YouSaid · the spoken record

Thomas Wagner

lines on the record: 134
first: 2023-07-14
most recent: 2023-07-14
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“Everything I mean, I wish I, you know, gosh, I wish I knew everything. I guess the one, if I could say one big giant lesson that I've learned over the years is, you know, watch out for secular change. It's the killer. You can't be on the wrong side of secular change. So being on the wrong side of secular change is the killer. One example would be the long-term decline of commodity prices. Over a long period of time, generally speaking, commodity prices are trending down, particularly after adjusting for inflation. And so, you know, that's one of many. You know, the wrong set of technological change or adoption of new technologies. You've got to be really careful about that. And you have to have a thesis that looks out if you're making a long-term investment. So I think that that's probably the most important lesson that I learned in my last, you know, 30 years or so that wasn't entirely self-evident when I started.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think irrespective of what you're looking to do, the advice is the same, which is that make sure you find something that you love. And it sounds so trite. You hear it from everyone, but it really is a critical piece of advice. Investing in distress is not for everyone. It's not an easy way to make money. There are definitely better ways of doing it. I think, you know, if I could tell my kids to go into a type of investing, I'd probably tell them to do VC or something else. But I do think that you have to ensure that the career you're pursuing is something that you can be committed to for a long time so that you're in it long enough to become an expert. I think that's perhaps the crucial element. If you want to achieve great success, make sure you stay committed to something long enough that you can become an expert in it.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. I mean, Geo is like, you know, I've always done Geo. Solar's tough in certain jurisdictions, but I think the combination, if you can do combo of solar and geo, you're really, you know, you've got a lot of energy independence and much cleaner. It's well worth the investment in most places. And, you know, particularly in an island where you can put geo in, you know, you're really just getting down below the coral. It's an incredibly efficient way of managing your electric costs.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You're That's right Yeah, it depends on your location. But it's a big, giant investment that we should really take seriously across our country, hardening the grid and distributing the power generation more solar, more renewable, all of it.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, there's no question that we need to be modernizing our electric distribution system. And it's not just at the industrial scale level, but also right down to the home. So greater levels of battery backup and solar power, but things that are protected against small scale EMP results, which would be like a lightning strike. And then large scale if we ever were attacked. It's a real risk to society. So I think Those are things that I've always been fascinated about, you know, big, giant problems. This is exactly the kind of thing you want to be reading before bed at night. But how do we think about those and how should that be worked into our national priorities?”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, some of the risks that we face as a modern society and how quickly things can change if the right set of kind of really negative and horrible circumstances arise. And I've always been sort of fascinated by the risks that we as a modern society face that aren't often thought about and the ways that we can protect against them. That's a big one. That in our electoral grid, I think, you know, particularly in our urban areas, we are uniquely exposed to a loss of power. And so, you know, I think the Koppel book lights out that was written a while ago is another sort of must read. It's something that we really should be paying much more attention to. There's a lot of great initiatives that as a country we're pursuing for noble reasons. But my personal view is that the”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's unbelievable, right? Unbelievable. Silver, I don't know how I get into this, but right now I'm reading this book called One Second After, which is about life in the United States, you know, immediately following an EMP or electromagnetic pulse attack. It is a rather disturbing book, but it's really pretty fascinating.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Distress corporate, and then a lot of macro type investing in addition to what he does at his core is incredibly impressive. And so, you know, I think looking at the way that he approached being committed to a position and unwavering in many cases despite others maybe having a different view is something that I've always really respected.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, you know, I never really had official mentors. It wasn't really the way the businesses that I operated in worked. But there were people that I was able to observe that had just had achieved such incredible success and were so good. One that really stands out, I think, is David Tepper, who of all the individuals with whom I interacted over the years is absolutely the best investor of the bunch. And David's, two things stand out. One is incredible conviction. And two is ability to take a very complicated situation and distill it down to very simple terms, which is a mark of true genius. And I think his prosecution of his commitment and his strategy, you know, starting in...”