In the world of institutional investing, many trailblazers didn’t start in finance. This field boasts talents from backgrounds, including musicians, philosophers, and even physicists. Take Val Zlatev, for instance. Originally a physicist, his journey took a thrilling turn during a Chicago event when he visited the commodities exchange. Upon looking down at the trading floor he saw enthusiasm and energy that he imagined could be larger and more exciting than the amount of energy in physics for the last 500 years. He was hooked.
In this latest episode of the Thematic Investors podcast, Val Zlatev, Portfolio Manager and Partner, Analog Century Management sits down with host Kieran Cavanna to discuss hard technology and agentic AI investing. This discussion focuses on the core belief that as a thematic investor, you develop a conviction and ultimately decide whether you can create capital from your thesis.
Key discussion points include:
- How to recognize, and formulate a solid investing strategy on what you know and understand about the markets.
- What exactly is the true potential of AI, how are chain-of-thought models evolving, and how likely is it that we will experience a terminator moment in the future.
- What makes models like DeepSeek so unique, and what Val sees in their evolution and how Elon Musk and Meta might be involved.
- Is the investment industry right to panic in their assessment of scaling laws being broken and AI reaching a peak?
- What does Val believe about broad cyclical trends and what may or may not be coming from Silicon Valley.
- What is the state of play in China as it relates to hard technology and cutting-edge semiconductors.
- And more.
Related: Improving Alpha: The Role of Alternative Research in Institutional Portfolios