In this episode, David is joined by Mattias Westman & Akshay Bhutiani of Prosperity Capital Management. A fund manager that focuses on investing in public companies across Russia and former USSR countries. They discuss the opportunities that this region provides to investors, citing examples of companies offering 20% yield whilst trading at three times earnings. Mattias and Akshay also discuss their thoughts on the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as why Mattias believes ...
Feb 04, 2022•32 min
In this episode, David is joined by Karl Wellner of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management, a US firm that provides investment solutions to some of Europe and the United States wealthiest individuals, family offices, endowments, institutions, and foundations. David and Karl delve into the types of clients that Papamarkou manages, including the issues that they face. He goes on to discuss the relationship process and the "marathon" of investing money on behalf of these clients. Karl also explains so...
Jan 24, 2022•29 min
In this episode, David is joined by Warren Ebert the founder and CEO of Sentinel Property Group. A group that has secured over $2bn of property transactions, whilst delivering IRRs across these assets of close to 20% p.a. Warren’s in-depth knowledge of all property sectors, supported by the specialist skills and analysis of the wider Sentinel team, is central to the group’s proven buying and value-adding strategy. He established Sentinel Property Group after more than 20 years’ high-level experi...
Jan 10, 2022•41 min
According to Jeremy Grantham a co-founder of GMO, global warming will be the most important investment issue for the foreseeable future. In this episode Lucas White (Portfolio Manager of the GMO Climate Change Trust) joins David to discuss their Climate Change strategy's origins, as well as its objectives and the opportunities going forward. Lucas and the team at GMO believe that climate change is among the most important investment opportunities facing investors today. Their belief is proving c...
Dec 27, 2021•44 min
David is joined by Erik Sprinchorn of Tin Fonder's New Technology fund. The TIN Fonder New Technology fund is an equity strategy that invests in technology, health and digital brands and has been able to generate returns since Inception from March 2019 to November 2021 of over 35% p.a. The fund invests in technology-driven growth companies with a focus on the Nordic region. Tin Fonder started the New Technology strategy with the belief that digital assets will become more valuable in the future....
Dec 13, 2021•30 min
The Collins St Value Fund has delivered 19.6% p.a. net return since inception in February 2016 to October 2021 – a result which has seen a total net return of almost 180% over that time. In this episode, Michael joins David to discuss the Collins Street Value Fund and it's investment strategy. Michael and David highlight the information arbitrage that Collins St seeks to find in the companies that they invest in. From on the ground research in businesses such as Metcash, to undiscovered resource...
Nov 29, 2021•40 min
Following on from their discussion last quarter, fellow Koda Partner Frank Macindoe joins David in another episode of Inside the Rope to provide an update on the recent performance of the Koda Enduring Equities Portfolio (KEEP), along with his outlook on markets, broad market concerns such as inflation, economist forecasts, and company valuations. Frank flags his concerns regarding the recent strong performance of financial markets, and notes their mean-reverting nature, in which periods of stro...
Nov 15, 2021•28 min
In this episode, Michael joins David to discuss his career and path into investing for purpose. They discuss Michael's involvement in several investments, including ABC Learning Centres (Now Goodstart Early Learning) that went into liquidation in 2008; as well as the social impacts that were derived from these investments. As Founding Chief Executive of Social Ventures Australia, an organisation offering innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems, Michael is a wealth of know...
Nov 01, 2021•29 min
Yasmin joins David in this episode to define what creates good governance in businesses as well as her thoughts on the future of work. Yasmin has an extremely diverse background, currently acting as the Chairman of several organisations including Advance, Digital Skills Organisation and the Harrison Riedel Foundation. She is also a non-executive director at ASX Limited, Cochlear, Santos, National Portrait Gallery and The George Institute for Global Health. Her previous directorships include IAG ...
Oct 18, 2021•39 min
Adrian joins the podcast again to discuss Merricks Capital's new agriculture fund. A senior secured loan strategy that provides lending to agricultural assets whilst targeting a return of the RBA's cash rate + 8% p.a. and sitting in a favourable position in the capital stack. As Adrian highlights in the episode, Merricks leverages the teams experience in Agricultural loans whilst taking advantage of the banks reduced capacity to lend in this space. As a non-bank lender, Merricks can procure and ...
