Today we are breaking down healthcare, one of the most impactful sectors in the world, yet one of the most unique for investors. My guests are Rod Wong, founder and CIO of RTW Investments, and Stephanie Sirota, chief business officer of RTW Investments. RTW was founded in 2009 and operates a sector-specific strategy in healthcare. We discuss the evolution of their model, which feels particularly important given how much it aligns with the healthcare investment process. We cover the various phase...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 184
Today we are breaking down the paint giant Sherwin-Williams. Founded in 1866, Sherwin Williams is a great example of a company where everyday consumers might not appreciate just how great of a business and stock this has been. Over the last 20 years, Sherwin has compounded earnings at 14% per year. And over those 20 years, the stock has returned 26x your investment. And that's compared to the S&P at 5x your investment. This has been an incredible quiet compounder. My guest today is Todd Basnight...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 183
Today, we are breaking down the Japanese internet conglomerate Rakuten. I'm joined by Matt Brett, the lead manager of the Japan Trust at Baillie Gifford, which has continuously invested in Rakuten since 2005. Rakuten is the unique Japanese conglomerate that wasn't started over a hundred years ago and instead was part of the late nineties global internet boom. Matt helps explain what was different about that internet boom in Japan and how Rakuten was really shaped by it. We get into the various b...
Sep 11, 2024•55 min•Ep. 182
Today, we are breaking down Renishaw, a leading supplier of measuring and manufacturing systems, specifically focused on accuracy and precision. What does that mean in layman's terms? Renishaw is a picks and shovels provider to many of the fastest-growing end markets in the world. The company designs and develops systems for anything revolving around semiconductors, robotics, and medical devices. To break down Renishaw, I'm joined by Matt Tonge, fund manager at Liontrust Asset Management. Matt h...
Sep 04, 2024•50 min•Ep. 181
Today we are breaking down the publicly traded investment company 3i. You may think if you've seen one publicly traded investment vehicle, you've seen them all. Yet, 3i is an investment vehicle where one business, Dutch retailer, Action, represents well north of 50% of their net asset value. Our guest to break down 3i is Luke Bridgeman, a partner and portfolio manager at Hosking Partners. Luke shares the unique origin story of 3i, which dates back to pre-World War II in England. He takes us up t...
Aug 28, 2024•39 min•Ep. 180
This is Matt Reustle. We're coming up on 200 episodes of Business Breakdowns, and one of the best things about hosting this show is that while each episode brings something completely different, you start to see the connective tissue that ties businesses together. We're often asked, "What's your favorite episode?" I certainly have favorites, but there are ideas that emerge from episodes that really stand out to me. In this episode, you'll hear several audio clips from past Breakdowns that we thi...
Aug 21, 2024•23 min•Ep. 179
This is Jesse Pujji. Today, we're breaking down Graco, a leading manufacturer of fluid handling equipment and industrial products. Graco was founded in 1926 and has become a global leader in the design and manufacturing of systems and components used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray a wide variety of fluids and powders. If you've ever used a paint sprayer, you might be familiar with Graco's products, but Graco's equipment is used for much more than just household tasks. Its fluid h...
Aug 14, 2024•43 min•Ep. 178
I'm Zack Fuss and today we are breaking down Siemens Energy, a spinoff from industrial giant Siemens. Siemens Energy operates across the entire energy value chain, with a significant presence in both conventional and renewable power. What makes this company particularly interesting is its position at the forefront of the energy transition. Siemens is uniquely placed to bridge the gap between traditional energy sources and renewables. However, the company faces real challenges, particularly in it...
Aug 07, 2024•54 min•Ep. 177
Today we are diving into the economics of the Olympics. It's a timely episode with the Paris Games ongoing right now and the economic reality for host cities is extremely poor. It's estimated that Paris is going to spend $9 billion for these 2024 games and in return, they'll generate revenue somewhere in the mid-single-digit billions. Our guest is Andrew Zimbalist, author and economics Professor at Smith College. Andrew brings us behind the curtain to share more about the IOC, the bidding proces...
Jul 31, 2024•42 min•Ep. 176
Today, we are breaking down Axon Enterprise. You may know Axon as the pioneer of the taser. The business has truly evolved over the years and now has expanded into body cams and other supporting tools for law enforcement and the defense industries. Our guest is Danielle Menichella, portfolio manager at Sands Capital Management. Danielle details not just how Axon expanded its product offering but also how it's shifted its business model from pure hardware to a mix of hardware and software. It's v...