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I'm a big fan of the American West. The Mountain West, I spend a lot of time in Montana. And so those really resonated with me. And what I liked about the prequels is while a story told in a Hollywood sense, they give some insight into just how difficult and different time was then, particularly in that part of our country, how hard it was. And I just think the stories are fascinating. So that's, you know, I've really enjoyed those programs and look forward to the next installments coming out.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, you know, it's funny. Of course, you know, a lot of the very popular shows we've watched. And, you know, I think shows like Ted Lasso or Funny, some good lessons in there. That one's been very enjoyable. The ones that I've watched more recently that I think are great are the prequels to Yellowstone.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, it is. That It is, and it just is the community that I became connected to. There are lots of service members across our different branches that are equally worthy of our respect. And I think it was my way, as I said, of doing something to serve people who so selflessly serve all of us.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Very much the guy next door, that young person that you knew growing up that was kind of always doing the right thing and was very steadfast in their views and unwavering in their commitment. That seems to be a common thread that I found with some of these men on the teams.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, the last person that I hired at Goldman was a seven year veteran of the SEAL teams and was one of the early board members at the SEAL Foundation and introduced me to the organization. And so for the last 10, 12 years, I've been involved as a supporter and host of their New York City gala. And then earlier this year, I was asked to join the board, which is an unbelievable honor. For me, It's a way to support folks that I have a great deal of respect for a whole variety of reasons. But it was at its core a way for me to get involved with a community that took action following 9-11, which had, you know, as we mentioned earlier, a profound impact on me. Folks that frankly, as I got to know, I came to really like. They're not what I think the average person views them to be. These are”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Massive loss if you're learning from your more experienced coworkers and you're only there three days a week, there's some 40% of your time is without the direct contact. And so there's going to be some diminution in your ability to ramp up. I don't know whether it's a 40% or whether it's a fraction of 40%, but it's not zero.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Durbanization. And I think there's a variety of reasons for it. A lot of it's based on our views on mobility. I think that as we see greater levels of automation, as we see greater levels of electrification, which are tied hand in hand, it'll become easier to travel. It's not as much of a burden. People will be able to live and commute more, particularly if they're not commuting five days a week. So there's a lot of big changes that I think will occur over the next 10 or 15 years. The worst thing we can do is try to force those changes in 12 or 24 months too fast.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We're doing our broader community a favor or a disservice by not being in our city centers as much as we were pre-pandemic. And that goes beyond simply what's best for work. Can you get the work done? No, can you develop the young talent? Are you supporting your metropolitan area, meaning all of those businesses that rely on the people coming in and out? All of these things are really important. And it can't just flip a light switch and make it all change instantaneously. If you're going to shift the way those things happen, you have to plan for it. You have to think about how you're going to train your young people. You have to think about how businesses can move from city centers out to the local communities where people will spend an increasing period of time. So I believe that we will see some level of de-urbanization over time. De-urbanization.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no. And if you go to London and you're in the center of London City, you'll see a lot of people in suits more than you see in New York. And so there's a level of formality perhaps that exists there. It's also an incredibly vibrant place. The city centers in the UK are fully back relative to pre-pandemic. So we've got to think about whether or not.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's a good point. I think it's probably a combination of those factors, also some societal differences as it relates to what's accepted. I mean, if you go to London, there are a few things that really stand out. One, this casual dress is not something that's been as fully adopted. Oh, really? No, it's.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, if you have everybody in that one day a week, you need the thousand desks. The question is, do you need as many offices? Do you need as many conference rooms? That's an unknown. And I think we're all every business. It's not just the commercial real estate companies that are thinking about it. We're all thinking about it because either you're a provider of that capacity or you're a user of that capacity and both sides of the equation have to make a determination as to what the appropriate level of Of space is. And we're in that boat with everybody else. So I think for us in commercial real estate, we haven't seen any opportunities that have really caught our eye yet, but it's definitely an area to watch.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Aggregate demand. And then the second is answering questions around are some cities and jurisdictions poised for more success than others, will some be more permanently challenged. Those are the big unknowns. We need some real restructuring in some of our major cities to make them attractive for business again.