Merryn Talks Money

Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of Ark Investment Management, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to make the bullish case for the next era of innovation. From AI, robotaxis and CRISPR to Bitcoin, Tesla and SpaceX, she lays out the technologies she believes will drive faster growth, lower costs and major market disruption.

What makes a leader successful? Francine Lacqua interviews top CEOs and global industry leaders for candid lessons on leadership, management, and the future of work.

Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with Troy Asset Management founder and chief investment officer Sebastian Lyon to unpack why markets look eerily calm despite mounting geopolitical shocks—and why investors should be far more focused on protecting wealth than chasing returns. Lyon argues we’ve entered a new era of sticky inflation, fragile portfolios, and looming risks in government bonds. He talks about how he’s positioning for volatility, and offers some ideas for navigating markets when the old rules—like 60/40—no longer apply. This conversation was recorded at a live Bloomberg.com subscriber event in London on March 17.

On this week's Merryn Talks Your Money personal finance episode, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek tackle another listener question: should you invest in absolute return funds? They start by explaining what an absolute return fund actually is, the pros (aiming for absolute returns makes sense) and cons (it's not easy to achieve consistently) of such an investment, and look at what to consider when trying to pick such a fund. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Contrarian investor Alec Cutler, manager of the Orbis Global Balanced and Cautious funds, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss why global markets are shifting away from speculative growth toward the fundamentals that underpin economies—energy, infrastructure, and national security. Using his “pyramid of needs” framework, Cutler explains why investors are increasingly focusing on the resources and industries that sustain modern economies rather than the technologies built on top of them. The conversation explores opportunities in energy, AI infrastructure, global value stocks, and the changing geopolitical landscape shaping markets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek assess the market reaction to oil price volatity and question whether gold, bonds or even hard assets can offer capital protection in this fragmented and dangerous world. They also discuss the latest in private credit and what this uncertaintly means for investors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's Merryn Talks Your Money personal finance episode, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek tackle a listener’s question about an issue many young UK professionals face: where should retirement savings go after auto-enrollment—a SIPP, an ISA or a Lifetime ISA? With markets volatile, rules changing and political risk on the horizon, the pair break down the pros and cons of each option. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's Merryn Talks Money podcast, host Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with financial historian Edward Chancellor about how energy constraints and geopolitical tensions could reshape markets, whether the artificial intelligence boom is a bubble and what it all means for interest rates. Chancellor argues that AI enthusiasm may be overextended, warns of rising long-term rates and sovereign debt risks and makes the case for gold, commodities, Japan and emerging markets over bonds and expensive growth stocks. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markets have swung sharply as the escalating war in Iran and across the Middle East injects fresh uncertainty into oil prices, inflation, and the path of interest rates. On this week's markets wrap, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss how prolonged energy supply disruption could Britain from mere chronic stagnation (which is bad enough) and into stagflation. They also explore the fault lines that higher-for-longer rates are starting to open up — from private credit stresses to long-running productivity woes. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek react to the Spring Statement, plus Bloomberg's exclusive interview with Chancellor Rachel Reeves. She sat down with Head of Economics and Government Stephanie Flanders on Tuesday, and discussed Britain's pending trade deal with the US, why it won't affect its view on the conflict with Iran, and the UK's economic future. Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-03/reeves-says-uk-won-t-make-iran-decisions-based-on-us-trade-ties?srnd=homepage-uk Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Simon Judes, chief investment officer of Winton, about how to properly understand quantitative investing. Judes attempts to demystify some of the strategies quantitative funds use to allocate capital across different portfolios. They also discuss the role artificial intelligence will play in quant fund research and capital deployment. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From YOLO to HALO. In this week's markets wrap, hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss why markets are ditching high multiple AI and software stocks, for "HALO" companies - heavy assets, low obsolescence - and why higher interest rates and even higher infrastructure costs may be behind the moves. To see the article Merryn references in the episode, please follow the link below. Special thanks to Joachim Klement who has allowed us to share this piece from his Klement on Investing Substack. https://klementoninvesting.substack.com/p/why-do-people-invest-in-expensive See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of the graduates whose university costs were funded with Plan 2 student loans are now in their 30s, wondering why they have no money at the end of the month, and why they still owe more student debt than they left uni with. The critical mass of graduates feeling the pinch might just have been reached - and now they're feeling angry and ripped off. On this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money, Editor at Large for Bloomberg UK Wealth, Merryn Somerset Webb and author of the Money Distilled newsletter, John Stepek unpick how Plan 2 and the new - perhaps even worse - Plan 5 loans work, how and why graduate marginal tax rates can easily exceed 50% and what tweaks could be made to ease the burden. They also ask the overarching question: is the problem the system? Or is it the fact that the UK seems to be incapable of creating enough high paying jobs? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fiona Yang, portfolio manager on the Invesco Asia Dragon Trust, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss why global capital rotated from US equities into emerging Asia in 2025—and what she sees happening in 2026. She explains her valuation-driven, long-term, contrarian approach to stock selection across diverse Asian markets, and shares how she weighs risks like geopolitics, demographics, currency moves, and frothy AI-linked valuations. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's markets wrap, John Stepek speaks with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth and Morwenna Coniam from the Markets Today team about this week’s fall in the headline rate of consumer price inflation and slowing wage growth. They also discuss rising youth unemployment and the potential economic impact of government labor policies, while weighing a cautiously optimistic outlook for UK growth. Marcus also comments on Nuveen’s takeover of Schroders as part of a broader trend of US asset managers seeking international diversification amid dollar weakness. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek are joined by Bloomberg’s Jack Sidders to break down how Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) work and why they’ve struggled in recent years. They explore the impact of interest rates, the significance of different sectors such as warehouses, student housing and data centers, and why many UK REITs trade at steep discounts. With interest rates potentially falling and supply constrained, they also discuss whether REITs could be poised for a comeback — and where investors might start. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Panmure Liberum Chief Economist Simon French to unpack Modern Monetary Theory—the idea that governments issuing their own currency can spend freely, constrained only by inflation. They explore whether the pandemic offered a real-world test of MMT, why fiscal policy may be too blunt a tool to control inflation and what the theory could mean for UK politics, bond markets and capital allocation. Sign up to the subscriber event here: https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's markets wrap, hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss a sharp market rotation driven by growing fears that AI will disrupt – rather than simply enhance – major sectors including legal services, wealth management, and digital platforms. As “old economy” stocks rise and Asian and European markets outperform, Merryn and John debate whether investors should shift away from the US and reassess opportunities in the UK, emerging markets, and smaller caps amid political uncertainty. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With talk of an early UK election swirling, Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice joins Merryn Somerset Webb to make the case that his party is ready to govern. Tice argues that Reform UK, which is leading in the polls, is gearing up policy “working groups” and road-testing power in local councils. He claims day-one moves like serving notice to leave the European Commission on Human Rights, scrapping the Human Rights Act and abandoning a net-zero approach to global warming would help cut energy bills—while he hints at a broader reset for UK markets, pensions, regulation and crypto. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by Sky News economics editor Ed Conway, author of Material World, to explain why the real engines of modern life aren’t apps and algorithms—they’re the raw materials and “unseen” industries that make everything else possible. From salt and ethylene to ammonia and soda ash, Conway argues the UK (and Europe) are rapidly losing core chemical manufacturing capacity, driven by high energy costs and complacency about imports, with serious consequences for healthcare supply chains, industrial resilience and even defense. As the world pivots back toward the physical economy, from AI data centers to net-zero infrastructure, this conversation is a wake-up call for policymakers, investors and anyone who assumes critical materials will always be available on demand. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.