David Iben is the Lead Portfolio Manager of the Kopernik Global All-Cap and Global Unconstrained strategies, and the Co-Portfolio Manager of the Kopernik International and Global Long-Term Opportunities strategies. He is the Chief Investment Officer, Managing Member, Founder, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of Kopernik Global Investors.
In his latest commentary, Jacoby Transfers, Kopernik CIO Dave Iben draws on the wisdom of the stoic philosophers to discuss the importance of looking at things from different vantage points and how Kopernik’s research process is an example of Charlie Munger’s reminder to “Invert—always invert.”
For his latest commentary, our CIO Dave Iben looks at the Fed's implicit loosening of monetary policy as a result of the liquidity provided in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. He once again takes readers on a journey down the migratory flow of the Cantillon River in search of scarce, necessary assets that hold their value in inflationary times. Describing how the market’s approach to valuing hard assets is misguided, Dave lays out how the value of those assets increases with time and describes Kopernik’s approach to valuing these scarce, necessary resources.
A Value Investor's Reflections on a Unique Decade (Jan 2023)
As the firm approaches its 10-year anniversary, CIO Dave Iben reaffirms Kopernik’s unchanging philosophy and process and describes opportunities we are finding as we enter our second decade.
In his new commentary, Kopernik CIO Dave Iben discusses how, after a four-decade long period when central bankers were idolized, someone has pulled back the curtain and revealed that "the jig is up". Stocks and bonds appear to have entered a bear market, and the economy is stagnating. What is an investor to do in this new paradigm?
In his latest commentary, Kopernik analyst and co-portfolio manager for the International Strategy Mark McKinney uses Thomas Sowell’s classic question “At what cost?” to articulate potential unintended consequences of finding solutions to current economic challenges.
The Nine Most Terrifying Words in the English Language - Part 2 (Apr 2021)
As a follow up to his last commentary, Kopernik Analyst and Co-portfolio manager for the International Strategy Mark McKinney furthers the discussion that “help” from the government will create more economic harm than benefit, specifically as it relates to inflation.
The Nine Most Terrifying Words in the English Language (Jan 2021)
In his latest commentary, Kopernik Analyst and Co-portfolio manager for the International Strategy Mark McKinney describes how the “help” from economic policymakers and government officials has historically and will continue in the future to create more harm than benefit economically and societally.
In his latest commentary, Analyst and Portfolio Manager Mark McKinney discusses the rise of a new group of believers in the omnipotent power of the government and central banks, affectionately nicknamed “Fed Bugs,” who believe that printing more money will solve society’s problems. He argues that these Fed Bugs are missing the point: economic logic always wins in the long run.
In this white paper, Kopernik’s Investment Research team analyzes the potential risks and upsides of investing in the mining space and describes how Kopernik values mining companies.
In this update of our 2017 white paper, analyst Steve Rosenthal discusses Kopernik’s perspective on uranium, its unique properties, and the global opportunities Kopernik is currently seeing in the industry.
David Iben, CIO & Lead Portfolio Manager and Alissa Corcoran, Deputy CIO & Director of Research discuss the investment implications of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Institutional Investor Interview with Dave Iben: Opportunities in Eastern Europe - July 1, 2022
Recently, Kopernik CIO Dave Iben spoke with Institutional Investor for a deep dive on the importance of investing in emerging markets—including Ukraine and Russia—and discussed where exactly to find opportunities in Eastern Europe. Read Dave’s full interview here.
Financial Times Story featuring Dave Iben - Contrarian fund manager cautions against writing off Russia assets - April 10, 2022
Kopernik's CIO Dave Iben spoke to the Financial Times about why Russian assets still hold value, even in the wake of the war with Ukraine. Read the full feature on the Financial Times website here (Requires login)
BNN TV - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - April 27, 2022
Kopernik Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran appeared on BNN Bloomberg to provide a rundown of investment opportunities in emerging markets and explain how Kopernik evaluates geopolitical risk. You can watch the interview here.
The Antidote to Correlation Webinar - Managing Geopolitical Risk in a Global Portfolio - April 7, 2022
On April 7, 2022, Kopernik Global Investors had a discussion on managing geopolitical risk in a global portfolio, apropos current events. It is Kopernik’s belief that today’s world almost requires that a considerable part of portfolios be allocated to emerging markets to provide refuge from the perils of significant overvaluations and protection from the inflation-driven erosion of purchasing power. Yet, there are many challenges when it comes to investing in developing countries. In this webinar, we discussed how Kopernik appraises and manages a portfolio of businesses in the various parts of the world.
Speakers: Alissa Corcoran, Deputy CIO, Director of Research, Analyst and Todd Tosti, Industrials Analyst
Hosted by: David Iben, Chief Investment Officer and Lead Portfolio Manager
Bloomberg TV - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - December 7, 2021
Kopernik's Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran appeared on Bloomberg TV to discuss why Kopernik believes precious metal mining companies present an attractive investment opportunity. Watch the full segment here.