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, we will definitely be heavily involved there if the sector or if individual opportunities become distressed. I think we are taking a wait and see and very patient approach right now. We're trying to sort out what work from home means for demand for office space. It's just challenging, right? It's not as if people are working three days a week, you still need the same amount of office. If they're all there at the same time. So what it means is utilization has shifted. We may need to change the way that we use offices. We're spending a lot of time thinking about that. We need to change the places where we have offices. So we have more people working outside of New York now than ever before. And we're perfectly comfortable with that. We provide greater flexibility in where people work from. But I think as it relates to CRE, you know, the two big components are answering that first question around.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, for the annuity business, it's the spread between the assets that we're buying and the annuity rate. So while the annuity rates have gone up by quite a bit, the yield on the assets we're buying has gone up by slightly more. So our total return to the equity has increased. So I would say that this environment is just about perfect for the insurance business.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And assets. And again, going back to that point about the excess return that you can earn by having long data capital, it's really an extraordinary pickup in total yield. And so this is the most exciting thing we do, but we're thrilled about it.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, it's an annuity business. So, unlike property and casualty, where the key is making money by underwriting your risk very, very efficiently and earning a profit on your underwriting. In an annuity business, it's a spread business. So we're taking capital in, we're investing it. We owe our annuity holders a fixed return. So we have to manage to make a higher return on our diversified pool of assets than what we are required to pay out to the annuity holder. That's the whole game. And that comports very well with our strategy of deep value investing and looking for opportunities where we can preserve capital, not lose money. And again, comes back to that same core thesis. The draw initially was the duration of the capital. You start an insurance company so long as you maintain control of the assets, you know, they're effectively permanent.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When people ask, your insurance company's basically Cayman Islands, and I said, listen, if I put a blindfold on you and I take you there and I remove the blindfold outside our office, you will swear you're in Coconut Grove. Like you won't for a second think that you're not in South Florida. And it's become very much a first world financial hub. And I would not be surprised to see its growth continue unabated for the next couple decades.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Second time. Is the closest thing. K Man's amazing in that regard. Now, what they've also done is they've worked really hard to build a real financial services sector there. So our insurance company is actually based there. Our employees are there. A primary, it's not a reinsurance subsidiary. It's a real primary insurer that's located in Caman. And ultimately became comfortable with that jurisdiction because I had context there and we were able to, you know, people I maintained contact with from my time there that gave us great comfort in what they were doing and building out the insurance industry and it's been a fantastic jurisdiction. And I always say”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Clunk or Jeep. Yeah. Big, big tax on vehicles there. No income tax, though. So for U.S. citizens, you have a limit. But in most other countries, they're not taxed in their worldwide income. So if you're a UK citizen or Australian or South African or Canadian, which constituted a lot of the employees there, you're earning tax-free income forever. Now, you pay effectively your taxes through consumption taxes.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, it's a British I think it's Oh no, last time was it still a governor that's appointed by now the king. And it's a very close ties to the UK. And so it was a really fascinating place not only to work and to recreate, but also to be part of society. I learned a lot, some incredible lessons taken from my time there. So it was a great two years. And truly life-changing period.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, you can only kind of go out every night of the week for so long. And, you know, some people, I guess, can do that forever. I was not one. Nobody can do it. But eventually it takes itself, right? Yeah. But I got really into scuba diving. I got really into martial arts. And those were things that helped me, you know, create some balance in my life at that time. Those are things that I don't still participate in today for a variety of reasons showing up to work with cracked ribs is not super comfortable. But I think the ability to branch out and experience and try new things in any, it doesn't matter where you live. Those are great things to do. And living in a place that is very culturally different than what you experience. And I was.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, there are some pretty spectacular places to go there. And it was enormous fun. You know, you have to kind of settle into whatever routine is best for you.