Will Thompson, Founder and Managing Partner of Massif Capital, joins the LPL Market Signals podcast to discuss the evolving dynamics across the broader commodities landscape. He shares his perspective on investing within the real asset universe, emphasizing how rising resource nationalism is reshaping the macro backdrop as governments take a more active role in securing and controlling critical resources. The conversation also explores recent developments in energy markets, including the essential role insurers play in facilitating oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the outlook for global oil supply and demand following the recent U.S.-Iran peace agreement.<br><br>Tracking: #1130705

The Political Economy of Real Assets | LPL Market Signals

LPL Research

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Market Signals by LPL Financial

## Transcript

Welcome to the Market Signals podcast. Adam Turnkwitz here, Chief Technical Strategist at LPL Research. Excited to host the call this week, but even more excited to introduce Will Thompson as our guest. Will's the founder and managing partner of Massive Capital, a long short hedge fund focused on liquid real assets. Prior to starting Massive Capital, Will served as a co-portfolio manager, running a portfolio of credit and political risk insurance policies for Chaucer, a Lloyds of London insurance syndicate.

He also served as an economic advisor for part of NATO in Kabul, Afghanistan, and was a flag rider for a senior military commander. I had to Google what a flag rider was. Maybe Will can share some more insight there. He did graduate from Trinity College and also holds a master's in government from Harvard. Will, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me.

All right. Well, you came highly recommended from our research team. I had reached out to them asking for really, who do I need to talk to for deeper insight into what's going on into the commodity markets in real asset universe? But before we dive into the markets, let's get a little bit more background, which as I outlined in your bio is, I would say, I think it's fair to say unusually diverse.

Just curious how your past work experience helped really shape your view on global markets and understanding of geopolitical risk. Yeah. So I think, you know, the beginning of my career was pretty normal. It was private equity, investment banking, pretty normal finance stuff. I did the investment banking internship route out of college.

I did it when it admittedly wasn't terribly competitive. I talk with guys now or kids now basically leaving college. I don't think I would have gotten a job. I had had to compete with these kids. But yeah, then it got a little more diversified, I guess, towards the middle of my career.

Sure. You know, I think that the value, the challenge with finance, of course, is that a consensus viewpoint is a mixed bag, right? It's if you follow some trend in momentum, a consensus viewpoint can work for a while. But a contrarian viewpoint also needs to play a role at some point.

And if you've got the same career and had the same experiences as everyone else, it makes it a little hard to have that outside viewpoint. And my career was not, you know, didn't follow an obscure path solely for that reason. But it was a happy benefit, I guess. And to that, I'd add that I thought I was going to go into finance in college. And so and I had everything sort of lined up with internships and things like that.

So I also was a philosophy major in college. So I chose to study something that my peers didn't. And then with grad school, which was 2008, 2009, 2010 period, or I guess 2009, 2010 period, everyone was going back to business school. I mean, because of the great financial recession, if you will.

And I d...

The Political Economy of Real Assets | LPL Market Signals

Transcript

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The Political Economy of Real Assets | LPL Market Signals

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.