The Long-Short

Last year, hedge funds delivered their strongest performance since the 1990s. In this episode, Freddie Parker, Goldman Sachs’ Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Insights and Analytics, explains what drove the surge, which investment strategies did best, and how investors are reacting. Freddie also highlights the rebound in quant, why Asia is becoming a growing focus for managers, and what it signals for the year ahead.

In this episode of The Long-Short, Chenavari Chief Co-Investments Officer & Head of Investment Solutions Edward Smalley unpacks structural credit, bank–private credit dynamics and mispriced risk. He also explores whether private credit is truly “untested,” and how AI and data are reshaping modern credit investing.

Financial Times investigative journalist, Dan McCrum, joins The Long-Short to explore the striking parallels between the HBO/BBC drama Industry and the real-world collapse of Wirecard. Drawing on his experience exposing one of Europe’s biggest corporate frauds, Wirecard, Dan explains how accurately the series captures the mechanics of accounting scandals, the controversial but often misunderstood role of short sellers, and the high-stakes reality of investigative reporting.

In this episode, hosts Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol explore the risks and rewards of emerging market debt - an often misunderstood, high-yielding asset class. Joining them is Polina Kurdyavko, Head of Emerging Markets at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, who shares her expert insights on navigating volatility, managing risk, and uncovering opportunity in today’s shifting macro landscape.

With Japan’s recent election results bringing markets and policy back into the spotlight, this episode of The Long-Short is worth a revisit. Tom Kehoe is joined by Masaki Taniguchi, Founder and COO of Pleiad Investment Advisors, to unpack how Japan’s asset management landscape has evolved from the 1997 deregulation era to today’s “double asset income” policy, and what it means for Japan’s ambitions (and challenges) as a growing hub for alternative investments.

The UAE is one of the world’s fastest-expanding hubs for hedge funds and other alternative investment firms, attracting people from around the world. Not long ago, we spoke with recruiter Oscar Orellana-Hyder of Cordell Partners to get the inside track on hiring trends, the most in-demand roles, and what it takes to land a job in the rapidly evolving financial centre.

Hedge funds delivered in 2025 and investors are happy but aren’t exactly throwing more money on the table. In this episode of The Long-Short, Tom Kehoe is joined by Hedgeweek’s Manas Singh to unpack the latest AIMA research on why investors still prize hedge funds for uncorrelated returns and capital preservation yet remain cautious on increasing allocations or backing new managers. They break down demand by strategy, the growing pull of private credit, and why fee pressure is still front and centre. 

In this episode of The Long-Short, McKinsey’s Global Head of Technology and AI Kate Smaje cuts through the hype to explain where AI is delivering real value, what agentic AI could change next, and how asset management firms should think about talent, risk, and strategy as AI scales. A practical, forward-looking conversation for leaders navigating the AI moment. Additional resources:Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AIThe state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation

From crypto ETFs and institutional adoption to tokenisation, DeFi and on-chain markets, we unpack the biggest shifts from 2025 — and what they mean for the future. Henri Arslanian joins us to share his key predictions for the digital assets landscape in 2026.