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Philosophical change. It was a small moment in time and a huge shift in the course of my life. And, you know, I think I was always very motivated to work. I was not always very motivated to study or do homework. But I really like to work. And I worked a lot in high school. I worked a lot in college. I worked a lot after college and business school. I liked working. I liked making money because it afforded me freedoms that I didn't otherwise have. And so what that question did was cause me to think to myself about what risks I would have to take to get to where I wanted to be. And it was a very important lesson that ultimately resonated when it was time for me to think about starting my own business.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The Miss Golf trips with friends, the forgiven vacations, the canceled trips, the missed birthday party for a kid. Those are all The little sacrifices we make to achieve some level of success, I think the goal is to minimize those things or to focus your sacrifices in areas that aren't really that important.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They resonated. I mean, you know, I think in life, when I look at those key experiences, like, you know, we spoke earlier about my dad and the question he asked me when I started my hedge fund or my dad's friend when he challenged me to take the opportunity when it presented himself. And he had no idea what would be presented to me, nor did I at that time or looking at my uncle and his success in accounting. Those are all small but incredibly important things in the sense that they position you for success. Now the question that every young person or person starting out has to ask is are you willing to do what it takes then when you set the path in motion? The easy part is taking the first step. The hard part is taking the steps in the middle of the night when you're up late working. You haven't slept in two days and you're working on a big project because you're trying to make a name for yourself or the things that no one likes to talk about.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And had I not done that, it wouldn't have led to me getting the unique experience that ultimately allowed me to get into Columbia Business School. And so it was a life-changing moment. But my dad's friend was exactly right. Like that was not an easy door to open because I had to take a leap of faith that was pretty extraordinary back in that time. I literally had no idea there was no ability to go on and look at TripAdvisor and see where the restaurants were. I had to go down their site on C9 I had a couple of phone calls with folks that work down there. And so it was a life-changing set of experiences for many reasons.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so I was like, what is he talking about? Right. And so six months later, the opportunity arose to go to work in the Cayman Islands. And this is pre-internet days. So I had to go down to the local travel agent and pick up brochures that Cayman Islands, just so I have some idea of what, where it was, what it looked like. Sight unseen, I grabbed my bags and I literally moved there. And within a month of getting there, I bought a jeep to drive to work. I bought a little boat to go around. No top. Except in the summer, it rained all the time. Right. You know, I lived on the beach and I had a job that was paying me what I felt was my target pay back when I was a kid.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And my dad's best friend looks at me and he goes, What's the problem? And I said, Well, I'm unhappy with everything in my life right now. Everything sucks. And he's like, well, what do you want? I'm like, ah, it can't happen. He's like, no, you have to be able to say it. What do you want? I said, okay, you want to know what I want? I want to make this much money, X dollars. I want to live on the beach I want to own a boat and I want to be able to drive a jeep to work every day. That's what I want. Okay. And then I was like, you know, being the smart ass and young man. And I thought like, you know, there, I kind of told him. And so he just looked at me, didn't say anything. And he goes, well, he goes, that door will be open or will be presented to you. He goes, the question is, do you have the guts to open it?”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, you didn't go to the right Ivy League school, you didn't go to an Ivy League school. And so I met up with a friend and said, how do I become a trader? And this person was doing recruiting at one of the big banks. And she's like, well, you need some interesting experience. You got to get into a top business school. And then you got to do an internship. And then you can be a trader. And so I'm like, oh my gosh, that's going to take like five years. Okay, I'm going to do that. I endeavored to, you know, find the right opportunity. So I'm looking around. I can't really find anything. But I meet a guy in this project who is from Arcan Islands office. So I go back, you know, to Boston. I'm working in the office. And I'll never forget this. I'm at my parents' house with their closest friends on a Sunday afternoon, and I'm kind of bummed out.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exactly. Early days. And I had had some experience in valuing derivative contracts on an earlier project I worked on. So I was sort of a unique individual in the sense that I was a CPA who had some of that experience back then. And so I came to New York and it was my first exposure to investment banks and trading floor. And I walked on to the trading floor and I was like, I don't even know what's going on here, but I have to do this. And I remember walking back down to the room where all the consultants and accountants were. And I said, what exactly are you doing up there? And I explained, you know, sales, trading. And I said, I need to be a trader. That's what I got to do. And the guy literally burst out laughing. He's like, you're never going to be a trader on the street. He said, Your background's all wrong. Your CPA.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's a kind of a funny story. I was based out of the Boston office working for Ernst Young, and I came to New York. I shouldn't say I came to New York. I was asked, quote unquote, meaning I was told to come to New York, go to New York, work on a project there.