Jul 24, 2024•53 min•Ep. 175
Today, we are breaking down Rolls-Royce. A fair warning to those expecting to hear about luxury automobiles, that division was split from this business in the 1970s. But as we discuss the history of Rolls-Royce on this episode, you will hear how the DNA of this company still ties together from its early 1900s origins. Our guest is Graeme Forster from Orbis Investments. Graeme walks us through the core business of Rolls-Royce in the aerospace market, the evolving duopoly of the wide-body aircraft...
Jul 17, 2024•56 min•Ep. 174
This is Zack Fuss. Today, we are breaking down Cintas Corporation. It is America's largest uniform rental company, and for around $1.50 per worker per day, Cintas will collect, clean, and replace uniforms for organizations in industries such as lodging, hospitality, entertainment, manufacturing, and retail. To help break down Cintas, I am joined by Delian Entchev, a portfolio manager at Aoris Investment Management. The company's origins trace back to the Great Depression, when its founder, who w...
Jul 10, 2024•46 min•Ep. 173
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are breaking down Mineral Resources. Even if you've had some bad experiences investing in commodities, I would not skip over this one so quickly. Fraser Christie, investor at TDM Growth Partners, joined me to talk about how MinRes has taken a different approach to the historically cyclical boom-bust industry. We walk through the increasingly vertical integration of Mineral Resources' business and we get into some of the thoughtful capital allocation that has taken...
Jul 03, 2024•52 min•Ep. 172
Today, we are breaking down Motorola Solutions. This breakdown is a fascinating story of brand versus business, as Motorola was a mainstay on Interbrands' Top 100 Brand list for most of the 2000s. I'm joined by Portfolio Manager, Joseph Shaposhnik. We discuss how Motorola achieved stealth success over the past 15 years while Apple overtook its iconic flip phone. We also cover how CEO Greg Brown worked with two, and arguably three, activist investors to focus on mission-critical communications, a...
Jun 26, 2024•55 min•Ep. 171
This is Zack Fuss. Today, we are breaking down the U.S. Marina Industry. In the U.S. there are more than 11,000 marinas, grossing over $6 billion in sales. Today, there is a 12 to 1 ratio of registered boats versus the supply of rentable wet slips and dry storage spaces. Zoning regulations lead to limited supply growth, which has led to a sustained backdrop of strong, profitable growth for the industry. To break down the industry, I am joined by David Chesner, co-CEO of Grove Point Marinas, and ...
Jun 19, 2024•43 min•Ep. 170
Today, we are breaking down the South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang. If we ran through the taxonomy of investor interests, this Coupang conversation checks many boxes on that list. It is a founder-owned and operated business, a business that went through a massive pivot years into existence, a business that's replicating the Amazon model to success, and a business with healthy debates on the TAM & financial trajectory going forward. Our guest today is Drew Cohen from Speedwell Research. We wan...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 169
This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down Lifco, a Swedish conglomerate recognized amongst a group of notable Scandinavian serial acquirers. Lifco’s business focus is to acquire and develop market-leading niche companies that run independently and are largely self-funded business units. Carl Bennet, the current chairman, is the architect behind Lifco and was the former CEO of the famed Electrolux in the 1980s. After acquiring a business out of Electrolux with a friend, Carl formed the group ...
Jun 05, 2024•48 min•Ep. 168
We have a special episode today, breaking down the CHIPS Act. We've covered the semiconductor space in depth on Business Breakdowns, but in this conversation, we go broader. We discuss the CHIPS Act, enacted by Congress in 2022, which aimed at boosting the US's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to better compete with East Asia. America had been dependent on that foreign manufacturing which created massive shortages, having implications across some of our most important resources and defen...
May 31, 2024•49 min•Ep. 167
Today we are breaking down InterDigital, a really interesting business that sits completely under the radar for most investors. InterDigital has the foundational patented technology that makes mobile phone communication and device-to-device communication possible. Everything revolving around 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, the Internet of Things, and all of these devices in the world that communicate with one another is underpinned by InterDigital technology. My guest is Jenny Wallace, co-founder and CIO of Sum...
May 29, 2024•54 min•Ep. 166
Today, we break down India's largest non-banking financial company, Bajaj Finance. Bajaj has a market cap of over $50 billion, which can largely be attributed to the significant growth over the past two decades. One of the headline numbers that immediately caught my attention from Bajaj is that the loan book compounded 40% from 2009 to 2022. To break down Bajaj I'm joined by Saurabh Mukherjea, the founder and CIO of Marcellus Investment Managers. Saurabh previously joined us for a breakdown on T...
