Ep. 306 – Why Private Equity and Alternative Investments Matter
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
In this episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon Stancil and Murs Tariq discuss the world of Private Equity Investing and Alternative Investments with Christopher Zook, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of CAZ Investments. CAZ Investments specializes in Investing in Private Markets, including Private Equity, Private Credit, and even Investing in Sports Teams. Christopher, who co-authored “The Holy Grail of Investing” with Tony Robbins, shares valuable insights into how these Alternative Investment Strategies can provide access to high-quality opportunities typically unavailable to individual investors.
Listen in to learn about Non-Correlated Assets and their role in Risk Management in Investing, helping to stabilize portfolios against market fluctuations. Christopher explains how his firm focuses on diversification with non-traditional investments, offering access to exclusive deals that can enhance wealth management strategies. Whether you’re planning for retirement or looking for Secure Retirement Investments, this conversation provides valuable perspectives on how to plan for retirement using alternative investments beyond the public markets.
In this episode, find out:
· The key differences between Public Markets and Private Equity Investing.
· How Alternative Investment Strategies provide diversification and risk reduction.
· Why Investing in Sports Teams and other private markets is becoming more accessible.
· The concept of Non-Correlated Assets and how they impact portfolio stability.
· How to invest in private equity and access high-quality opportunities.
Tweetable Quotes:
“The key to risk management in investing is alignment—when you’re invested alongside your clients, you’re making decisions that benefit everyone.” – Radon Stancil
“Diversification isn’t just about owning different stocks; it’s about Non-Correlated Assets that perform independently, reducing overall risk.” – Murs Tariq
Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary video course, Four Steps to Secure Your Retirement!
To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.
Here’s the full transcript:
Alternative investments, private equity, sports teams—all these things. People would go, How could you, and why would I ever want to invest in that? Well, in today’s episode, we have a very special guest, Christopher Zook of CAZ Investments, co-author with Tony Robbins of the book The Holy Grail of Investing. You want to listen to this entire episode. At the end, we have a gift, so listen all the way to the end.
We hope you’ve been enjoying all the episodes from Secure Your Retirement. If you’d like to keep learning and receiving these episodes, hit the subscribe button and the bell so you receive alerts when they come out. We’ve helped thousands of listeners get on the path to securing their retirement. Now it’s your turn—let’s dive in.
Welcome, everyone, to the Secure Your Retirement podcast. We are super excited today. Murs and I are always looking for partnerships and opportunities that can benefit our clients in multiple areas when it comes to their wealth building, planning for retirement, and living throughout retirement. We are very excited about a partnership that is giving us exposure to some investment structures that, quite honestly, we have not had exposure to in the past.
We have with us a very special guest, Christopher Zook, who is the chairman and chief investment officer for CAZ Investments. He is also a co-author with Tony Robbins on the book The Holy Grail of Investing. So, Christopher, thank you very much for coming on and talking with us today.
I’m glad to be here. Thank you for having me.
All right, let’s just start this off as an introduction to our listeners. Could you tell us a little bit about CAZ Investments, yourself, and your background so we can understand why we are excited to have you on the podcast today?
I’m happy to do it. I founded the firm 24 years ago. It’s hard to believe that next year will actually be our 25th anniversary, so we’re very excited about that. I started the firm in 2001 with the backing of several major families in Texas and a couple of surrounding states. The sole goal of our firm has been to invest our own personal capital in whatever we think is the best place to invest. Then we open it up to our ecosystem to come alongside us, shoulder to shoulder, to truly invest together collectively as partners in whatever we are doing. We are a very thematic investor. We look for a theme, try to find the best risk-reward way to take advantage of that theme, and then find the right way to execute it.
Good examples over time include shorting subprime mortgages with John Paulson before the global financial crisis, buying all the real estate we could find at very inexpensive prices post-crisis, and investing in distressed financials and credit. Over time, we have invested in many other themes that we believe will persist for a long period. What has really benefited partnerships like this is that—though it sounds a little corny—the power of the network is the network. The bigger our network gets, the more buying power we have, which gives us more access, more negotiating power, better opportunities, and an ever-growing network.
We have about 6,000 investors in all 50 states and 36 countries. We just found out that we were ranked as the 117th largest investor in all of private equity worldwide. In 2024, we were the largest check-writer in private equity globally, with a $1 billion check written into a single investment. We have a lot of fun, invest in a lot of different things, and we’re really excited about this partnership.
Christopher, that’s great. Thanks for sharing that background, and kudos to your success as the firm has grown. You mentioned something very key for our listeners: you invest your own personal capital. Tell us why that is so important to you and why clients and investors should care about that, given today’s investment landscape.
There is nothing like alignment. When you have alignment, good decisions usually happen. When you have bad alignment, bad decisions tend to follow. Since the beginning of our firm, we’ve had a technical term we use internally: we’re ‘freakish about alignment.’ The more aligned we are, the better decisions we will make. We always invest the first dollar. My family is always the first dollar in every single investment we do. Our shareholders and team are heavily invested, with over $650 million of our own money in our own vehicles. We are always the largest investor in everything we do. This alignment ensures that we make the best possible decisions. It doesn’t mean everything will always work out perfectly, but it does mean that we are always making decisions that we believe are best for ourselves and, ultimately, for our investors.
