I met today's guest, Patrick Geddes, almost a decade ago when I was "kicking the tires" at Aperio, the investment management he co-founded. He was kind enough to sit down with me for more than an hour explain the "Aperio approach" to investing and I've been a happy client since. Today, you get the benefit of Patrick's wisdom gleaned from his decades of taking a research-based approach to investing. In this podcast, we explore his entrepreneurial journey from start-up to being acquired by BlackRock for $1.05 billion. As you listen, what will become clear is how energized Patrick is for this next chapter of his career. He will be bringing his passion and commitment to improving investor education. We will discuss his forthcoming book, Transparent Investing, which may be available to teachers in the NGPF community in December (logistics still being worked out). Patrick will also be appearing at an NGPF Speaker Series event on January 20, 2022 with the general release of the book on January 25, 2022. Enjoy!  

Details:

• 0:00~2:28 Introduction
• 2:28~3:57 Early money lessons 
• 3:57~6:24 First job as a teenager and selling trash bags in college
• 6:24~9:19 Career path to getting into the investing world
• 9:19~10:58 Experience working at Morningstar
• 10:58~17:26 How taxes matter when choosing active v. passive mutual funds
• 17:26~20:15 What the Morningstar star rating tells investors
• 20:15~23:22 Why past performance does not translate to high future performance 
• 23:22~29:25 On co-founding Aperio Group
• 29:25~29:54 A word from NGPF 
• 29:54~33:05 First client at Aperio and assuming the role of CEO
• 33:05~38:20 When tax-loss harvesting works
• 38:20~42:01 The rise of ESG investing
• 42:01~43:45 The growth of Aperio
• 43:45~46:54 Stepping away from the CEO role
• 46:54~50:44 Writing Transparent Investing
• 50:44~56:41 Contents and format of the book
• 56:41~58:20 Creative formats to explain financial topics
• 58:20~59:49 Conclusion

Resources:

• Transparent Investing website

Quotes:

• “If you’re going to invest in stocks, you are going to go through ugly times. That’s the nature of the beast, you have to acknowledge that and brace yourself for it in advance.”

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.