The Rules of Investing

Making money from market falls

This week’s guest on The Rules of Investing (ROI) is Ben McGarry, founder and Portfolio Manager at Totus Capital, and an expert in short selling. Ben started his career at an accountant at PWC, allowing him to gain skills that would be invaluable later as he searched for frauds, fads, and failures on the short-side of his fund’s portfolio.
Tune in below to hear about the accounting tricks companies use to mask their true performance, his public short on a household name, and why it took a public short-report from Glaucus to bring attention to the issues at Quintis and Blue Sky.

Investing through uncertainty

Guest: Michael Thawley, AO,Vice Chairman of Capital Group International.
Whether you're investing in equities, debt, or alternatives, uncertainty is an inescapable part of the game. But Michael Thawley, AO, Vice Chairman of Capital Group International, says this current period of political uncertainty is unique;
"I've never been more unsure about what the future holds than I am now."
And he should know, having spent 46 years in foreign affairs, diplomacy, and politics. His appointments have been wide ranging, including International Advisor to John Howard, Australian Ambassador to the USA, and Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister. Now, having left political life, he advises Capital Group, the world’s largest active fund manager, on important geopolitical issues. In this week’s episode of The Rules of Investing, we discuss the US-China trade war, Australia's relationship with China, and we'll hear about the time he was personally invited to the Whitehouse by President George W Bush.

The Rules of Investing: The virus that affects all assets

When a young Charlie Jamieson arrived at work in London on September 11th, 2001, little did he know how much that day would affect his views on markets. At the time, he was trading US Dollar bonds from Merrill Lynch’s London office, having just left the New York office three weeks earlier. It was a harrowing time, but it wouldn’t be the last time that he faced a major catastrophe as an investor. Years later, he found himself managing Euro portfolios throughout the GFC and the Euro Crisis. While many investors would remember the equity sell-offs that follow, these crises were often centred around debt markets. But it’s not just times of crisis that rates matter, in the full podcast, Charlie explains why interest rates are the virus that affects all assets.

The Rules of Investing: A bright future for growth investing

Guest: Nick Griffin, Chief Investment Officer at Munro Partners.
For decades, traditional wisdom has held that value investing is the only way to outperform, and with good reason. Until the GFC, value had outperformed growth in all but a few brief periods, and those periods immediately preceded a major bear market. But for nearly a decade now, growth has produced superior returns.
While some may argue that zero interest rates and quantitative easing are to blame/thank (depending on your positions), a look at the top 10 companies in the world tells a different story. As the world exited the worst of the GFC, the top 10 companies in the world were all traditional businesses – oil, supermarkets, banks, and telcos. 10 years later, the list is dominated by digital businesses.

The Rules of Investing: Navigating the late cycle with Paul Moore

Paul Moore, founder & CIO of PM Capital, discusses his big picture views, characteristics of investments to own and avoid, examples of current pricing anomalies and one major risk being caused by investor crowding.

The Rules of Investing: Feast and Famine with Allan Gray

This week's guest is Simon Mawhinney, Chief Investment Officer of Allan Gray. We learn about the ‘feast and famine' nature of contrarian investing, why a long-term approach is essential to success, and then finish with Simon’s contrarian case for Telstra.

The Rules of Investing: How Alex Waislitz uncovers hidden gems

In the ‘go-go 80s’, a young Alex Waislitz worked for the legendary Australian entrepreneur, Robert Holmes á Court. Holmes á Court was Australia’s first billionaire, though he lost much of his fortune in the ’87 crash – a valuable lesson for the young Waislitz. Some 30 years later, Waislitz has built a fortune of his own, primarily through investing well. In an exclusive interview with Livewire, Waislitz explains one of the key lessons he learned working for Holmes á Court: "I learned from him to look for hidden value that others may have overlooked… He was a master at identifying value that others seemed to disregard. I'm always looking for the jewels - what is there in the company that hasn't been noticed?" In our latest podcast, we take a dive into the process that’s allowed him to achieve outstanding returns, including his top reasons to walk away from a potential investment.

The Rules of Investing: Is Value Dead?

Today's guest is Kurt Winrich, Co-CEO and Portfolio Manager at WCM Investment Management, and he’s got a very different take on what a great long-term investment looks like. When Warren Buffett first started buying businesses with ‘moats’ in the 80s, such as Coca Cola, his disciples thought he was crazy. More than 30 years later, buying businesses with a moat is accepted wisdom. Morningstar even offers a 'moat rating' on thousands of stocks from around the world. WCM is a staff-owned firm in Laguna Beach in California that manages over AU$36B for clients globally. They act as the investment advisor for Contango's Global Growth LIC, and will shortly be launching an Exchange Traded Managed Fund on the ASX. In today’s podcast, we discuss the importance of culture, why the size of your moat doesn’t matter, and where the world’s biggest opportunities will come from in the coming years.