Excellent. Let’s dive into this concept. Many people believe diversification means having multiple advisors or simply not having all their money in one place. But as we read your book and learned more about your philosophy, we realize it’s about being diversified with non-correlated assets. Can you explain the difference between diversification and non-correlated assets?
I chuckled when you asked the question because last week I was giving a speech in Utah, and someone at the table said, ‘I think I’m fully diversified. I own Apple, NVIDIA, Netflix, and Facebook.’ And I had to explain that owning four tech stocks is not diversification because they all move in the same direction at the same time.
Diversification, in the classic sense, is based on what is called Modern Portfolio Theory, developed by Harry Markowitz, who won the Nobel Prize for proving that if you hold assets that do not move together in the same direction at the same time, you can reduce risk and increase return. That’s counterintuitive to many people who think higher return means taking on more risk. But Markowitz proved that by adding non-correlated assets, investors can lower their risk and potentially increase their returns.
Correlation, which sounds like a complicated math term, is actually simple to understand. I use the analogy of a golf shop. If your shop only sells umbrellas, you will make a lot of money on rainy days but not much on sunny days. Conversely, if you only sell sunscreen, you’ll make money on sunny days but not on rainy ones. But if you sell both, your revenue will be steadier. That’s the essence of non-correlation—different investments that perform well under different conditions.
Most investors think they are diversified when they own a mix of large, mid-sized, and small stocks, or maybe they add some international stocks. But they are still only exposed to the stock market. Some might add bonds, which help, but bonds alone are not enough to achieve proper diversification. True Now, let’s discuss how alternative investments fit into a well-balanced portfolio. Many investors are only exposed to public markets, which means their entire portfolio is impacted by stock market fluctuations. At CAZ Investments, we focus on private markets, including private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, and energy investments. These investments are less correlated with the stock market, which helps reduce overall portfolio volatility.
One important aspect of alternative investments is understanding the role of accredited investors. Many people don’t realize that they qualify as accredited investors, which means they have access to investment opportunities that the general public does not. The SEC defines accredited investors as individuals who either have an income of $200,000 per year (or $300,000 for joint filers) or a net worth exceeding $1 million, excluding their primary residence. This classification allows investors to participate in private investments, such as venture capital and private equity, which can offer better risk-adjusted returns than traditional public investments.
Liquidity is another crucial aspect to consider when investing in private markets. Unlike publicly traded stocks, which can be sold instantly, private investments typically have longer holding periods. However, we have worked hard to provide more liquidity options for our investors. Through structured liquidity windows, investors in our funds can request redemptions on a quarterly basis. This is a significant improvement over traditional private equity models, where investors often had to wait 7-10 years for liquidity events.
CAZ Investments provides access to opportunities that were previously out of reach for most investors. Historically, investments in professional sports teams, venture capital, and large-scale infrastructure projects were only available to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutions. We have democratized access by pooling investor capital and negotiating direct investments in these opportunities. For example, we have helped our investors gain ownership stakes in major sports franchises like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Golden State Warriors, and European football clubs. These investments are not just about the prestige of owning a team—they are about leveraging media rights, brand equity, and global revenue streams for long-term capital appreciation.
In summary, alternative investments offer a unique opportunity to diversify beyond traditional stocks and bonds. By incorporating private assets into a portfolio, investors can achieve lower volatility, higher potential returns, and access to exclusive investment opportunities. However, it’s essential to work with experienced investment professionals to ensure proper due diligence and portfolio construction.
At the end of our discussion, Christopher and Tony Robbins have generously provided copies of The Holy Grail of Investing for our listeners. If you are interested, reach out to us at our office, and we will send you a copy. We want you to get this education. I have read the entire book, and it is an excellent resource. It is well-written and makes complex financial concepts easy to understand.
Christopher, thank you so much for spending time with us today and for providing valuable insights into alternative investments. We look forward to continuing this partnership and helping our listeners secure their retirement.
It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it and look forward to working with you all. how alternative investments fit into a well-balanced portfolio, the role of accredited investors, the importance of liquidity in private markets, and how CAZ Investments provides access to opportunities that were previously out of reach for most investors.
At the end of our discussion, Christopher and Tony Robbins have generously provided copies of The Holy Grail of Investing for our listeners. If you are interested, reach out to us at our office, and we will send you a copy. We want you to get this education. I have read the entire book, and it is an excellent resource. It is well-written and makes complex financial concepts easy to understand.
Christopher, thank you so much for spending time with us today and for providing valuable insights into alternative investments. We look forward to continuing this partnership and helping our listeners secure their retirement.
It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it and look forward to working with you all. We hope you have enjoyed this episode of Secure Your Retirement. If you would like to learn more, we have created an online course called Three Keys to Secure Your Retirement. This video course helps you think through all the different steps as you plan for and live throughout retirement. You can access this by visiting our website, pomwealth.net. Additionally, you can subscribe to our podcast and check out more retirement tips in our videos. If you find them valuable, please like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.