Soundings

Kate Dumas, CFA

Drawing from the nautical practice of measuring depth, Soundings explores the underlying forces, risks, and opportunities beneath the market's surface..

Canaries

April 2026

A sneaker company rebrands as an AI infrastructure play and its stock soars 600%. What that says about this market.

Integrity

April 2026

Why a credible, well-regulated market is worth more than investors often realize — until it's gone.

Liquidity

April 2026

Gold's sharp sell-off reveals an underappreciated truth: liquidity is only valued once it's scarce.

Democratizing Private Equity – Part II

March 2026

BDCs, evergreen funds, and the push to open alternatives to more investors — at what cost?

Democratizing Private Equity – Part I

March 2026

What Yale's legendary endowment run under David Swensen still teaches about private equity investing.

Watching the Lights Turn Red

March 2026

Conflict in the Middle East pushes oil and gas higher — a region-by-region look at who's exposed.

Watching the Lights Turn Green

March 2026

Markets shrug off a shocking escalation in the Middle East, closing higher within hours.

Las Cucarachas

February 2026

Jamie Dimon's "cockroach" comment reignites debate over hidden risk in private credit.

Gold Math

February 2026

Gold's best month in 40 years ends in a sharp reversal. What investors do next depends on why they bought it.

Uncorrelated

January 2026

Gold's best month in 40 years ends in a sharp reversal. What investors do next depends on why they bought it.

A Contrarian Trade?

January 2026

Climate risk hasn't gone away just because "ESG" has fallen out of fashion. A response to a widely-read NYT piece.

Woe is Me

January 2026

Skipping the annual list of risks for something rarer: real reasons for optimism heading into the new year.

Investing for Impact

January 2026

Why family offices are poised to lead a new wave of values-aligned investing in the years ahead.

The MANIAC

December 2025

John von Neumann's staggering legacy — and an unsettling parallel to today's AI race.

Total Portfolio Approach

December 2025

A challenger to traditional asset allocation gains ground. What it asks of governance and structure.