Episode 9: Integrated Research, Xref and Mailbag

Growth is often seen as synonymous with success in business. A company that expands rapidly, increases revenue, and captures market share is generally celebrated as a triumph of entrepreneurship and innovation. But beneath this enthusiasm lies a deceptive truth: not all growth is good, and much of it can, paradoxically, destroy long-term value for the very people who own the […]

Can this tech innovator follow in the footsteps of Nearmap?

You might have heard the tale about the fund manager with a quirky hiring practice. Each time he needed a new analyst, he’d begin by taking half the resumes and — without even a glance — tossing them straight in the bin. His rationale? “I don’t hire unlucky people.” Now, while this story is almost certainly apocryphal, there’s a twisted […]

There’s a UK small-cap fund manager, now retired, called Harry Nimmo. In a recent talk for The Library of Mistakes, he gave a masterclass in small-cap investing. He knows what he’s talking about too. The fund he ran, the Aberdeen UK Smaller Companies Fund, delivered a 1,979% return over 25 years and was recognised as the second-best performing UK fund […]

Reporting season is always a great opportunity to help separate the signal (business fundamentals) from the noise (share prices). As companies start to drop their half-year results, it’s worth framing up what it is you’re looking for. How you do that will depend on the particular investment strategy you employ but, if you have a longer-term focus, here are a […]

At a recent value investing conference, money manager Mohnish Pabrai, a self-described “shameless cloner” of Buffett and Munger, sat down for a fireside chat. In it, he shared wisdom that, while far from original, bears repeating. Indeed, the fact that Pabrai’s wisdom is essentially repackaged lessons from Berkshire’s dynamic duo is precisely one of his key messages. In investing, while […]

Any investment that promises low risk and high returns is almost certainly a scam. It’s the financial equivalent of getting something for nothing — a fantasy that ends only in disappointment. In the real world, certainty comes at a price. And that price is lower returns. Think about it; if a largely ‘risk-free’ but high return investment were available, it would attract a […]

This week, the Aussie market entered what is popularly called a ‘technical correction’ — that is, a fall of 10% or more from a previous high. In so doing, it wiped off all of the gains from the past year.  Exactly who decided that a 10% drop is a correction I have no idea, but it sure can seem pretty scary. You certainly […]