This week, the “Masters in Business” podcast features Part 1 of an interview with famous bond investor Bill Gross, formerly of Pimco, now with Janus Capital.
Gross sat down with me in the Bloomberg studios in New York for an extensive two-hour interview. It was the first time I’ve met Gross, and I found him to be intelligent and forthright, answering all of my questions directly and unambiguously.
We discussed the early days at Pacific Life, the founding of Pimco and his early influences and mentors. He talked about the role of Black Jack in influencing his investing and risk-taking philosophy.
I was especially intrigued by his descriptions of what it was like to manage assets in the 1970s and ’80s. He said that during the 1987 crash, he sat transfixed, “staring at the screen like a deer in the headlights.” He vowed to make sure that during future crises that wouldn’t happen again.
He also said quite a few surprising things — about the Federal Reserve and quantitative easing, about what investors can learn from gamblers and about his creation of Portable Alpha.
You can hear it live on Bloomberg radio, download the podcast here or on Apple iTunes or stream it on Soundcloud (below). All of our prior podcasts are available on iTunes.
Next week, “Masters in Business” will feature Part 2 of the interview.
It would be great if these interviews could be transcribed to print.
It would be great to talk with him and others and gather more data about what went on in former times. I bet it would be instructive going forward. And explain a lot of behavior that put people on the wrong side of the treasury trade in 2014.
Undergrad in psychology. Very interesting.