Nostalgia Is Not a Strategy: Adapting the Investing Playbook to a Changing World Order | EP208

In a world where geopolitical tension, economic inequality, and technological change are all accelerating, what does it mean to be a long‑term, bottom‑up investor? In this episode, portfolio manager Paul Moroz explores how today's regime differs from the post‑crisis "Pax Americana" era. Drawing on history—from Shakespeare to ancient debt jubilees—he connects recurring human patterns of fear, greed, and class conflicts to today's tensions. The discussion then turns to specifics around how investors must adapt in a more volatile world, and how AI is emerging both as a powerful market force and as a tool that is reshaping the day‑to‑day work of investors.

Highlights include:

• How recurring historical patterns—from Shakespeare's Coriolanus to ancient debt jubilees—shed light on today's tensions around inequality and financial repression
• How portfolio construction may need to adapt: broader diversification, smaller positions, heavy emphasis on risk management
• Why bottom‑up analysis still matters as much as ever, even when top‑down forces feel louder
• How AI's ability to let fewer people do more work could widen existing wealth divides, reshape career paths in knowledge‑based fields, and force organizations to rethink how they hire, train, and promote talent
• Why the edge in investing is shifting from gathering information to asking better questions and exercising sound human judgment

Host: 

Rob Campbell, CFA

Institutional Portfolio Manager 

Guest:

Paul Moroz, 

CFA Portfolio Manager

This episode is available for download anywhere you get your podcasts.

Founded in 1974, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. (pronounced "more") is a privately owned independent investment firm managing assets for institutional and individual investors. Mawer employs over 250 people in Canada, U.S., and Singapore.

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