May 22, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 165
Welcome back for part two of this business breakdown on the private credit markets. I am now joined by Josh Clarkson, managing director at Prosek Partners. Our discussion with Armen was really focused on the supply & demand dynamics of private credit, where the public markets & regulatory markets have played a role, that certainty and speed of getting deals done, and how that has proved to be an advantage for private credit versus traditional solutions. In our conversation with Josh, we transiti...
May 15, 2024•46 min•Ep. 164
Today, we have a special two-part episode on private credit. In 2023, the global private credit market topped $2.1 trillion in assets and committed capital. Rather than making blanket statements like private credit is an emerging bubble, we wanted to explore the various segments of private credit and ask simple questions like “Where is this growth coming from?”, take a closer look at supply and demand, and capture some of the nuance that is so important to any analysis of these emerging markets....
May 15, 2024•54 min•Ep. 163
Today, we are breaking down British American Tobacco. Regardless of your views on tobacco as a product, the market is one of the oldest in the world. My guest for today is Evan Tindall, co-founder and CIO of Bireme Capital, and he helps us cover how the tobacco market has evolved. We go way back in time, discussing how the product itself has evolved from smoking pipes to cigarettes to what we're seeing today - the nicotine pouch market and all the craze around it. We also cover how you evaluate ...
May 08, 2024•47 min•Ep. 162
Today, we cover the industrial conglomerate AMETEK. This is one of eight companies that Mark Leonard and his team at Constellation Software studied as they built their own empire. And it's one well worthy of a discussion as you'll hear. To break down AMETEK, I'm joined by Nael Fakhry, Co-CIO of the Osterweis Capital Management Growth and Income Strategy. Nael has spent a significant amount of time around AMETEK from the early 2000s until today. Please enjoy this breakdown on AMETEK. Listen to Mi...
May 01, 2024•55 min•Ep. 161
Today, we're covering a behemoth in the research market, Gartner. Executives are willing to pay up to $30,000 for reports and $50,000+ for full subscriptions so they can access insights and data to help them make business decisions, purchasing decisions, and pivoting decisions. Our guest is Alvise Peggion, portfolio manager at Fairlight Asset Management. He helps us cover how Gartner grew into this at-scale player, how the research and sales model has been fine-tuned over time, and where the opp...
Apr 24, 2024•48 min•Ep. 160
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we break down Winmark, a major player in the reseller economy. You're likely familiar with some of Winmark’s brands, like Plato's Closet or Play It Again Sports. Altogether, Winmark operates five brands through a franchising model. Our guest to break down Winmark is the current CEO, Brett Heffes. During our conversation, we discuss the broader reseller economy, the dynamics of managing those brands and different franchise brands, and how Winmark thinks about growth. ...
Apr 17, 2024•51 min•Ep. 159
This is Matt Reustle. We are back in the world of aviation today, breaking down Embraer. Embraer has carved out an interesting niche, manufacturing regional jets, business jets, and military aircrafts. Our guest is Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director at AeroDynamic Advisory and long-time aviation analyst and consultant. We break down how this aviation success story grew out of Brazil, the evolution of the regional jet market, the business jet market, & tap into military aircrafts, and, of cours...
Apr 10, 2024•50 min•Ep. 158
Today we’re replaying our Breakdown on Boeing, hosted by Zack Fuss. We recorded the episode in September before the mid-air blowout on a Boeing 737 operated by Alaska Airlines and the subsequent management changes, but it serves as a useful overview of the commercial airline industry writ large, how we got here, and what the future might look like. It also pairs well with the breakdown we’re releasing next about Brazilian-based airplane manufacturer Embraer. So look out for that, and in the mean...
Apr 08, 2024•47 min
This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down Duolingo, the learning app built on language learning that is increasingly expanding into other territories like math and music. Founder Luis von Ahn is constantly looking for ways to make this accessible and free to use for people all around the world while simultaneously finding reasonable ways to monetize and create a profitable, longer-term business. Duolingo has adjusted its business model over time to ensure that this can happen. My guest is...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 157
This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down the Mitsubishi Corporation. In Japan, the business model of a trading company is prominent. The big five trading companies caught the attention of global investors in 2020, when Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a major stake in all of them: Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Marubeni, and Sumitomo. Today's Berkshire stake is nearly 10%. I'm joined by Krishna Mohanraj, a Portfolio Manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management. In this episode, we discuss how the ri...
Mar 27, 2024•46 min•Ep. 156
