TD Cowen’s Thematic Outlook Podcast Series

Cowen’s Thematic Outlook Podcast Series, hosted by Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird focuses on emerging growth and disruptive innovation. In collaboration with Cowen’s fundamental equity research team and Washington Research Group, the series unpacks the most pivotal investment themes which Cowen expects to drive investment gains and losses in 2022 and beyond.

Thematic Outlook Podcast Series

• Episode 1: The Emerging Modern Customer Engagement Stack: Derrick Wood, Software Analyst speaks with Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Research about customer data platforms (CDPs), one of the highest-growth sub-sectors in software.
• Episode 2: Value-Based Care: Health Care Business Model Transformation: Healthcare Facilities, Managed Care, & Emerging Payor/Providers Analyst Gary Taylor, and Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird discuss Value-Based Care (VBC). Much of the healthcare spending in the U.S. is uncoordinated, wasteful, and influenced by financial incentives. Value-based care aims to change this.
• Episode 3: Digital Assets: More than a Passing Fad: David Kroger, Vice President and Digital Data Scientist at Cowen Digital and Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content discuss increased institutional participation in digital assets and other factors that support the view that digital assets are more than just a passing fad.
• Episode 4: Renewable Energy: The Cornerstone Of Decarbonization & Energy Security: Jefferey Osborne, Sustainability and Mobility Technology Analyst, joins Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content for a discussion on sustainable energy. They touch on how renewable energy is becoming the most cost-effective source of power generation and how, as events play out in Eastern Europe, decarbonization is crucial for economic stability and national security.
• Episode 5: The State of the Consumer: John Kernan, Retail & Consumer Brands analyst, and Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content, discuss the current state of the consumer. They focus on trends in the supply chain, commodities costs, inventory, and on investment themes such as shifting to online ordering and to alternative asset classes, such as sneaker re-sale & NFTs.
• Episode 6: U.S. Midterm Elections & Policy Implications: Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird is joined by Chris Krueger, Cowen Washington Research Group Analyst for Macro, Trade, Fiscal & Tax Policy. Chris offers his perspective on the massive policy implications of the U.S. midterm elections and their potential impact on how we address the debt ceiling, tax policy, and clean energy.
• Episode 7: Geopolitics & Economic Statecraft: Geopolitical Security & Defense Policy Analyst for Cowen Washington Research Group, Roman Schweizer, joins host and Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird. Their discussion focuses on what market observers may underappreciate about the current geopolitical setup, what it may take to end the Russia/Ukraine war, plausible scenarios for how China/Taiwan/U.S. tensions may develop, and the implications of heated geopolitical tensions for defense spending.
• Episode 8: What’s Next For Inflation, Supply Chain, & The Consumer: Cowen’s Retail and Consumer Brands analyst John Kernan is joined by Shipping Expert John McCown, Founder and President of the Sourcing Journal, Ed Hertzman, and Jason Seidl, Cowen’s Transport analyst, to discuss their perspective on the supply chain. Topics include the outlook for container shipping, freight costs into 2023, inventory levels across retail, geopolitical risks, and ESG policy within the global supply chain.
• Episode 9: Battery Tech Charging Ahead: Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content and Gabe Daoud, Battery Technology & EV Charging Analyst discuss opportunities, risks, key players, and policy initiatives. They also speak about lithium-ion batteries as a cornerstone technology that supports several mega-themes likely to play out over the next decade.
• Episode 10: Thematic Thought-Leaders Roundtable: Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content, hosts a thematic investor roundtable with industry thought-leaders Elliott Miskin, Director of Thematic Investment at Fidelity International, and Richard Speetjens, CFA, Managing Director and Head of Trends Investing at Robeco. They discuss approaches to thematic investing, specific investable structural megatrends, how strategy is adapting to the current macro context, risk management, and how ESG factors are incorporated into the investment process.
• Episode 11: The Debt Limit Showdown: Chris Kreuger, TD Cowen Washington Research Group Analyst for Macro, Trade, and Fiscal & Tax Policy, joins Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content. Chris offers insight into what’s different now vs. prior negotiations, how the battle could play out, and what he is watching to gauge progress toward an agreement.
• Episode 12: Implications Of Elevated & Vitalized U.S. Solar Policy: John Miller, ESG & sustainability policy analyst for TD Cowen Washington Research Group, and Jeff Osborne, TD Cowen’s sustainability & mobility technology analyst, join Bill Bird, TD Cowen Head of Thematic Content. They discuss the emergence of a novel intersection between classical trade, national security, and climate policy, resulting in the most consequential U.S. solar policy ever passed.
• Episode 13: Regional Bank Tremors & Aftershocks: Mario Mendonca, Senior Financial Services Analyst for TD Securities, and Jaret Seiberg, Financial Services and Housing Policy Analyst for TD Cowen Washington Research Group join Bill Bird, TD Cowen’s Head of Thematic Content, to take a deeper look into regional bank troubles. They discuss its root causes, knock-on effects, and policy implications, as well as the experience of Canadian banks relative to U.S. regional and money center banks.
• Episode 14: Airlines & Commercial Aerospace Outlook: What’s Different And Why It Matters: Global air traffic remains well below pre-pandemic levels after experiencing the biggest decline in history during the pandemic. Moreover, while U.S. traffic has made a comeback, non-U.S. traffic has a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels. Add to that tight capacity, changed post-pandemic consumer behaviors, and aircraft replacement demand factors and we see a strong case for better-than-appreciated airline revenue growth and a longer-than-typical commercial aerospace recovery.
• Episode 15: Drug Pricing Outlook: This episode of Cowen’s Thematic Outlook Podcast Series features Steve Scala, Cowen’s Pharmaceuticals Analyst and teammate Mike Nedelcovych, who joined Cowen four years ago from Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery after co-founding a biotech startup. They discuss the results of Cowen’s 28th Annual Drug Pricing Survey with Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content. Key topics include what the survey says about the pricing outlook, biosimilar competition, and gross-to-net discounts.

