GM101: When Passive Breaks the Market ft. Hari Krishnan & Cem Karsan

GM101: When Passive Breaks the Market ft. Hari Krishnan & Cem Karsan

From Top Traders Unplugged by Niels Kaastrup-Larsen

May 20, 2026 · 1h 14m

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of rising passive ownership on market dynamics and price discovery with insights from Hari Krishnan and Cem Karsan.

Hari Krishnan joins Niels and Cem for a deep exploration of what happens when markets become dominated by flows rather than fundamentals. Drawing on his new paper with Mike Green and Stefan Sturm, Hari explains why rising passive ownership may weaken price discovery, amplify concentration in mega-cap stocks and create conditions for reflexive instability. The conversation expands far beyond indexing, touching on volatility targeting, leverage, dispersion, inflation, government intervention and the growing dependence of the global economy on rising asset prices. Along the way, Cem and Hari debate whether policymakers can continue stabilizing an increasingly fragile system, what could trigger a structural break, and how investors should think about positioning in a world where flows may matter more than fundamentals. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE ----- Follow Niels on Twitter , LinkedIn , YouTube or via the TTU website . IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written  here . And you can get a free copy of my latest…

People in this episode

Host: Niels Kaastrup-Larsen

Guests: Hari Krishnan, Cem Karsan

Topics covered

  • passive investing
  • market dynamics
  • price discovery
  • volatility targeting
  • government intervention
  • asset prices

Keywords

  • passive ownership
  • price discovery
  • mega-cap stocks
  • reflexive instability
  • market flows
  • investor positioning

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