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, our legacy hedge fund is a long short vehicle. It's hedged. The rationale there is that not every investor wants a long only set of assets that has more volatility and down markets, so the hedge fund has less volatility, but obviously you have a cost of hedging associated with it. And there are certain investors for whom that is exactly the right product. And so it's a part of the business that we will always pursue because we can still do some of the same things on the event and long side that we do in our closed end funds and our permanent capital vehicles, but on a more hedge basis.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Really predicated on those three core tenets. Now, what happened was a bit of luck. And the luck was that we had a massive chip shortage. And so the price new cars became unavailable, used cars rocketed up in value. So we overearned for a period of a couple of years. Really were able to de-risk the investment. So this is all public. Our ownership of the company immediately following the IPO was about 37%. We announced a large buyback. And today our ownership stands in the high 50s percent, if I remember correctly. So that's a ability where we didn't have to put new dollars to work. We were simply reinvesting the cash flow of the company and all shareholders that held have benefited by owning a larger percentage of the company without having to put any more capital to work. So I think we're really pleased about the forward on that one. We're excited about the prospects for the business to continue growing in these.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Great opportunity, yeah. That one was really predicated on three key tenets. One was that there was an opportunity to electrify a big chunk of the fleet, which required us, you know, cutting deals with major OEMs to get access to that supply. The second was in pursuing a new, if you will, line of business for the company in providing cars to ride hail drivers. And then the third would be a more effective way of disposing of the vehicles when you come to the end of their life, and that required cutting a deal with Carvana. All of those initiatives are well underway. We're really happy with all of them. Our partners in Carvana and Uber, Tesla, GM, Polestar are all going really, really well. And we have a great leadership team that Stevens Sherr is running that's doing an exceptional job in prosecuting that business plan. And so that was.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And particularly given that it moved into the spring of 2020. So we were trying to get that restructuring done in the depths of COVID. It ultimately worked. It was a good investment for us where we monetize that and redeployed the capital elsewhere. Our goal was in that case to sort of fix what we could fix and then move on. And so I think we're quite proud of the work that went into that and ultimately think that each of the stakeholder groups.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We looked at it as the equity a little bit pre bankruptcy and then grew our position following the bankruptcy. And the thesis was that there would be a way to ensure that the victims received fair compensation, but still allowed for the equity to have some upside. And the thesis was let's strike deals with the victim's attorneys and let's strike deals with the regulators and the government and strike deals with the bondholders and move the company through bankruptcy. It's a very, very contentious negotiation.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's gone very well. Our returns have been well above what we had targeted when we spoke with RLPs about it. And so we're excited. We love the portfolio. We love the forward on the portfolio very, very constructive on each of the names. And the portfolio don't really regret any of the investments. I think we'll have some that are better than others. But we're quite excited about it.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, the goal is to have begin returning capital in years two and three and ultimately have the average duration of that fund between three and five years. Some investments will ultimately go a bit longer. Some will hopefully pay out more quickly, but with the average sort of in that mid-single digit zip code or less.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, they said, how do you know it won't get worse? And if it does get worse, will you lose money? I think everyone sort of acknowledged that if travel was dead forever, we had much bigger problems. And so the general view was if we're going to take risk, I may as well take it in an area that is more likely than not to rebound. And so what was incumbent on us is finding the opportunities where we could say with a straight face, we don't think we can lose money. We think we have a lot of upside.”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Most, yes, most of it has. Business travel is still lagging pretty significantly. But certainly personal travel is up dramatically. Even vis 2019. And the thesis wasn't a permanent thing that we were experiencing in 2020. It would be temporary. The challenge was going out and raising capital with two asset managers that hadn't worked together before and doing that capital raise entirely over Zoom. That was new, but we did, I don't think we had more than one or two in-person meetings for that capital raise. So it was a very interesting time. Did people?”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The thought process there on that fund, which is closed now, was to raise money to pursue opportunities in travel, leisure, and hospitality, all of which”
2023-07-14 · Masters in Business · Thomas Wagner on Sports Investing With Tom Brady · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source