Oct 04, 2021•32 min
Since it's inception in July 2009, Wavestone's Dynamic Australian Equity Fund has produced a respectable net of fee return of 11.5% to Aug 2021 compared to the ASX 300's 10.1%. In this episode, we discuss Cathrine's background, as well as her style of investing, and the metrics Wavestone use to value companies. With Cathrine a successful individual in the funds management industry, we were able to touch on some of the challenges facing females in the funds management industry today. Finally, Cat...
Sep 21, 2021•33 min
In the special 100th episode of Inside The Rope, David is joined by Hamish Douglass of Magellan. Throughout the episode, Hamish references some of the world’s greatest investors such as Warren Buffet, Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher and Peter Lynch and discusses the impact these legends have had on Hamish’s own approach to investing. Hamish highlights some of the key behaviours that lead some investors to be successful and offers thoughts on how we can leverage these behaviours throughout our own i...
Sep 06, 2021•54 min
In this episode, David is joined by Phil Green of The Alceon Group. Phil is generous in sharing his learnings over the years, including that as a CEO of Babcock & Brown, & now as a Founder of Alceon. Phil Green has over 30 years of experience specialising in structured finance and advisory, leasing, asset based financing, principal investment and funds management. Phil has extensive expertise in property, financial assets, infrastructure and other forms of asset backed finance including ...
Aug 25, 2021•49 min
In this episode, David is joined by Emma Fisher, Portfolio Manager and Head of Research at Airlie Funds Management. To date, Arlie's flagship Australian Share Fund has returned 13.82% p.a. since inception in 1 June 2018 to 31 July 2021. Airlie is a specialist Australian equities fund manager which brings together some of Australia’s most experienced industry participants. Airlie has an active, value-based investment style that aims to deliver attractive long-term capital growth and regular incom...
Aug 10, 2021•37 min
David speaks with Andrew Rado, Managing Director & CIO of Longreach Maris. A strategy that aims to provide an ecologically sustainable investment by delivering a robust alternative income stream, through scalable investment in the wild-caught fisheries Individual Transferrable Quota (ITQ) sector. The total market capitalisation of Australia’s ITQs is estimated to be approximately A$22 billion, with the Australian wild-caught fishing industry a lucrative sector that operates within a highly r...
Jul 27, 2021•40 min
In this episode, David speaks with John Murray of Perennial, an Australian Funds Management Hall of Famer. They discuss John's background and career to date, his investment outlook, the challenges that fund managers face, as well as the key areas that he identifies as opportunities in the current environment. John started his career like many successful Australian fund managers by obtaining his CA. He began within Price Waterhouse's (Now PWC) Auditing & Insolvency division and from there pur...
Jul 12, 2021•43 min
In this episode, David speaks with Peter Cooper of Cooper Investors. Peter founded Cooper Investors in 2001. As Chief Investment Officer, Peter created and implemented the firm’s VoF investment philosophy which is applied across the international, domestic and Asian equities strategies. He is responsible for mentoring investment team members and the standardisation and integration of the process across the investment teams. Peter has over 30 years of investment management experience. In 1987 he ...
Jun 29, 2021•56 min
In this episode, David speaks with both Prasad Patkar (Head of Qualitative Investments) and Peter Brooke (Head of Quantitative Investments) at Platypus Asset Management. Prior to joining Platypus in February 2008 Prasad was the Chief Investment Officer with Audant Investments Pty Ltd, joining that company in 2001. The role carried executive responsibility for the performance of all asset classes for the Whyte Family Office including listed equities, alternative investments, property, operating b...
Jun 15, 2021•28 min
Daniel Pickering is the CIO at The ListedReserve, a fund manager that runs several strategies that invest across the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Being at an important juncture in the history of cryptocurrencies, whereby different coins & protocols are attempting to validate both their utility and therefore their value; Daniel from The ListedReserve sits down with David to discuss cryptocurrencies as well as their future. Daniel and David also discuss the potential of government intervention an...
May 31, 2021•46 min
David speaks with Tim King of Melior. Melior was established in 2018 by Lucy Steed and Tim King with backing from the founders of Adamantem Capital, Rob Koczkar and Anthony Kerwick. After scanning the market, they saw a gap for an Australian equities impact investment manager. They have formed a team of experienced investment professionals who share a common goal – to be part of the change they want to see in the world. Tim co-founded Melior and is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO). He has work...
