The Long-Short

Why are football clubs - volatile, emotionally driven businesses - attracting billions from private equity firms, celebrities, and sovereign wealth funds? In this episode, football finance expert Kieran Maguire joins The Long-Short to unpack the economics of the global game: where investors find alpha, the true financial cost of relegation from the Premier League, the rise of multi-club ownership, regulation, valuations, and why capital keeps flowing into the world’s most popular sport. 

South Korea is having a capital markets moment.Home to global leaders in semiconductors, automotive manufacturing and advanced technology, Korea’s markets have delivered extraordinary returns in recent years, fuelled by a powerful combination of market momentum, policy reform and shifting global capital flows. As a result, the country is increasingly attracting the attention of some of the world’s largest hedge funds and asset managers, alongside a groundswell of new domestic capital pouring into public markets.But can Korea finally move beyond the long-discussed “Korea discount” and build a more sustainable growth market for both domestic and international investors?Joining us to explore these questions is Peter Kim, Senior Managing Director and Head of the Global & Wholesale Division at KB Securities, and one of Korea’s best-known market commentators. Together, we discuss the forces driving Korea’s economic resurgence, the evolution of its capital markets, the rise of alternatives and private credit, and whether Seoul could emerge as a new Asian alternative investment powerhouse.

This episode tackles one of the most misunderstood, and, frankly, misrepresented topics in private markets right now: gating. Often painted as a crisis measure, gating is in fact a tool designed to match investor liquidity with inherently illiquid assets.Joe Morrissey, a Partner at Seward & Kissel, joins Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol to explain why gates exist, the difference between fund-level and investor-level restrictions, and why better investor education may be the real key to avoiding panic when markets turn.

The UK has already seen a significant push of regulatory reform affecting alternative investments this year, with much more still to come.Aniqah Rao, Associate Director of Markets, Governance and Innovation at AIMA, joins The Long-Short to analyse last week’s FCA publication on short selling, the ongoing consultation around a potential ban on non-competes and highlight the key proposals that should be on your radar for the rest of 2026.We’re also launching a new The Long-Short newsletter for deeper insights and to continue the conversation. Sign up here to receive it: https://www.aima.org/join-the-long-short-mailing-list.html

After a packed first quarter, The Long-Short co-hosts Tom Kehoe and Drew Nicol break down the key forces shaping markets, from geopolitical fault lines and economic chokepoints, to mounting pressure in private credit and what the next phase of AI adoption really means for fund managers. This isn’t a recap, it’s our read on what mattered for alternative investments, and where markets go next.We’re also launching a new The Long-Short newsletter for deeper insights and to continue the conversation. Sign up here to catch the first edition: https://www.aima.org/join-the-long-short-mailing-list.html

As part of our ongoing series revisiting timely and relevant conversations, we’re republishing this episode for listeners who may have missed it the first time around ,a clear, practical look at why quant matters more than ever.In June 2025, Philip Seager, Head of Portfolio Strategy at Capital Fund Management (CFM), joined The Long-Short to demystify quantitative multi-strategy hedge funds. From navigating volatile markets to building resilient, data-driven portfolios, this episode explores the science behind systematic investing and its role in diversifying risk, enhancing returns, and future-proofing allocations.

As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East, this episode of The Long-Short explores what a broader regional conflict could mean for hedge funds, energy markets, and macro positioning. Damien Bruckard, Co-Founder and Chair of Geopolitical Strategy, explains why the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for roughly 20% of global oil supply, is central to the investment outlook, how disruption could ripple through inflation, rates, and the broader question of US dollar dominance

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.