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OWN Explainer Video:

https://youtu.be/MSD8Msi7qcY

The S&P 500 is supposed to be “the market,” but what if its biggest blind spot is the people actually running the companies? We bring on Haran Bakta, CFA, founder behind the OWN ETF, to walk through a different way to build an index: weight companies by insider ownership so leadership has real skin in the game. Along the way, we stay skeptical and press on the uncomfortable parts: when ownership helps, when it doesn’t, and how to avoid turning a smart idea into a cult of personality.

We unpack why free-float adjusted indexes can behave in ways most investors never notice, including the strange reality that an index may effectively buy more of a company when a controlling insider sells or passes away. Haran explains the origin story, the painful work of collecting ownership data through years of proxy filings, and the rules behind the inside ownership index: starting from the S&P 500, selecting the top names by dollar value of insider ownership, and capping inputs to avoid a portfolio dominated by a handful of extreme holdings.

From there we debate founders versus professional managers, culture versus control, and why last year’s earnings can be a misleading compass when innovation cycles shift fast, especially in technology and AI. We also cover performance claims, risk and drawdowns, the Sharpe ratio angle, fees and scaling, and why index construction matters as much as any headline narrative. If you care about index investing, corporate governance, founder-led companies, and long-term investing discipline, this conversation will give you a sharper framework and a few strong counterpoints to test it against.

If this helped you think more clearly about incentives and leadership in your portfolio, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review. What’s your take: should insider ownership change how we index the market?

Straight Talk for All - Nonsense for None

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Disclaimer - These podcasts are not intended as investment advice. Individuals please consult your own investment, tax and legal advisors. They provide these insights for educational purposes only.