Frank Packard: Alternative Investment Specialist

This episode I step outside my comfort zone and talk about investing with Alternative Investment Specialist Frank Packard.  Specifically we discuss Passion Investing, things like art, watches, and fine wine. What are the opportunities and what are the risks.  Do you have a collection of something which might be worth a lot of money?  Then you know It's not just about portfolio diversification, but also about the joy of ownership.  Frank is really interesting, he was actually born in Japan and only moved back to the US when he was seven. So we discuss what that was like in terms of reverse culture shock and being academically ahead of his peers.  Frank's insight on navigating both American and Japanese culture is story-telling at it's best.  Finally we discuss his 3 golden rules of investing, spoiler alert, #3 is "No Jerks",  some great reasons to be bullish on Japan's future, and a cultural analogy  / insight on American's love of "beating the clock" vs. Japan's love of silence and patience.  Additional topics from our conversation:

• Being a Westerner born in Japan and childhood stories from the 1950's
• What exactly are "Alternative Investments" 
• Discuss interest in Antique Maps, Vintage Posters, and Japanese Screens as personal collectable investments
• Tells the story of owning (then selling) an original Andy Warhol artwork
• The role insurance plays when investing in art and collectables
• What is "Yield Margin" and is it high in Japan?  
• Japan's low interest rates make real estate investing "low risk" - True or false
• How growing up in Japan enhanced his professional communication skills
• Why Japan is the most sensual country in the world
• His  favorite  untranslatable Japanese word

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