Brian Langstraat, CFA and Steve Curley, CFA: Direct Indexing - Tax Alpha and Direct Beta

This episode features the CEO of Parametric, Brian Langstraat, CFA. Brian is responsible for Parametric’s firmwide strategy and organizational development. Since joining Parametric in 1990, Brian has held positions in portfolio management, product development, portfolio administration, marketing, and client service. In 2014 he was elected to the Eaton Vance Corp. board of directors. He earned a BA in economics and sociology from the University of Washington. In this episode, Brian begins with his background and why he chose to pursue the CFA designation.  Then he explains what direct indexing is, how it utilizes tax-loss harvesting to increase returns, the degree to which it is affected by tracking error, whether or not technology will affect account minimums in the future, and diversity within his firm.   (0:38) – Steve Curley and Colby Donovan introduce the episode (2:00) – Introduce Brian Langstraat, CFA (2:30) – Handling COVID-19 in Seattle (3:58) – His background (5:00) – Why he decided to pursue the CFA designation (6:40) – Explanation of direct indexing (17:00) – Handling new clients with pre-existing securities (22:15) – Handling tracking error (25:00) – Direct indexing vs. ETF’s (26:13) – Technology changes affecting account minimums (28:10) – Tax loss harvesting with fixed-income (30:00) – Racial and gender diversity within the investment management industry and his firm (32:38) – Learn more about direct indexing on their website (33:25) – Who’s the one person you’d like to have a conversation with right now? (35:25) - What are you most pessimistic and optimistic about in the world right now?