(First Meeting, EP.21) Blending Global Macro and Real Estate at Commonwealth Asset Management

Adam Fisher is the CIO of Commonwealth Asset Management, which he founded as Commonwealth Opportunity Capital in 2008 and re-launched in 2019 after a two-year interlude Soros Fund Management. Commonwealth manages both a global macro hedge fund and private real estate assets with a thematic bent. In getting there, Adam traded his bar mitzvah money, attended law school, and started real estate investment companies in the U.S. and Asia.

Our conversation covers Adam’s self-taught trading, early stumbles in private equity, and a one-off encounter with Richard Rainwater that led to his creating his first business. From there, we touch on thematic real estate investing, hedging his investments leading into the financial crisis, and pivoting back to trading alongside real estate investing thereafter. We discuss the challenges of traditional global macro businesses, the benefits of investing in one-off big ideas, the synergies across real estate and macro investing, interest rates, and Adam’s outlook on the markets and industry.