Ben Hunt
Co-Founder and CIO
Ben Hunt is the creator of Epsilon Theory and inspiration behind Second Foundation Partners, which he co-founded with Rusty Guinn in June 2018.
Epsilon Theory, Second Foundation’s principal publishing brand, is a newsletter and website that examines markets through the lenses of game theory and history. Over 100,000 professional investors and allocators across 180 countries read Epsilon Theory for its fresh perspective and novel insights into market dynamics. As Chief Investment Officer, Ben bears primary responsibility for determining the Company’s investment views and positioning of model portfolios. He is also the primary author of materials distributed through Epsilon Theory.
Ben taught political science for 10 years: at New York University from 1991 until 1997 and (with tenure) at Southern Methodist University from 1997 until 2000. He also wrote two academic books: Getting to War (Univ. of Michigan Press, 1997) and Policy and Party Competition (Routledge, 1992), which he co-authored with Michael Laver. Ben is the founder of two technology companies and the co-founder of SmartEquip, Inc., a software company for the construction equipment industry that provides intelligent schematics and parts diagrams to facilitate e-commerce in spare parts.
He began his investment career in 2003, first in venture capital and subsequently on two long/short equity hedge funds. He worked at Iridian Asset Management from 2006 until 2011 and TIG Advisors from 2012 until 2013. He joined Rusty at Salient in 2013, where he combined his background as a portfolio manager, risk manager, and entrepreneur with academic experience in game theory and econometrics to work with Salient’s own portfolio managers and its financial advisor clients to improve client outcomes.
Ben is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (1986) and earned his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University in 1991. He lives in the wilds of Redding, CT on Little River Farm, where he personifies the dilettante farmer that has been a stock comedic character since Cicero's day. Luckily his wife, Jennifer, and four daughters, Harper, Hannah, Haven and Halle, are always there to save the day. Ben's hobbies include comic books, Alabama football, beekeeping, and humoring Rusty in trivia "competitions".
Articles by Ben:
Two short stories from the 19th century that teach us more about investing than any white paper. Although I suppose that isn’t saying much. What I’m saying is they’re good and you should read them. And this.
Nowhere is the cartoonification of data more obvious than in the construction and publishing of labor reports, and nowhere is it more influential on markets and politics.
Part 2 of a three-part series on what it means to have a polarized electorate and a monolithic market. Today’s note: How do things fall apart in a monolithic market? Not with a bang but a whimper.
So many words and ideas are effectively unusable today, because it’s impossible to use them without triggering readers. It’s a whirlwind brief of centrifugal…I mean, centripetal force.
Friedrich Hayek was a keen observer of the human condition, particular in the era of the Strong Man. He was an even keener observer of the use of Narratives to exploit that human condition.
A portfolio is, after all, a vessel. It is a container for our financial investments, and what we leave OUT of that container is every bit as important as what we put IN.
Catching up on correspondence with some notable reader emails. In this edition, we take a look at some reader responses to the recent note ‘Letters from a Birmingham Museum.’
Climbing a wall of worry is the least understood and most powerful crowd behavior of a bull market. When there’s no real information, we create it by conquering artificial hurdles and challenges.
The OG Epsilon Theory reading list, now 4 years old. Luckily the classics never change. (Ed. Note: This is true, Ben, but not an excuse to keep quoting The Godfather) (Ed. Ed. Note: Got any more LOTR quotes, Rusty?)
Teaser: What do Tesla, crypto, and men-who-wear-hats all have in common? They’re all driven by fashion, which is another word for the Common Knowledge game.