Jan Van Eck: "Some Index Fund Companies Have Become Too Large To Be Left Unchecked."

0:00 -- Intro.1:36 -- Start of interview.2:22 -- Jan's "origin story".6:34 -- On the background of the investment firm Van Eck, founded by his father John Van Eck in 1955.10:32 -- About Van Eck today (~$75 billion in AUM, 90% in ETFs). Jan started the ETF business in 2006.11:45 -- About his article "ESG Died in 2022: CEO Op-Ed." The problem of concentration of power by the big three (BlackRock, Vanguard and SSGA). Reference to the article: Bogle Sounds a Warning on Index Funds (WSJ, 2018).18:05 -- How to fix the problem of concentration of power. Some solutions provided by Jack Bogle.20:17 -- Jan's proposal: 5% ownership cap to deal with concentration of power. "We in the industry have to address this." Legislation is also needed to do this.23:22 -- The practice of large asset managers passing-through voting power to beneficial owners. 27:52 -- On geopolitics and China. "The sanctions risk is definitely a friction point with China." "China has an 'uncatchable' lead in energy transition technologies."37:23 -- On crypto regulation. "It's a rapidly changing situation." The promotion of safe practices from the NY regulator DFS. Example: its recent $100m settlement with Coinbase for significant failures in its compliance program ($50m fine and $50m to invest in its compliance program). "The SEC is started to make a look of power moves to grab more jurisdiction over crypto matters, expanding to banks (ie. proposed rules on custody of crypto assets.)"42:05 -- On restrictive crypto regulation in the US vs offshore.46:07 -- On the rise of private markets vs. public markets. "I'd love to see more companies go public."48:34 -- On dual-class share structures and founder control.50:01 -- The books that have greatly influenced his life: Two Cheers for Capitalism, by Irving Krystol (1978)51:45 -- His mentors, and what he learned from them. His father John Van EckJoe Grundfest, SLS.52:49 --  Quotes he thinks of often or lives his life by. From his mom: "Everyone needs love."54:09 --   An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves: he teaches a 16-unit class on history (financial structure) to summer interns at Van Eck.55:48 --   On his time in Silicon Valley, and economic cycles.57:35 --   On the trend of WFH, employee mobility post-pandemic, and the future of NY as a hub for finance.Jan Van Eck is the President & CEO of Van Eck Associates Corporation, an investment firm based in New York with about $75 billion in assets under management and 400 employees.__ You can follow Jan on social media at:Twitter: @JanvanEck3LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janfvaneck/__ You can follow Evan on social media at:Twitter: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License