Episodes

  • Ep 218: Chris Aylward - Property Cycles, Leverage, and Skyscrapers to Funds

    Ep 218: Chris Aylward - Property Cycles, Leverage, and Skyscrapers to Funds
    Mar 16 2026

    In this episode of Inside the Rope, David Clark sits down with Chris Aylward, a veteran of Australian property markets whose career spans more than five decades. From leasing office towers in Melbourne in the 1970s to founding APN Property Group and navigating multiple financial crises, Chris has seen every phase of the real estate cycle.

    For investors trying to make sense of today’s market - rising rates, expensive assets, private credit growth and uncertainty around office property, Chris offers a rare long-term perspective.

    This conversation explores what today’s market gets right, what it gets dangerously wrong, and why experienced investors are becoming more cautious even while liquidity floods into property and private debt.

    Chris also reflects candidly on the biggest mistake of his career - a European property fund that went badly wrong, and the lessons it taught him about partnerships, leverage and risk management.

    For listeners managing wealth, allocating capital, or investing in real assets, this episode is a great learning episode in cycle awareness and disciplined investing.
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    56 mins
  • Ep 217 Ian Macoun - Make It Better: Building Investment Excellence That Lasts

    Ep 217 Ian Macoun - Make It Better: Building Investment Excellence That Lasts
    Mar 2 2026

    If you’ve recently had a liquidity event, inherited complexity, or are quietly wondering whether your portfolio is truly built for the next 30 years — this episode is essential listening.

    In this conversation, Ian Macoun, founder of Pinnacle Investment Management, joins David Clark to unpack what actually drives sustained investment excellence — and what quietly destroys it.

    With over $200 billion under management across 19 affiliates, Pinnacle has become one of Australia’s most successful multi-affiliate investment firms. But this episode is not about scale. It’s about structure, incentives, character, and long-term alignment.

    For sophisticated investors managing significant capital, this discussion goes directly to the hard questions:

    • Why do some fund managers endure for decades while others fade?

    • How do you distinguish confidence from dangerous ego?

    • Is private credit a structural allocation, or the next bubble?

    • How should wealthy operators think differently about portfolio construction?

    • What does AI mean for growth investing?

    • Where are private markets heading next?

    Ian’s philosophy is simple but demanding: excellence is the only standard.

    And that applies to both managers and investors.
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    48 mins
  • Ep 217 Trailer: Ian Macoun - Founder of Pinnacle Investment Management

    Ep 217 Trailer: Ian Macoun - Founder of Pinnacle Investment Management
    Feb 24 2026

    Inside The Rope's episode with Ian Macoun will release next Tuesday, the 3rd of March 2026.
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    1 min
  • Ep 216: Morry Waked - The Quant Edge: How Data, Discipline, and Relentless Curiosity Built a $43B Investment Powerhouse

    Ep 216: Morry Waked - The Quant Edge: How Data, Discipline, and Relentless Curiosity Built a $43B Investment Powerhouse
    Feb 17 2026
    In this episode of Inside the Rope, David Clark speaks with Morry Waked, Managing Director and Head of Investments at Vinva Investment Management, a firm that has quietly become one of the most successful systematic investment managers in global markets. Built primarily serving institutional investors, Vinva has grown into a $43 billion manager spanning Australian and global equities, delivering consistent benchmark outperformance through a disciplined, data-driven approach. Morry shares the remarkable journey from his migrant upbringing to leading global teams managing hundreds of billions earlier in his career, and explains why humility, patience, and rigorous process matter more than prediction in markets. The conversation explores how Vinva combines investment fundamentals with advanced analytics to analyse thousands of companies simultaneously, remove behavioural bias, and identify repeatable sources of alpha across more than 45 markets. For investors, advisers, and allocators seeking insight into what truly drives long-term performance, this episode is a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a highly focused firm built institutional-grade success by doing the basics exceptionally well, scaling intelligence with technology, and never losing sight of the numbers.
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    48 mins
  • Ep215: Jamie Montgomery: What Comes After ChatGPT - Quantum Computing, Open AI, and the Future of Venture