Episode 1: The Emerging Modern Customer Engagement Stack

Derrick Wood, Software Analyst speaks with Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Research about customer data platforms (CDPs), one of the highest-growth sub-sectors in software.

For the full transcript click here.

Episode 2: Value-Based Care: Health Care Business Model Transformation

Healthcare Facilities, Managed Care, & Emerging Payor/Providers Analyst Gary Taylor, and Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird discuss Value-Based Care (VBC). Much of the healthcare spending in the U.S. is uncoordinated, wasteful, and influenced by financial incentives. Value-based care aims to change this. Over the coming decade, trillions of dollars of healthcare spending will be redefined by new business models such as VBC.

For the full transcript click here.

Episode 3: Digital Assets: More than a Passing Fad

David Kroger, Vice President and Digital Data Scientist at Cowen Digital and Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content discuss increased institutional participation in digital assets and other factors that support the view that digital assets are more than just a passing fad.

For the full transcript click here.

Episode 4: Renewable Energy: The Cornerstone Of Decarbonization & Energy Security

Jefferey Osborne, Sustainability and Mobility Technology Analyst, joins Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content for a discussion on sustainable energy. They touch on how renewable energy is becoming the most cost-effective source of power generation and how, as events play out in Eastern Europe, decarbonization is crucial for economic stability and national security.

For the full transcript click here.

Episode 5: The State of the Consumer

In the fifth episode of Cowen’s Thematic Outlook Podcast Series, John Kernan, Retail & Consumer Brands analyst, and Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content, discuss the current state of the consumer. They focus on trends in the supply chain, commodities costs, inventory, and on investment themes such as shifting to online ordering and to alternative asset classes, such as sneaker re-sale & NFTs.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 6: U.S. Midterm Elections & Policy Implications

Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird is joined by Chris Krueger, Cowen Washington Research Group Analyst for Macro, Trade, Fiscal & Tax Policy. Chris offers his perspective on the massive policy implications of the U.S. midterm elections and their potential impact on how we address the debt ceiling, tax policy, and clean energy.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 7: Geopolitics & Economic Statecraft

