Merryn Talks Money

Latest Episodes:

What Are Absolute Return Funds And Should You Invest In Them? Mar 18, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Why Contrarians Can't Get Enough of Real Assets Mar 16, 2026

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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.

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Markets Wrap: Private Credit, War and a Lack of Safe Havens Mar 13, 2026

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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.

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UK Smart Savings Dilemma: SIPP, ISA or LISA? Mar 11, 2026

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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.

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Gold, Debt and the AI Boom: A Financial Historian’s Warning Mar 09, 2026

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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.

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Markets Wrap: War, Energy and the Return of Inflation Risk Mar 06, 2026

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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.
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Exclusive: Rachel Reeves on Iran Shock, US Trade and Inflation Risks Mar 03, 2026

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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

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What Can Quant Trading Strategies Teach Us About Markets? Mar 02, 2026

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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.

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Markets Wrap: From YOLO to HALO Feb 26, 2026

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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

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The 51% Graduate Tax Feb 25, 2026

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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?

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