Dan Rasmussen is the Founder and portfolio manager at Verdad Advisers, which he launched in 2014 to replicate the historical success of private equity in the public markets.  He’s an outspoken critic of the market’s enthusiasm for private equity, resulting from research he conducted in the business while working at Bain Capital.

Our conversation covers Dan’s early education in the Socratic method, research into why private equity works, current risk in the private equity and private credit markets, and the launch of Verdad to find private equity-like outcomes in the public markets.  We then turn to Verdad, including key lessons upon shifting to public equity investing, stock screens, portfolio construction, position sizing and the competitive advantage of capacity constraints.  Lastly, we touch on Verdad’s written research and preparing a portfolio for a recession.

If you like Dan’s thought process, you can sign up to receive his team’s weekly research at verdadcap.com/strategy.

Learn More Read the Transcript Subscribe to the Capital Allocators Blog or Monthly Mailing List Don't Subscribe, but Let Us Know Who You Are Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides Review past episodes of the Podcast

Our inaugural guest is my friend Dan Rasmussen, who runs Verdad Capital - an actively managed investment fund that provides incisive weekly commentary on markets and risk.  Dan frequently writes about investing in the midst of crisis and preparing for the unimaginable.

In this conversation, we explore the COVID-19 outbreak and the global response through an investing lens.  

For this episode of the Planet MicroCap Podcast, I spoke with Dan Rasmussen, Founder and CIO of Verdad Advisers. Prior to Verdad, Dan worked at Bain Capital and Bridgewater Associates, and also holds an AB from Harvard College and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2017, he was named to Forbes 30 under 30 list. He’s one of the leading thinkers in the investing world and I’m really excited that he was able to join me on here. We recorded this interview in what seems like years ago, but its only been a month – February 25, 2020. This episode is a good old fashion chat about our mutual love of MicroCap stocks, as well as Dan’s strategies for success. At the very end, we spend a little time discussing crisis investing.

Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the SNN Network YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast.

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The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, publishers of StockNewsNow.com, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market.

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For more information about Dan Rasmussen and Verdad Advisers, please visit: https://verdadcap.com/

You can Follow Dan Rasmussen on Twitter @VerdadCap

My guest this morning is Dan Rasmussen of Verdad Capital. Like me, Dan and his firm focus on quantitative research. Just a month before the COVID crisis hit markets, they completely and published a study on investing during periods of market crisis, which is the topic of this conversation. We discuss what works and what doesn’t during and after acute periods of panic in markets. I think you’ll find it extremely informative. Because Dan’s firm and my own share many beliefs about investing and conduct similar flavors of research, I try to offer devil’s advocate questions throughout. Please enjoy.

This episode is brought to by Koyfin.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Show Notes

1:54 – (First question) – What he sees in the markets today given the atmosphere right now

4:26 – An overview of their study: Crisis Investing: How to Maximize Return During Market Panics

8:38 – How things get more predictable during crisis

11:15 – The length of these crises and assets they focused on

12:40 – What happens to bonds and credit during these times

15:50 – Geography of crises

18:14 – How does this impact the philosophy of just index investing

20:40 – Positioning of value in this market

27:50 – Lessons from other crises

32:21 – Importance of a blended factor approach

35:44 – Role of momentum

38:10 – What else he is paying attention to during this crisis

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Dan Rasmussen is the Founder and portfolio manager at Verdad Advisers, which he launched in 2014 to replicate the historical success of private equity in the public markets.  He’s an outspoken critic of the market’s enthusiasm for private equity, resulting from research he conducted in the business while working at Bain Capital.

Our conversation covers Dan’s early education in the Socratic method, research into why private equity works, current risk in the private equity and private credit markets, and the launch of Verdad to find private equity-like outcomes in the public markets.  We then turn to Verdad, including key lessons upon shifting to public equity investing, stock screens, portfolio construction, position sizing and the competitive advantage of capacity constraints.  Lastly, we touch on Verdad’s written research and preparing a portfolio for a recession.

If you like Dan’s thought process, you can sign up to receive his team’s weekly research at verdadcap.com/strategy.

Learn More Read the Transcript Subscribe to the Capital Allocators Blog or Monthly Mailing List Don't Subscribe, but Let Us Know Who You Are Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides Review past episodes of the Podcast

It isn’t a secret that pension funds, which we all rely on to some degree or another to pay for our retirements, are in dire straits. Ready for a scary number? The combined funding deficit of public pension plans in the U.S., across all 50 states, was reported at an alarming $1.28 Trillion in 2017. Thank goodness we have a savior! It’s the private equity business, right? But… what if it’s not true? What if private equity isn't going to make our retirement plans fat and happy? What if it’s only enriching the Wall Streeters who run these investment firms? In this episode, Bethany talks with Dan Rasmussen about the risks and realities of private equity.

Verdad's Founder and Portfolio Manager Dan Rasmussen talks about his replication of private equity investing in the public markets using undervalued, levered, small-cap stocks.

Verdad's website: http://verdadcap.com/

Dan's twitter handle: https://twitter.com/verdadcap

Dan's book, American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt: https://amzn.to/2W8hBLl

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Hi, I'm Tobias Carlisle. I've launched a new podcast called The Acquirers Podcast. 

The podcast is about finding undervalued stocks, deep value investing, hedge funds, activism, buyouts, and special situations.

We uncover the tactics and strategies for finding good investments, managing risk, dealing with bad luck, and maximizing success.

SEE LATEST EPISODES

https://acquirersmultiple.com/podcast/

SEE OUR FREE DEEP VALUE STOCK SCREENER

https://acquirersmultiple.com/screener/

FOLLOW TOBIAS

Website: https://acquirersmultiple.com/

Firm: https://acquirersfunds.com/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobycarlisle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tobiascarlisle

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobias_carlisle

ABOUT TOBIAS CARLISLE

Tobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple®, and Acquirers Funds®.

He is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon’s Business and Finance The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market, the Amazon best-sellers Deep Value: Why Activists Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations (2014) (https://amzn.to/2VwvAGF), Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors (2012) (https://amzn.to/2SDDxrN), and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World’s Greatest Concentrated Value Investors (2016) (https://amzn.to/2SEEjVn). He has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation, public company corporate governance, and corporate law.

Prior to founding the forerunner to Acquirers Funds in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer. As a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions he has advised on transactions across a variety of industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Guam. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Australia with degrees in Law (2001) and Business (Management) (1999).

Dan Rasmussen is the Founder and Portfolio Manager at Verdad, a hedge fund that attempts to replicate privately-equity like returns through investments in publicly listed highly leveraged micro-caps. Before starting Verdad, Dan worked at Bain Capital and Bridgewater Associates. Dan graduated from Harvard summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the New York Times bestselling author of American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt. In 2017, he was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

In the episode we talked about:

• Replicating private equity with public equities
• Average private equity deal structures now and then
• Leverage buyout transaction structures in US and Asia
• Controlling for risk and bankruptcy probability
• United States vs Japan market for equities
• Doing research in quantitive investing
• Difference of running big and small funds
• The relationship between interest rates and equities
• Why is Dan bearish on VC
• Properties of small cap companies
• Private equity in emerging markets
• Do MBAs make better CEOs?

As always, make sure you share the podcast with anyone you think might benefit from the information. And don’t forget to leave us a 5-Star review on iTunes!

Find out more at https://www.thewallstreetlab.com/

Luke, Leo & Andy