The early days of hedge funds can be described as somewhat akin to the Wild West, characterized by limited information flow, higher volatility, and the risk of losing focus that could easily derail any performance gains made. Today, the industry is run more efficiently with improved information flows and regulatory oversight, which cuts down on the “nefarious characters” that have existed in the past.

In this latest episode of the Thematic Investors podcast, host Kieran Cavanna, welcomes George Fox, Principal & President, Titan Advisors, LLC, to discuss his career and how removing your ego and hubris from running a hedge fund business is a great first step toward success.

Additional highlights from this discussion include:

• How did an early career in commodities lead to George building Titan Advisors?
• Why is focus key when creating a diversified portfolio that will become a volatility dampener versus a volatility enhancer?
• How does George and his team look at the “block and tackling” approach on risk and the stewardship of capital from allocators like pensions, sovereign wealth funds, hospital foundations, and insurance companies?
• Why do poor liquidity promises and allowing larger style drifts impact fund managers to such a large degree? Should hedge fund managers be more concerned with principles of how to run a business first?
• Does George agree with some of the emerging market theories that Rob Citrone expressed in the last episode of Thematic Investors?
• How the game of golf can be used to temper your expectations in running a hedge fund business.
• What prompted the launch of Esker Point Advisers and the team’s greater focus on commodities?
• And more.

Titan Disclaimer:
All views and opinions expressed in this podcast are unique, provided as of the date of this interview and do not necessarily reflect those Titan Advisors, LLC or its affiliates. The statements and opinions contained herein may change at any time, based on market or other conditions. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. This podcast is not intended to constitute investment advice; nor does it constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, investment product, or service. No recommendation or advise is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. This podcast may contain forward-looking statements. There is no representation, warranty, guarantee, or other assurance whatsoever that any such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding any investment decision.

Connect with Kieran Cavanna:

• Old Farm Partners
• LinkedIn: Kieran Cavanna

Connect with George Fox:

• LinkedIn: George Fox
• Website: Titan Advisors

About George Fox:

George Fox has been investing in hedge funds for over 30 years and leads Titan Advisors as its President. He is responsible for Titan’s business development efforts and actively engages in the firm’s research and portfolio management process as a member of the Investment Committee. George entered the New York financial markets in 1984 as a floor trader at the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange and at Commodity Exchange Inc., where he traded for his own account for seven years. In 1992, he created G. Fox & Co., a hedge fund advisory firm and the predecessor to Titan Advisors. In December 2000, after years of commodities trading and advising investors on hedge fund allocations, George Fox launched Titan Advisors, LLC. George graduated with a B.A. from Tulane University in 1981 and earned a law degree from the University of Richmond (VA) in 1984.

Source

Many successful careers in institutional investing are forged early from a high degree of passion, curiosity, and discipline in the space. These traits accelerate your learning curve and help you build a network that keeps you competitive over the long term. For those investors specializing in emerging markets, you add a focus on politics and whether leaders in those markets can actually implement the policies underpinning your investment thesis. In this sector, favorable economics won’t always save the day if the politics turn south.

In our first episode of the 2026 season, the Thematic Investors podcast welcomes Rob Citrone, Founder and Portfolio Manager, Discovery Capital Management, LLC, to discuss his 35 years in investing and how he continues to achieve a front row seat to emerging market trends. Key points in the podcast include:

• How important is a network of senior officials inside each emerging country to help further diagnose investment opportunities?
  
• How a morning golf game can change your perspective on technology investing and AI.
  
• Why do some cycles for emerging market investments (like Argentina) act like ‘movie remakes’, but during the remake allow for more proactive investments into better ‘actors’, ‘camera angles’, and more?
  
• What does Rob see when investing in Europe in both short and longer-term periods?
  
• Policies under President Trump, and Marco Rubio at the State Department, and how that will shape foreign policy and economics in the next three years in terms of GDP, future tariffs, and inflation.
  
• What has changed in the country of Nigeria, and why is it a ~6.5% performance winner towards Discovery’s fund?
  
• Rob’s future view on gold (will it hit 6,000), and what he sees from the US dollar, and other currencies.
  
• How Rob and his team look at volatility, efficiency of the markets, and diversification as it relates to regional asset classes, and why he believes the market is dumber than it’s ever been in history.
  
• And more.

Connect with Kieran Cavanna:

• Old Farm Partners
• LinkedIn: Kieran Cavanna

Connect with Robert Citrone:

• LinkedIn: Robert Citrone
• Website: Discovery Capital Management

About Robert Citrone:

Robert Citrone is the Founder and Portfolio Manager of Discovery Capital, a global macro investment firm he launched in 1999. With more than three decades of experience, he has built a career focused on emerging and developed markets, combining political analysis, policy insight, and fundamental research across equities, currencies, rates, and credit. Prior to founding Discovery Capital, Robert worked at Fidelity Investments, where he helped establish its emerging markets fixed income and currency group, and previously spent time at Tiger Management. He is known for his global perspective, extensive on the ground experience, and long standing relationships with policymakers and market participants around the world.

Source

What fuels the curiosity and drive to become a great investor? Could it be early teenage stock market experiments that return 20% or simply being bored in the UK’s equivalent of Iowa, allowing you to take deeper dives into company annual reports during summer breaks? Edgar Allen began his own investment career, fueled by these experiences, as well as through his studies as a budding pathologist. However, as many allocators experience coming out of the university system, a career change to finance was calling, which Fidelity Investments helped him realize.
​

In this episode of Thematic Investors, we welcome Edgar Allen, CIO and Founder, High Ground Investment Management. Edgar runs a long-short equity fund focused on European investing (this builds on past Thematic’s Investor podcasts with Johnny de la Hey and Stuart Mitchell – so be sure to check those out as well).

Edgar and Kieran discuss value investing and how players can approach some of these counter trends across the market.

Key Takeaways:

• How being assigned the most random group of companies to analyze at the start of his investment career led to larger groupings of well-known names, and into hedge fund investing.
• How you begin to balance investment targets by buying low and selling high, against something that is fundamentally cheap, and how much the market has mispriced the asset’s terminal value.
• What does competition mean in short-selling when the target has a really good product or service?
• How do Europe and the US differ in terms of return profiles on investment, dividends, valuations, and why there might be greater advantages in European companies than US peers?
• What does European defense spending mean for the team at High Ground Investment Management when they look at valuations and durations?
• Why is it important to Edgar to go beyond pure spreadsheet numbers on investment targets to understand more about what a company does and why customers are willing to pay for the product and service that they receive?
• How investing ideas can be aligned with the fall of Carthage, as well as the three-age system.
• And more!

Connect with Kieran Cavanna:

• Old Farm Partners
• LinkedIn: Kieran Cavanna

Connect with Edgar Allen:

• LinkedIn: Edgar Allen
• Website: High Ground Investment Management LLP

About Edgar Allen:

Edgar Allen is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of High Ground Investment Management, based in London. Prior to establishing High Ground, he worked at The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), Fidelity, and BlackRock. Edgar brings over 25 years of investment experience and focuses on European equities through a long-short strategy that combines deep fundamental analysis with disciplined valuation and risk control.

Source