Christopher Zook
American investor, founder and chairman of CAZ Investments and co-author of The Holy Grail of Investing
Christopher Zook (American investor, founder and chairman of CAZ Investments and co-author of The Holy Grail of Investing) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Diversification (finance), Energy demand and data centers, OOCEMR decision-making framework.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Diversification (finance)
Zook argues that the more risk-averse an investor is, the more diversified their portfolio should be.
“So the more risk averse somebody is, the more diversified they should be”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 36:57
Zook says the most common investor mistake he sees is making decisions in dollar terms rather than percentages of a portfolio.
“People make investment decisions based on dollars. That is crazy. No professional investor does that. It has to be on percentages”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 37:08
Zook argues risk is really volatility tolerance and that most investors overestimate their ability to hold through losses.
“If you can't see it turn into 50 cents overnight, you don't belong in it”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 33:22
Zook says average portfolio correlation has risen from about 15% in 2005 to 82% today, worsening to 89% in down markets.
“your average correlation was about 0.15, which meant they correlated about 15% with each other. 85%, they were moving different directions, okay? Today, literally, with no change in that asset allocation, it is 82% correlation”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 11:18
Energy demand and data centers
Zook says the reserve replacement ratio shows energy is being consumed five times faster than it is being replaced this decade.
“for every one unit of energy that we're consuming, we're only replacing 0.2 of that energy. So we're consuming at five times faster the rate than what we're creating new energy”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 1:19:12
Zook predicts energy demand will exceed supply in 2028 and argues all forms of energy will be needed.
“Those lines are expected to cross in 2028, where we will literally not have as much power as we need to be able to meet all the demand”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 1:17:32
OOCEMR decision-making framework
Zook argues emotion is the enemy of investment success and must be removed via a consistent percentage-based process.
“Emotion is the enemy. To investment success, period. So you have to be clinical and you have to remove the emotion”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 1:27:56
Private equity
Zook says his firm's operating principle is to assess the worst case first and trust the upside to follow.
“what's the worst case scenario? If we can live with that, the upside will take care of itself”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 49:20
Sports franchise investment
Zook cites the shift in live television viewing toward sports as the underlying driver of franchise value.
“14 of the top 100 watch programs that were live in the United States were sports. 14 out of 100. In 2025, 96 of the top 100 watch live programs were sports”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 25:28
401(k)
Zook describes the proposed Labor Department rule permitting alternatives in 401(k) plans as a game changer for retail access.
“That is a total game changer for the industry to be able to allow people for the first time to be able to invest in so much of the economy that they've been prohibited from before”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 18:52
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accredited investor rules
Zook says an SEC decision in June 2025 allowed non-accredited investors to buy into certain alternative asset funds for a $2,500 minimum.
“said people do not have to be an accredited investor anymore to invest in certain types of funds which own alternative assets”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 17:55
Magnificent Seven (stocks)
Zook argues owning the Magnificent Seven is not diversification because those stocks move together.
“I own like six out of the seven of the Magnificent Seven. Right. I'm like, dude, you are not diversified. They all move together”
Modern Wisdom: The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153 (Sep 21, 2026) · Listen from 11:24
Appearances
The New Way For Ordinary People To Build Wealth - Tony Robbins - #1153Modern Wisdom · Sep 21, 2026 · 1 h 30 min
Tony Robbins and Christopher Zook tell Chris Williamson how ordinary investors can access private equity, sports teams and alternatives to diversify risk.
Often appears with
- Chris Williamson · 1 shared episode
- Tony Robbins · 1 shared episode