Erik Townsend and Patrick Ceresna welcome Louis-Vincent Gave to MacroVoices. Erik and Louis discuss:
Louis co-founded Gavekal as an independent macro research firm in Hong Kong with his dad Charles and friend Anatole Kaletsky in 2002. The starting premise for Gavekal was that China was set to become a very important economic and financial force in the world, yet most foreign investors did not know where to begin when thinking through the global financial implications of China’s rise. In 2005, Louis launched Gavekal’s money management operation and launched the first Gavekal UCITS fund, the Gavekal Asian Opportunities UCITS fund, which he has co-managed since then with Alfred Ho. Gavekal today manages some US$1.6 billion in various funds and strategies on behalf of institutional and high net worth clients. As the Chief Executive Officer of Gavekal, Louis is the only Gavekal staff member with responsibilities on both the research, and money management, side of our operations.
Louis has written five books and his latest one, Too Different For Comfort, was published in August 2013. The book reviews the macro-consequences of the age of robotics, the reasons behind the low velocity of money around the world, the coming collapse in oil prices, and whether the RMB could grow to become a reserve currency in its own right.
Before founding Gavekal, Louis worked as an equities analyst at Banque Paribas in Singapore, Hong Kong and London. He was also a second lieutenant in French mountain infantry and received a Bachelor’s degree from Duke University with a double major in History and Economics and a minor in Mandarin (which he once spoke half decently). Louis is fluent in French and English and very rusty in Spanish.
When he is not working, Louis hangs out with his wife and four children, plays rugby or skis. Louis is the second largest shareholder in the UBB-Bordeaux rugby club (currently evolving in the French Top 14) and is also heavily involved in the running of the Valley Rugby Football Club in Hong Kong.