    Ep215: Jamie Montgomery: What Comes After ChatGPT - Quantum Computing, Open AI, and the Future of Venture
    Feb 2 2026
    David Clark is joined by Jamie Montgomery, co-founder and managing partner of March Capital, to discuss the forces reshaping venture capital, artificial intelligence, and the U.S. economy. Jamie reflects on building Montgomery & Co, backing category leaders like CrowdStrike, and what it takes to advise founders through scale. He shares why quantum computing, open-source large language models, and advanced AI sit at the centre of his investment outlook, along with lessons from a decade of weekly sessions with Charlie Munger on leadership, values, and long-term thinking. Jamie also offers a grounded view on U.S. growth, government reform, and what global investors should watch as AI drives the next wave of productivity and capital deployment.
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    48 mins
  • Ep 214: Jim Rohrstaff - What Golf Teaches Investors About Capital, Concentration and Staying Power

    Ep 214: Jim Rohrstaff - What Golf Teaches Investors About Capital, Concentration and Staying Power
    Jan 19 2026
    David Clark is joined by Jim Rohrstaff of Legacy Partners for a wide-ranging conversation that sits at the intersection of elite sport, long-term capital stewardship, and global lifestyle investing. From his early years in the US Midwest to building a career that spans golf, business leadership, and international living, Jim shares how the principles that underpin high performance in sport - discipline, patience, risk management and alignment of incentives - translate directly into managing wealth over decades. For high-net-worth families, this episode goes beyond golf. It explores how passion assets, global mobility, and lifestyle decisions increasingly shape investment structures, portfolio construction, and intergenerational planning. Jim also reflects on the importance of community, access, and networks - intangibles that often define real wealth but rarely appear on a balance sheet. This is a thoughtful discussion for investors who view wealth not simply as a number, but as a platform for living life with fulfillment and long-term freedom, drawing lessons from sport, business, and life that resonate well beyond the fairway.
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    41 mins
  • Ep 213: Ben Forman - How Sophisticated Investors Are Thinking About Digital Assets in 2026

    Ep 213: Ben Forman - How Sophisticated Investors Are Thinking About Digital Assets in 2026
    Jan 5 2026
    David Clark sits down with Ben Forman, Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, one of the world’s leading institutional investors in blockchain and digital assets. Ben’s path into digital assets is anything but conventional. Trained in traditional private equity and credit at firms such as KKR and TPG, he began his career analysing businesses through a deeply fundamental, cash-flow-driven lens. Like many experienced investors, his initial reaction to crypto was sceptical. What changed was a growing conviction that blockchain technology could fundamentally reshape how value moves through the global financial system. For listeners unfamiliar with blockchain or digital assets, this conversation serves as a clear, grounded introduction. Ben explains blockchain in practical terms, comparing its potential impact on finance to what the internet did for information—reducing friction, cost and reliance on intermediaries. We explore why financial services, despite decades of digitisation, remain inefficient, and how technologies such as stablecoins, tokenisation and on-chain settlement are beginning to change that. The discussion also demystifies ParaFi’s role in the ecosystem. Ben outlines how ParaFi operates as a multi-strategy investment firm—spanning venture capital, liquid markets and non-directional strategies—and why institutional process, risk management and governance matter just as much in digital assets as they do in traditional markets. We also examine real-world examples of blockchain in action, including prediction markets, stablecoin-based payments, and the growing involvement of major global institutions. Importantly, Ben shares lessons from both successful investments and ideas that were simply too early—offering rare insight into how emerging asset classes evolve over time. This episode provides a clear framework for understanding one of the most important structural shifts underway in global finance and why digital assets are increasingly part of institutional portfolios, what risks remain, and how to think about the opportunity with discipline rather than speculation.
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    57 mins
  • Ep 212: Sam Reynolds - Powering Returns Investing Through the Global Energy Transition

    Ep 212: Sam Reynolds - Powering Returns Investing Through the Global Energy Transition
    Dec 22 2025
    In this episode of Inside the Rope, host David Clark sits down with Sam Reynolds, CEO of Octopus Investments Australia, to unpack one of the most critical and investable themes of our time: the global energy transition. As energy costs rise and the pathway to net zero becomes increasingly complex, Sam offers a grounded, data-driven perspective on how capital can be deployed responsibly without compromising on returns. We explore how institutional-grade renewable and energy-transition assets are delivering attractive double-digit returns, why the sector has historically been dominated by large institutions, and what’s now changing for wholesale investors. The conversation spans global energy supply dynamics, political and regulatory uncertainty, and the real-world implications for investors seeking long-term, sustainable outcomes. Sam also shares how Octopus approaches asset selection, risk management, and portfolio construction in a space where sustainability and infrastructure intersect. For investors interested in future-proofing portfolios, aligning capital with decarbonisation, and understanding where genuine opportunity exists, this is a timely discussion with one of the leading minds in energy-transition investing.
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    58 mins