Billions are moving through the stock market every day—but not for the reasons most investors think.

In this episode, Brent Kochuba of SpotGamma breaks down the hidden world of options dealer flows and explains how concepts like gamma, vanna, and charm are silently shaping market behavior. Whether you’re a trader or long-term investor, understanding these behind-the-scenes forces is essential to making sense of today’s volatility.

We discuss:

• What dealer hedging flows are—and why they matter

• How options flows move billions without a fundamental trigger

• The role of gamma, vanna, and charm in stock price action

• Why expiration cycles often mark major market turning points

• Real-world examples: GameStop, Tesla, Nvidia, and the S&P 500

• What traditional investors miss by ignoring these dynamics

Even if you’ve never traded an option, this episode will change how you see the market.

In this episode, we speak with Luca Paolini, Chief Strategist at Pictet Asset Management, about the firm’s 2025 Secular Outlook and the unfolding shift in global markets. Paolini argues that the era of U.S. exceptionalism is fading—and investors may be mispricing what comes next. We discuss why the “Great Convergence” could redefine asset allocation, what it means for U.S. equities and the dollar, and why now might be the time to lean into bonds and income-generating assets.

Paolini also shares his views on inflation, tariffs, AI, private markets, and the challenges of navigating a low-return, high-risk world. Whether you're a global macro watcher or a long-term investor thinking about regime shifts, this conversation offers a roadmap for the next five years.

Topics covered include:

• Why the U.S. may no longer deserve its valuation premium

• How debt and protectionism threaten global growth

• Why the next five years could see converging returns across regions and assets

• The investment case for bonds, credit, and emerging market debt

• AI’s impact on productivity and equity concentration

• The future role of gold, crypto, and private assets in portfolios

In this episode of Excess Returns, Matt Zeigler and Jason Buck sit down with Eric Crittenden, CIO of Standpoint Funds, for a wide-ranging and candid discussion about trend following, risk transfer markets, and what it takes to build a resilient investment strategy for uncertain futures. Eric shares decades of hard-won insights on investor behavior, portfolio construction, performance pain points, and why blending passive equities with systematic macro might just be the future of asset allocation.

🔍 Topics Covered:

• The uncomfortable realities of trend following performance

• Why many investors misunderstand managed futures

• Eric’s view on the current drawdown and client behavior

• Setting expectations with empirical data and simulations

• The case for blending passive equities with trend following

• Capital formation vs. risk transfer markets explained

• What market participants get wrong about futures

• The surprising resilience of cap-weighted equity indexes

• The flaws in relying on bonds as diversifiers

• How regime shifts and correlation changes affect trend models

• Philosophical take on risk, regulation, and structural market design