Edward Chancellor is a financial historian, journalist and investment strategist.  In 2008, he joined GMO’s asset allocation team.  He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with first class honours in Modern History, and from St Antony's College, Oxford with a Masters of Philosophy in Modern History.  He is a former deputy US editor for Breakingviews.com, and worked for Lazard Brothers in the early 1990s.  Edward is the author of Capital Account, Devil Take the Hindmost, and Capital Returns.

1.  Let’s start with the basics: what is the Capital Cycle theory?  I’d seen it explained in different ways over the years, but never this clearly and obviously.  I feel kind of dumb for not understanding sooner the seemingly larger investment implications of this theory.    
2. What’s a real life example that most clearly illustrates a successful investment using the Capital Cycle theory framework?  Additionally, what do you make of the game theory aspects of individual companies faced with competition over-investing in their industry?
3. How does the Capital Cycle theory of investment different from value investing?  Isn’t the goal of both to buy during peak pessimism?  For Capital Cycle, you’re buying when management is pessimistic and not re-investing in a low return environment.  For value investing, you’re buying when the market is depressed about the future prospects of the business.  What’s the difference, if there is one?
4. Where have investors gone wrong when using the Capital Cycle theory?  I’m imagining a technologically obsolete industry facing extinction, say the wagonwheel industry.  At some point there were no real returns on invested capital in that business to be had.  Might we mistakenly expect a low point in the cycle to rebound when really it’s heading to zero?
5. Other than in-person meetings to determine if the subject is even on their radar, how do you properly evaluate management’s capital allocation skills?  Let’s take Jeff Bezos.  He’s been re-investing in Amazon continually for a few decades with very distant future return prospects.  Is that good capital allocation or madness?  How can we tell the difference?  

Steve Kamb is the founder of NerdFitness.com, a worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds, desk jockeys, and self-aware robots level up their lives. He's also the author of the book, Level Up Your Life, that gives people a blueprint for prioritizing adventure, growth, and happiness by turning life into a giant video game.

1. Video games often get a bad rap as large time-sucks.  This may be fair in some instances, but how have video games shaped your personal development?
   
   
2. I loved how you demolished two of the most common excuses people use:  “I don’t have time” and “I can’t afford it.”  Can you explain what those excuses really mean and how they hold people back?
   
   
3. You’ve checked some pretty cool adventure boxes already.  How do we go about building our own awesome life quests?
   
   
4. There’s a popular saying that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time around.  Who are the type of people we should seek to surround ourselves with?  Everyone assumes the generic: “people better than us,” but you had a more nuanced view in your book which I found helpful.
   
   
5. How have your thoughts on health and fitness evolved since you first founded nerdfitness, and what’s your current routine look like given that you’re likely managing more balls in the air than ever?
   

Meb Faber is a co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management.  Faber is the manager of Cambria’s ETFs, separate accounts and private investment funds.  Mr. Faber has authored numerous white papers and several books: Global Asset Allocation, Shareholder Yield, The Ivy Portfolio, Global Value, and Invest with the House.   He is a frequent speaker and writer on investment strategies and has been featured in Barron’s, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Mr. Faber graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Engineering Science and Biology.

1.  It seems like a basket composed of each gurus’ highest conviction pick would be a smart strategy.  Yet you found their top pick was the worst performer of their top 10!  How is that possible?  And what can we do to benefit from that information?
   
2. If I believed in following a copycat 13F strategy, how would I go about doing that in an intelligent, systematic manner?
3. Only 25% of stocks are responsible for all of the market’s gains.  What implication does this have for stock picking vs. indexing?
4. As ETFs proliferate and various strategies become available, do you think people will still pay 2% and 20% for these kind of strategies when you could have all of them for a fraction of the expense?
5. I know this doesn’t fit your investing style, but if you had to pick one of these managers to invest 100% of your net worth, who would it be and why?  You have to factor in age and length of potential service to you.  

Bogumil K. Baranowski is a New York City-based value investor, author, and investment professional with over a decade of experience. He works at Tocqueville Asset Management, where he is the founder and portfolio manager of a private investment fund. He was born in Poland, educated in Paris and Brussels. He enjoys making a difference in people's lives through writing and teaching. He is the author of Outsmarting the Crowd: A Value Investor's Guide to Starting, Building, and Keeping a Family Fortune.

1. I loved that you stressed the importance of saving.  I repeatedly tell clients that saving is the most important part, and if they do that correctly, they don’t really need me on the investment front.  When you think about the path to wealth, it goes Earn, Save, Invest.  Most of us can’t control how much we earn day to day, or our investment returns.  Yet we all can control how much we save.  Why does the world seem preoccupied with earning and investing and ignores saving?
   
   
2. You’re a fan of averaging down slowly, perhaps buying 1% bites at a time of an individual business.  Is that difficult to do when it seems like good companies (which I know you’re a fan of) always seem to be trading at their 52-week high?  Solutions, other than just extreme patience?
   
   
3. When public school and teaching to standards testing seem to crush the creativity and joy of learning from many, how does one properly go about learning things for one’s self?  What are some keys you’ve found to successful self-learning.
   
   
4. You rightly advise not to check stock quotes too often.  What about if you’re a professional investor?  How often do you check your portfolio and watch list?  Be honest.  :)
   
   
5. Your book covers how to start, build, and keep a family fortune.  I’d like to know about how we can keep a family fortune please?