102 - Sam Roberts: Bitcoin, Pensions & The Financial Renaissance

Bitcoin, Pensions, Institutional Investment, Austrian Economics, 2008 Financial Crisis, Hyperinflation Risk, Energy Consumption, ESG Considerations, Pension Schemes, Financial Literacy, Financial Planning.

Timothy Allen talks with Sam Roberts.

Sam is a qualified actuary and director at Cartwright, a UK-based pensions and investment advisory firm that serves institutional clients such as corporate pension schemes, charities, and corporate treasuries.

Under the direction of Sam, Cartwright has been the first UK firm to make the bold move of advising their clients to allocate bitcoin to their portfolios, part of the so called 'arrival of institutions' into this new financial realm.

In this episode, we delve into Bitcoin's emerging role in the institutional investment landscape, particularly within pension funds. Sam shares his journey from the 2008 financial crisis to viewing Bitcoin as a hedge against systemic risks and discusses the challenges of integrating Bitcoin into the traditionally slow-moving pensions industry.

We also discuss the potential of Bitcoin as a tool for economic resilience, its environmental impact, and its role in a future financial system that could lead to a new economic renaissance.

Enjoy the conversation.

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TIMESTAMPS:

• (00:30) Introduction
• (04:52) Previous episode with Glenn Cameron (Ep 081)
• (05:44) Introduction to Sam
• (06:42) The 2008 global financial crisis
• (09:41) Dabbling with cryptocurrencies early on
• (11:19) The event that was an inflection point in my thinking
• (18:55) The traditional way to hedge against inflation is to buy UK government bonds
• (25:57) All models are wrong and some are useful
• (31:01) Why is Keynesian economic theory so prevalent?
• (35:34) Pensions and Bitcoin
• (42:59) How the UK pension system could be improved
• (49:39) George Osborne did away with requirement to buy annuity for retirement
• (55:23) Concerns about Bitcoin
• (1:02:52) Bitcoin is good for the environment because it uses energy
• (01:10:47) Big firms move very slowly
• (01:11:44) Is volatility a bad thing?
• (01:14:58) What's your opinion on the likelihood of hyperinflation?
• (01:22:18)