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How to Avoid Boring Panel

Discussions:
Nine Guidelines for
Constructive Disagreement

November 2, 2016

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Brooke Southall, Principal, RIABiz.com

Boring panel discussions are one of my


pet peeves. You go to a conference
hoping to learn something new and you
get polite babble and marketing
nonsense.
There is not enough disagreement.
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2-Minutes About Each Speaker

Robert J. Martorana, CFA


Portfolio Manager
Right Blend Investing, LLC

Brian Gilmartin, CFA


Portfolio Manager
Trinity Asset Management, Inc.

Jeff Briskin
Director of Marketing
Advisor Perspectives & APViewpoint
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Methodology

I interviewed ten of my peers to find out


how to make panel discussions more
insightful.
We found that constructive disagreement
is a key part of an interesting discussion.
Here is the recipe for an effective panel
discussion
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Why Do We Need Constructive Disagreement?

Avoiding cognitive biases:


Anchoring: We estimate an initial value
and we are slow to adjust.
Availability: We remember things that are
vivid, like plane crashes.
Representativeness: We rely on
stereotypes and fail to ask What am I
missing?
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What Makes a Group Effective?

Charles Duhigg described successful teams in


Smarter, Better, Faster. Two key elements:
1. Interesting task: The group feels that the
work is meaningful.
2. Psychological safety: Teams succeed
when everyone feels they can speak up
and when members show they are
sensitive to how one another feels.
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Brian Gilmartin, CFA, founder of Trinity


Asset Management Inc.

When you have highly intelligent, highly


motivated people, how do you handle
conflict?
It is not enough to have analytical rigordo
you have integrity and a process for handling
disagreement?
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Preparation and Execution

The nine guidelines are separated into:


Four steps of preparation
Five principles for execution

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Tadas Viskanta,
Founder and Editor of Abnormal Returns

Disagreement is constructive when youre


on the same topic and youre working
toward the same goal. Online, people have
their own agendas. They are often speaking
past you to some perceived audience [so
their analysis and conclusions are suspect].

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Brooke Southall, RIAbiz

You need to define terms so you can get to


the core of the disagreement. You may still
disagree, but at least you know where your
assumptions differ. It represents progress if
you disagree coherently, instead of just
talking past each other."

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Nicholas Colas
Chief Strategist at Convergex

Think about the one or two things that will


change their world. Dont go in front of a
group unless you have great ideas.
Something memorable.
If I dont have it, I dont do the panel.
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Jeff Briskin, Marketing Director, Advisor


Perspectives
The moderator has to be the advocate of the
audience. The moderator has to make sure that
high-level talk applies to an advisors daily practice
with clients. You dont want a philosophical debate
that the audience cant apply.
The panelists are not there to impress, but to
inform. Its not about Im smarter than you; its
about who gives the best actionable information.
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Michael Kitces, Partner at Pinnacle Advisory


Group; publisher of the Nerds Eye View blog

Many people just aren't wired for constructive


debate. You need panelists who are naturally good
at engaging in respectful disagreement.
In fact, I find for the panels where you actually
have really good people in the first place, very little
preparation is needed, and over-preparing the
panel can stifle its ability to have constructive
discourse (since people worry about staying on
script, instead of staying on subject).
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Shifting Gears

Now we turn from preparation to


execution.
The following page offers guidelines, not
hard and fast rules.

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Nicholas Colas, Convergex

I always tell panelists: Put the ad for your


firm at the top. You have two-minutes at the
top to give a commercial. Then its over and
its open season."

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Jeff Miller, President of NewArc Investments;


blogs at Dash of Insight

There are people who are bond guys, and


thats a vested interest. They are not biased
per se, but they tend to hire people with an
approach that will work with their clientele.
The person will have a conservative view on
risk. This leads to groupthink.

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Brooke Southall, RIAbiz

The problem isnt hidden agendas; its the


agenda thats hiding in plain sight. Too many
people just stick with a marketing message
and cant, or wont, go off the script.
The financial industry is unwilling to engage
in open dialogue. They avoid unpleasantness
and accountability. They have trouble even
defining accountability.
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Intellectual Integrity

When I host investment discussions, I have


found that two traits are essential to
promoting constructive disagreement:
Intellectual Humility: Aware of our limits
Intellectual Courage: Willing to confront
irrational beliefs

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Constructive Disagreement

Focus on Solutions: There is no point in


getting together to complain.
Be Practical: As Jeff Briskin noted, youre
there to give insight, and not to impress.
(Discussion is not debate.)
Entertainment Effectiveness: There is
a big difference between what gets
discussed and what is effective. (Anon.)
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Nicholas Colas:
Brevity

An hour is an outside limit for a panel


discussion, and 20 minutes for a single
speaker.
Attention spans are shrinking, so get right to
the point.

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Jeff Miller:
Accountability

Its not the knowledge level. Its the


accountability. [This is whats missing in the
media.] There isnt a market-driven process
that is fast enough to detect nonsense and
hold people accountable for bad forecasts
and a bad process.

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Accountability

Listen to your peers


Acknowledge their points and your limits
Apologize if you cross the line.
Remember, you give respect and you get
respect.

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For more information please contact:


Robert J. Martorana, CFA: Portfolio Manager, Right
Blend Investing, LLC, Rob@RightBlendInvesting.com
201-919-2395

Brian Gilmartin, CFA, Portfolio Manager, Trinity

Asset Management, Inc., brianglm@trinityasset.com


312-810-3480

Jeff Briskin: Director of Marketing, Advisor


Perspectives & APViewpoint,
jbriskin@advisorperspectives.com
508-934-6252
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Resources 1

Valuable Intellectual Traits, Foundation


for Critical Thinking. Describes intellectual
humility, intellectual courage, etc.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528

Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel


Kahneman, 2013. A simple guide to
behavioral finance and a tale well told.
https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555

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Resources 2

Smarter, Better, Faster, Charles Duhigg.


Discusses the Aristotle Project at Google
in 2015. Quotation taken from page 67.
https://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Faster-Better-Productive-Business-ebook/dp/B00Z3FRYB0#nav-
subnav

The Aristotle Project was also described in


How to Build a Better Team, in NY Times
Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-
its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html

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Resources 3

Principles by Ray Dalio. Dalio based the


practices at Bridgewater on radical
truthfulness. These principles are
designed for the investment process.
https://www.principles.com/#Principles

How Meditators Can Overcome


Behavioral Finance Biases, Jason A. Voss,
CFA. Identifying a bias does not eliminate
it. https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2014/09/16/how-meditators-can-overcome-behavioral-
finance-biases/
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those of Right Blend Investing and our editorial staff. Material presented is believed to be
from reliable sources, however, we make no representations as to its accuracy or
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permitted. This is not a complete discussion of the information needed to make a decision
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investments, including the investment strategies described.

Right Blend Investing, LLC is a registered investment advisor in the state of New
Jersey. There are always risks in making investments, including the possibility of
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