After he graduated from University of Pécs, he ultimately entered the world of capital markets as the 15th employee of Concorde Securities, an investment firm established in 1993. “It’ll come,” Norbert Streitmann told it to him, when he was hired and then quickly arranged for Aron to receive practical training with the government securities traders of CA-IB, a legendary brokerage firm that was otherwise a competitor. Within a few weeks, Áron was already conducting business. It was a fundamental experience for him, as transactions were solely conducted over the phone, without any written agreements, but everyone always delivered. Another notable aspect was that government bond transactions were yielding 24% in the mid-90s. It is ironic that even after 27 years, we are again experiencing around 25% inflation with government bond yields of 17-18%.

 

Since then, Áron has been a valuable member of the Concorde team, remaining loyal to his first and only workplace. Currently, he serves as the head of the private banking division and treasury director, a role he thoroughly enjoys.

 

Naturally, Concorde has undergone significant changes since 1996, with a current workforce of 122 employees dedicated to providing the best private banking/brokerage services to their clients. According to Áron, the key differentiator is the human touch: for clients who invest a minimum of 30 million forints, Concorde can offer personal advisors. Understanding the client’s needs is crucial for delivering high-quality service. The first two questions asked are the percentage of the client’s total wealth under Concorde’s management and their risk tolerance. Áron noted that those who entrust only a small portion of their wealth to Concorde likely seek riskier strategies in pursuit of outstanding returns, while those who entrust a significant portion of their wealth prefer less risky strategies.

 

We also learned that once someone becomes a Concorde client, they tend to stay for a very long time. According to Áron, curiosity plays a significant role in private banking. The more information they gather about a client’s background and motivations, the better they can provide personalized and tailored services. Áron and his team are genuinely curious about their clients, aiming to understand their needs even better than the clients themselves.

 

The inspiration for the Concorde Podcast series, the main topic of our conversation, also stems from Áron’s curiosity. He regards this podcast as another service and gift to the clients. It originated from the realization of encountering numerous intriguing stories and questions throughout Concorde’s private banking services. When exploring and sharing these topics, these not only provide value to the listeners but also bring potential clients closer to Concorde. Concorde analysts and fund managers explore and explain scientifically cover the economics of actual topics in a pleasantly relaxed yet highly informative manner.

 

In the beginning some people questioned why Aron reads the introduction at the beginning of each episode. In fact, he explains, he does not intend to present himself as a media star, neither wants to improvise the episodes. But we just loved it , among other things. The goal is knowledge dissemination, as Áron describes it, the gift of experience. With 131 episodes and over 12,000 subscribers resulting in 1.3 million listens, they have achieved just that.

 

Thanks to Aron’s curiosity and the podcast’s knowledgeable guests, we as well can learn about numerous new technologies and scientific, political or even cultural fields, one of which is artificial intelligence, a topic everyone is talking about.

 

Towards the end of the episode, we discussed an article Aron recently wrote for Forbes, where he realized that amidst the artificial intelligence’s artificial perfection, human relationships are the true value. Therefore, as humans, we should not be afraid of being imperfect.

 

we also talked about generational differences, universal basic income, and much more that you shouldn’t miss.