Tony Greer, the founder of TG Macro, is joined by Wes Gray, CEO of Alpha Architect, a research-intensive asset management firm with a focus on high-conviction value and momentum factor exposures. They break down the asset management business and his approach to evidence-based investing and systemic decision making. Gray served as an active-duty marine in Iraq and opens up about how his military background influences his investment strategies. Alpha Architect has opened up its platform to build ETFs and uses its infrastructure capacity, scope, and scale to help others launch ETFs into the market. Gray characterizes their firm as the “Shopify of ETFs.”
External link to the video here.
Here is an overview of the conversation:
00:00:46 Professional Background
00:04:48 Alpha Architect Mission
00:10:23 Systematic Decision Making
00:15:58 Is Value Investing Dead?
00:20:10 Evidence-Based Investing
00:24:22 High-Conviction Value and Momentum Factor Exposures
00:30:10 Breaking Down the Asset Management Business
00:32:27 How Military Background Influences Investing Strategy
After serving as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, Dr. Gray earned an MBA and a PhD in finance from the University of Chicago where he studied under Nobel Prize Winner Eugene Fama. Next, Wes took an academic job in his wife’s hometown of Philadelphia and worked as a finance professor at Drexel University. Dr. Gray’s interest in bridging the research gap between academia and industry led him to found Alpha Architect, an asset management firm dedicated to an impact mission of empowering investors through education. He is a contributor to multiple industry publications and regularly speaks to professional investor groups across the country. Wes has published multiple academic papers and four books, including Embedded (Naval Institute Press, 2009), Quantitative Value (Wiley, 2012), DIY Financial Advisor (Wiley, 2015), and Quantitative Momentum (Wiley, 2016).
Dr. Gray currently resides in Palmas Del Mar Puerto Rico with his wife and three children. He recently finished the Leadville 100 ultramarathon race and promises to make better life decisions in the future.
