compelling investment story.

Chris Sighinolfi rejoins The Stock Podcast for a follow-up interview where he talks about the current state of midstream. Tune in to hear Chris talk about investor sentiment, the role of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) mandates in the midstream space, and his perspectives on distribution cuts in the sector.

Ted Seides is the host of the Capital Allocators Podcast, one of the few podcasts I try extremely hard not to miss. Capital Allocators is a phenomenal podcast where Ted talks to investors, managers, strategists, and thought leaders. He was a founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Protégé Partners, an alternative investment firm. Tune in to hear Ted talk about his motivations for starting a podcast, hedge funds, and hedge fund fees.

If you listen to this podcast, there’s probably a good chance you listen to other investing podcasts, so you may already know Ted as the host of the Capital Allocators Podcast. In the event you don’t know about Capital Allocators, you really need to check it out. Before I started my own podcast, I listened to a lot of different investing podcasts. But once I started IwtB, my free time became limited and forced me to become a little more selective with the podcasts I listen to. But Capital Allocators and Ted Seides have consistently been a personal podcast staple! That’s because the content is fantastic, Ted’s guests are super high caliber, and because I really like Ted’s way of interviewing his guests.

If the name Ted Seides rings a bell, but you just can’t place it, Ted placed a charitable wager with Warren Buffett that pitted the S&P against several funds of hedge funds. It was a friendly 10-year wager that ended in 2017, and the subject really has been beaten to death, so it isn’t a focal point of this interview. There’s a ton of material on the web and I’ve included a link here that really covers everything you might want to know.

As a podcaster, it’s great for me to have Ted on the program to hear him talk about the motivation behind starting Capital Allocators, some of the challenges he’s faced with podcasting, and who he’d like to interview most. As an investor, it’s super interesting to hear Ted’s current views on the hedge fund industry and about hedge fund fees.

Pat Sanchez is the President and COO of Sanchez Midstream Partners (SNMP). Listen to Pat describe SNMP’s operation and what gathering, processing, and fractionation are all about.

Paul Comfort is the host of Transit Unplugged, an award-winning public transportation podcast. Paul formerly served as CEO of MTA Maryland, one of the largest public transit systems in the US, and is currently a VP and chief transit evangelist at Trapeze Group. Tune in to The Stock Podcast interview with Paul describe some of the changes taking place in the public transit systems across the US and Europe.

Duke Austin is the CEO & COO of Quanta Services (PWR). Quanta provides E&C contracting services and comprehensive infrastructure solutions for electric and gas utilities, oil and gas companies, and the communications industry. Tune in to hear Duke describe his business, the outlook for US energy infrastructure and 5G build-out, and the financial goals Quanta is targeting.

Kris Kelley is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Ridge Capital Management, a private investment firm that Kris started in 2018, shortly after he left Janus Henderson Investors. Kris has some strong views when it comes to the money management industry, views I personally agree with and ones I think every investor should hear. Kris is a value-focused, contrarian investor who believes the best way for active managers to serve their investors is through highly concentrated portfolios.

Now, if you were to ask a hundred value investors who had the greatest impact on their investment philosophy and principles, I’m sure you’d hear a lot of the same names – Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Ben Graham, Seth Klarman, and Stanley Drukenmiller. These investors have most certainly had an impact on me, but Kris has hands-down had the greatest impact on my investing philosophy….and that’s because Kris was my mentor during my six years at Janus. He’s one of, if not the greatest investors I know personally, he lives and breaths value-investing, and the perspectives he shares in this interview should open everyone’s eyes to a flawed industry.

Professor Joshua Landis is the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at The University of Oklahoma. Prof. Landis joins The Stock Podcast to discuss the recent Saudi oil attack. On Sept. 14, 2019, the world awoke to the news that numerous drones and scud missiles hit Abqaiq, the world’s largest oil processing facility. The attack resulted in 5.7 million barrels of oil production capacity going offline, which equates to about 6% of global oil production. The event was the single largest loss of Saudi oil production in history. Immediately after the attack, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi’s claimed responsibility. However, Prof. Landis is convinced that Iran is ultimately responsible, and the country with the most to gain from an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure. 

Meg Gentle is the CEO of Tellurian Inc (ticker symbol TELL), a company that is developing a massive LNG export terminal in Louisiana called Driftwood. Meg joins The Stock Podcast to talk about Tellerian Inc.’s asset portfolio, US energy exports, and the LNG industry. If you don’t know what LNG is, you really need to listen to this interview with Meg. LNG is one of the fastest growing exports in the US. Why? Because the cost to produce natural gas in the US keeps falling, and with growing domestic supply, this commodity needs a home. And it’s companies like Tellurian that make it possible to send the natural gas to international markets. At the time this interview was recorded, Tellurian Inc. had a market cap of $1.9B, nearly $60M of debt, and a little more than $130M in cash, bringing the total enterprise value to just shy of $1.8B.

To summarize some of the key points, Tellurian is developing the Driftwood LNG export terminal. But what’s really interesting about Tellurian compared to other LNG companies is that they’re building an integrated system. That means Tellurian won’t just liquify the natural gas, but they’ll own a piece of the production, transportation, and liquefaction.

And by building an integrated LNG business, that essentially gives the Tellurian full control of its future. To put things in context as to why LNG exports are such a big deal, consider that about a decade ago, the US was importing LNG. But something interesting was happening in the oil patch during the early 2000s. Some small, intrepid energy companies were developing a new way to extract oil and gas from something called shale. As the frackers perfected this new method of oil and gas extraction, production costs came down and supply started to grow very rapidly. With the growth in domestic supply, natural gas prices declined precipitously. While it may not make gas producers super happy, the price of natural gas in the US has declined to the extent that the country will soon become one of the largest LNG exporters in the world. For producers, at least there’s a volume story!

Chris Whalen is the Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, an author, and co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics. Chris is recognized as one of the investors who anticipated the eventual bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and has a reputation as one of the foremost banking analysts on Wall Street. Tune in to hear Chris discuss banks, interest rates, and the leadership changes at the Federal Reserve on The Stock Podcast.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris Whalen, you should check out his blog here. Also, I highly encourage anyone interested in learning more about interest rates, credit spreads, and the dynamics behind bank earnings power to subscribe to the Institutional Risk Analyst. And if you want to dig deeper, you can purchase the quarterly IRA Bank Book.

As the title indicates, the stock podcast is coming to a close, at least for the time being. As for me, I’m leaving the world of podcasting to return to investing. There are a number of reasons why I had to make this tough decision, but the primary reason is that I have an opportunity to work with Kris Kelley at Legacy Ridge Capital.

For the past two years, I’ve poured my heart and soul into this program in an attempt to level the playing field for all investors. I still believe in the mission and I hope someone can pick up where I’ve left off, either with a new podcast or with this one! So reach out if you’re interested in the platform.

Take care and good luck with your portfolio!