Geopolitical Security & Defense Policy Analyst for Cowen Washington Research Group, Roman Schweizer, joins host and Head of Thematic Content Bill Bird. Their discussion focuses on what market observers may underappreciate about the current geopolitical setup, what it may take to end the Russia/Ukraine war, plausible scenarios for how China/Taiwan/U.S. tensions may develop, and the implications of heated geopolitical tensions for defense spending.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 8: What’s Next For Inflation, Supply Chain, & The Consumer

TD Cowen’s Retail and Consumer Brands analyst John Kernan is joined by Shipping Expert John McCown, Founder and President of the Sourcing Journal, Ed Hertzman, and Jason Seidl, Cowen’s Transport analyst, to discuss their perspective on the supply chain. Topics include the outlook for container shipping, freight costs into 2023, inventory levels across retail, geopolitical risks, and ESG policy within the global supply chain.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 9: Battery Tech Charging Ahead

Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content and Gabe Daoud, Battery Technology & EV Charging Analyst discuss opportunities, risks, key players, and policy initiatives. They also speak about lithium-ion batteries as a cornerstone technology that supports several mega-themes likely to play out over the next decade.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 10: Thematic Thought-Leaders Roundtable

Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content,  hosts a thematic investor roundtable with industry thought-leaders Elliott Miskin, Director of Thematic Investment at Fidelity International, and Richard Speetjens, CFA, Managing Director and Head of Trends Investing at Robeco. They discuss approaches to thematic investing, specific investable structural megatrends, how strategy is adapting to the current macro context, risk management, and how ESG factors are incorporated into the investment process.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 11: The Debt Limit Showdown

Chris Kreuger, TD Cowen Washington Research Group Analyst for Macro, Trade, and Fiscal & Tax Policy, joins Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content. Chris offers insight into what’s different now vs. prior negotiations, how the battle could play out, and what he is watching to gauge progress toward an agreement.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 12: Implications Of Elevated & Vitalized U.S. Solar Policy

John Miller, ESG & sustainability policy analyst for TD Cowen Washington Research Group, and Jeff Osborne, TD Cowen’s sustainability & mobility technology analyst, join Bill Bird, TD Cowen Head of Thematic Content. Together they discuss the emergence of a novel intersection between classical trade, national security, and climate policy, resulting in the most consequential U.S. solar policy ever passed. With this unprecedented policy support, many businesses in the solar value chain stand to benefit.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 13: Regional Bank Tremors & Aftershocks 

Mario Mendonca, Senior Financial Services Analyst for TD Securities , and Jaret Seiberg, Financial Services and Housing Policy Analyst for TD Cowen Washington Research Group join Bill Bird, TD Cowen’s Head of Thematic Content, to take a deeper look into regional bank troubles . 

They discuss its root causes, knock-on effects, and policy implications, as well as the experience of Canadian banks relative to U.S. regional and money center banks. They also discuss today’s “speed of money” and the power and ability of social media to act as a crisis accelerant.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 14: Airlines & Commercial Aerospace Outlook: What’s Different And Why It Matters

Global air traffic remains well below pre-pandemic levels after experiencing the biggest decline in history during the pandemic. Moreover, while U.S. traffic has made a comeback, non-U.S. traffic has a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels. Add to that tight capacity, changed post-pandemic consumer behaviors, and aircraft replacement demand factors and we see a strong case for better-than-appreciated airline revenue growth and a longer-than-typical commercial aerospace recovery.

For the full transcript click here

Episode 15: Drug Pricing Outlook

This episode of Cowen’s Thematic Outlook Podcast Series features Steve Scala, Cowen’s Pharmaceuticals Analyst and teammate Mike Nedelcovych, who joined Cowen four years ago from Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery after co-founding a biotech startup. They discuss the results of Cowen’s 28th Annual Drug Pricing Survey with Bill Bird, Head of Thematic Content. Key topics include what the survey says about the pricing outlook, biosimilar competition, and gross-to-net discounts.

For the full transcript click here

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