May 17, 2021•39 min
Beryl Capital is a strategy run by David Witkin that has typically invested in merger arbitrage opportunities. This strategy has delivered investors net returns over 20% p.a. since inception in June 2011 to March 2021. However, David joins the podcast again to discuss the strategies transition towards also investing in SPACS - Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies. He touches on what a SPAC is, the structure of the deals, the potential risks and the potential upsides. David is a 2001 graduate of...
May 03, 2021•34 min
Following on from their discussion late last year (2020), fellow Koda Partner Frank Macindoe joins David in another episode of Inside the Rope to provide an update on the recent performance of the Koda Enduring Equities Portfolio (KEEP), along with his outlook on markets, specific sectors and the ongoing discussion regarding value vs growth. Frank and David touch on the trends that helped provide this return, as well as how Frank is thinking about markets at the moment. Frank and David also delv...
Apr 20, 2021•36 min
Producing annualized returns of 23.33% p.a. since inception May 2013 to Feb 2021, the Arnott Opportunities Fund has outperformed the MSCI by over 15% p.a.; and in this episode, David and Kenny discuss both the evolution of Arnott Capital and the approach taken by the team to generate such 'asymmetric returns'. That is, in Kenny's words "Finding ideas with a lot of upside and not a lot of downside". Kenny Arnott has thirty years experience in equity and commodity markets. Prior to founding Arnott...
Apr 06, 2021•35 min
In this special recast, we're trying something a little different. Returning 300% since episode 5 was published in November 2017, ARK has grown into a global phenomenon well-known for investing in some of the largest growth names of the future. Companies such as Tesla, Nvidia, Square, Shopify and more. ARK defines ‘‘disruptive innovation’’ as the introduction of a technologically enabled new product or service that potentially changes the way the world works. Companies within ARKK include those ...
Mar 25, 2021•35 min
John comes back onto Inside The Rope to highlight his views of the market, including the current volatility and headline-grabbing trades such as the Gamestop short squeeze; alongside other areas of the market that John believes could be in, or heading towards bubble territory. He and David also discuss recent market performance and retail inflows into financial markets which John refers to as "Mass Mania", causing valuations of companies to move into areas that would have never been previously f...
Mar 08, 2021•35 min
In this episode, David speaks with Chris about his current roles and background to date, in addition to how to pick fund managers along with how investors can use financial returns to support charitable causes and begin their philanthropic journey. Commencing his career as a chartered accountant, Chris Cuffe entered the funds management industry in 1985. In 1988 he joined Colonial First State where he was CEO from 1990 until 2003. In 2003 he became CEO of the listed Challenger Group. Chris is no...
Feb 22, 2021•46 min
Steve Tucker former CEO of MLC, and current Koda Capital Chairman joins David in this episode to discuss the evolution of advice and the importance it carries for high net worth individuals. Steve and David also touch on the transition from vertically integrated financial advice business models into the independent advice firms of today. As Chief Executive Officer of MLC until 2013, Steve was responsible for all of NAB’s Wealth businesses including MLC, NAB Private Wealth, and JBWere, with combi...
Feb 05, 2021•31 min
Rajeev Gupta of the Alium Alpha Fund joins David to discuss his career to date, the history of the Alium Alpha Fund, and the businesses that it invests in. In what Raj calls a "Crossover Fund", he explains how the Alium Alpha fund focuses on investing in both private & public companies; with a particular focus on providing later-stage funding to Technology & Innovative companies intending to list on the ASX in the future. The fund targets an annualized return of 20-25%. Rajeev has 20 yea...
Jan 18, 2021•43 min
Richard Quin of Bentham joins David to discuss the history of Bentham Asset Management, including its spin-off from Credit Suisse, along with the various credit strategies that it manages today. Bentham Asset Management is a specialist global fixed interest and credit investment manager. Bentham actively manages a number of high yielding funds with varying risk profiles. The portfolios are designed to generate income while diversifying risk in global credit markets. Richard Quin is the CIO &...
Jan 04, 2021•37 min
Justin joins David again to provide an update on the Ibex Israel strategy, a strategy that has returned 13.4% to the year ending November 2020 (in USD). Justin and David discuss the impact of COVID on Israeli companies, along with the restrictions on foreign investment and the opportunities that this provides. Justin also touches on the opportunities being found across the Israeli Technology sector, such as cyber and enterprise technologies; along with the acceleration of their adoption as a con...
Dec 23, 2020•16 min