Louis-Vincent Gave
Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer
After receiving his bachelor's degree from Duke University and studying Mandarin at Nanjing University, Louis joined the French Army where he served as a second lieutenant in a mountain infantry battalion. After a couple of years, Louis left the army and joined Paribas where he worked as a financial analyst—first in Paris, then in Hong Kong.
Louis left Paribas in 1999 to launch Gavekal Research with Charles Gave and Anatole Kaletsky in London. In 2002, Louis left the London office and returned to Hong Kong; the idea at the time was that Asia was set to become an ever more important factor in global growth and that, consequently, Gavekal needed to offer its clients more information, and more ideas, relating to Asia. Since then, Louis has been living in Hong Kong from where he oversees Gavekal’s money management business. Nonetheless, Louis contributes episodically to the research. Louis has written five books, though none since the publication in 2012 of Too Different for Comfort (e-version available for free download here) a book which reviewed how the rise of robotics, the demographic transition in China, and shale-induced lower energy prices would transform the world. Louis frequently speaks at industry events and is often quoted in the financial media.
Louis has also been involved with different start-up ventures. He has helped seed a number of companies including Roboglobal LLC, Sponsorise.me, Think-Twice, Jobby-Pepper, On-Off Telecom, A-Ride Inc, Extreme Organics Inc, Ullr Maps Inc, and others. Louis currently sits on the board of Uniserve Inc, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed telecoms company, and is the non-executive chairman of Roboglobal LLC (the manager of the ROBO.US ETF, one of the largest robotics dedicated ETFs). He is also a non-executive director at Evergreen-Gavekal, a Bellevue, WA based private wealth manager. Louis also sits on the visiting board of Trinity college – Duke University.
In his spare time, Louis likes to spend time on the rugby pitch, whether in Hong Kong (where he plays for Valley RFC), or in France where he is the owner/president of the Biarritz Olympique, a club currently evolving in France’s Pro D2.
Louis speaks English and French. He spent many hours studying Mandarin and Spanish, which he once spoke decently. He is married with two sons and two daughters.
For Louis's article archive please click here.
The Daily
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Gavekal Research
December 6, 2018
The Evolving Trade War
There is little doubt that the US president is surrounded by advisers who see China as a genuine threat to the long term economic health and geopolitical strength of the United States. But, it is likely that Donald Trump’s most immediate concerns are more down to earth.
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Gavekal Research
November 26, 2018
Positioning Ahead Of The G20
Over the summer, the US administration’s aggressive trade stance towards China helped trigger sell-offs in most non-US equity markets, even as the US market continued to make new highs. But, in the past six weeks, the massive outperformance of US equities has stalled.
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Gavekal Research
November 23, 2018
The Failure Of The Bond Cushion
If you had been told on September 20, when the US stock market made its high, that two months later the MSCI US would be entering correction territory, down almost -10%, and that oil would be in a full-blown bear market, with Brent down almost -30%, you would probably have concluded that long-dated US bonds would be the place to be.
Ideas
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Gavekal Research
December 3, 2018
The Next Target Of Trump’s Firepower
In today’s Daily, Arthur Kroeber offered his analysis of the weekend’s Trump-Xi summit in Buenos Aires. In this short report, Louis takes a slightly different tack, reviewing the series of tumultuous events in recent weeks. His conclusion is that few investors’ portfolios are well positioned for the probable outcome.
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Gavekal Research
November 22, 2018
Salvini, Part Deux?
This weekend saw protests in France that united demonstrators from all parts of the political spectrum against President Emmanuel Macron. Louis wonders if this represents the beginning of a populist wave that rejects the president’s mushy centrism and joins political bed fellows who have never laid down before. After all, it happened in Italy.
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Gavekal Research
October 31, 2018
Has Oil Set Its High For This Cycle?
With the price of WTI crude oil now back below its 200-day moving average, Louis puts himself in the shoes of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and imagines what sort of leverage he could exert over Donald Trump, what this means for the enforcement of sanctions against Iran, and what that implies for the oil price going forward.
Multimedia
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Gavekal Research
October 30, 2018
Beijing Seminar — October 2018
At Gavekal’s seminar in Beijing last week, Louis-Vincent Gave, Udith Sikand and Chen Long presented their latest views on the turn in global markets, the prospects for emerging markets in the quarters ahead, and on China's policy priorities as it faces down the US in a prolonged rivalry.
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Gavekal Research
October 19, 2018
Video: Why China Is Unlikely To Fold
To many outside observers, China’s economy looks like a house of cards that is vulnerable to collapse should the US push a little harder in its trade actions. Louis is not convinced that this market-focused analysis of China’s situation properly reflects its vulnerability. He thinks the leadership is dug in for a long struggle against Washington.
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Gavekal Research
October 11, 2018
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call October 2018
In this month’s Research Conference Call Louis-Vincent Gave examined the present bad tidings from markets and asked whether the global bull market faces a denouement. Anatole Kaletsky argued that this sell-off will likely prove to be a temporary setback for emerging markets and that the global bull market may have further to run.