Have you ever wondered what investing in Emerging Markets is all about? It’s complicated, right? And having witnessed a decade or more of US dollar dominance and outperforming developed markets, particularly US markets, why bother looking at the rest of the world? After all, isn’t that where all the bad stuff happens, like currency crises and debt defaults?

Recently, there have been signs that Emerging Markets might be re-emerging. This year, there have been signs that the dollar’s dominance may not be so dominant. Following the Fed’s decision to cut rates by 50 basis points, China announced an intention to add significant heft to its policy of loosening monetary and fiscal conditions in the world’s second-largest economy.

Following an extended period of being considered uninvestable, Chinese equities had a near 30% bounce in a couple of weeks. Was this just some hasty short closing or a re-awakening of the biggest emerging markets? This is currently one of the fiercest debates among global investors.

I wanted to get the perspective of an emerging markets expert, so I was delighted to have the chance to speak with Leila Kardouche of Variis Partners. Leila is a veteran of the space, and she and her small team recently launched a new London-based emerging markets partnership. This partnership fills a space left by several high-profile investors who have recently left this area due to its long period of disappointing returns.

In this episode, we learn about the structure of Emerging Markets and how benchmark indices such as the MSCI are not very helpful in uncovering the full potential of the growth opportunities often obscured within these markets. Among other things, Leila discusses how to evaluate political risk in this widely diverse range of markets as we tour what’s hot and what’s not in an investment universe covering 85% of the world’s population.

Critically, Leila and the Variis team focus on stock selection. Leila discusses how the challenges of growing businesses in emerging markets have produced some very successful compounding growth opportunities. Yes, these companies have outperformed strongly even within markets like China, which has been disappointing overall.

For my recent Substack covering emerging markets, please see, Are Emerging Markets Re-emerging?

Be sure you are subscribed to In The Company of Mavericks on your podcast app to avoid missing the next and future episodes.

Made possible by Progressive Equity.

Have you ever wondered what investing in Emerging Markets is all about? It’s complicated, right? And having witnessed a decade or more of US dollar dominance and outperforming developed markets, particularly US markets, why bother looking at the rest of the world? After all, isn’t that where all the bad stuff happens, like currency crises and debt defaults?

Recently, there have been signs that Emerging Markets might be re-emerging. This year, there have been signs that the dollar’s dominance may not be quite so dominant. Following the Fed’s decision to cut rates by 50 basis points, China announced an intention to add significant heft to its policy of loosening monetary and fiscal conditions in the world’s second-largest economy.

Following an extended period of being considered uninvestable, Chinese equities had a near 30% bounce in a couple of weeks. Was this just some hasty short closing or a re-awakening of the biggest emerging markets? This is currently one of the fiercest debates among global investors.

I wanted to get the perspective of an emerging markets expert, so I was delighted to have the chance to speak with Leila Kardouche of Variis Partners. Leila is a veteran of the space, and she and her small team recently launched a new London-based emerging markets partnership, filling a space left by several high-profile investors who have recently left this area due to its long period of disappointing returns.

In this episode, we learn about the structure of Emerging Markets and how benchmark indices such as the MSCI are not very helpful in uncovering the full potential of the growth opportunities often obscured within these markets. Among other things, Leila discusses how to evaluate political risk in this widely diverse range of markets as we take a tour of what’s hot and what’s not in an investment universe covering 85% of the world’s population.

Critically, Leila and the Variis team focus on stock selection. Leila discusses how the challenges of growing businesses in emerging markets have produced some very successful compounding growth opportunities. Yes, these companies have outperformed strongly even within markets like China, which has been disappointing overall.

Be sure you are subscribed to In The Company of Mavericks on your podcast app to avoid missing the next and future episodes.

Made possible by Progressive Equity.

A few months ago, I chatted with Adam Rackley, the SVS Dowgate Cape Wrath Focus Fund manager featured in Episode 39, Market Capitulations & Narrative Shifts.

We were reading a great new Substack called Sweet Stocks, which featured weekly in-depth write-ups of some fascinating quality compounding growth stocks. Not only were we impressed with Sweet Stocks’ quality, but the weekly publication cadence also meant it was the work of a highly experienced and disciplined analyst.

A few weeks later, we chatted with Alex Sweet, the man behind the Substack, about what motivates his work, his investment philosophy, his analytical rigour, and, crucially, some of his UK stock ideas.

Alex didn’t disappoint. He gave a masterclass on investing in quality compounding companies capable of “beating the fade” and on how he uses his fundamental analytical approach to find these anomalous gems globally.

This episode teaches how Adam and Alex use similar, in-depth fundamental frameworks to derive different strategies. Adam focuses on contrarian deep value, while Alex focuses on growth at a reasonable price.

These two investors illustrate the type of discipline involved in professional investment analysis. They also share an interest in the crazy world of Ultrarunning. Alex talks about his newfound passion for the Backyard Ultra, an offshoot of the Barkley Marathons, an event he hopes to run 300 miles in three days later this year.

The stocks we cover in this episode are 4imprint, YouGov and Loungers.

I must just tell you that the people on this podcast might own shares in the companies mentioned, but nothing you are about to hear is investment advice. The opinions expressed are purely the contributors' personal views and do not represent the views of Progressive Equity or any other organisation mentioned in this podcast. I hope you find this content informative and entertaining. I learned a lot, but please take professional financial advice before investing a penny in these crazy markets.

I also wrote a Substack article about this podcast at HyperNormalTimes.

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Adam Rackley joins me for a conversation with growth stock analyst and ultra runner Alex Sweet of Sweet Stocks.

Alex discusses his background and investment philosophy, and we chat about three UK equities he has covered in his newsletters: 4imprint, YouGov & Loungers.

COMING SOON on all good podcast apps.

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For this episode, I am joined by Duncan MacInnes, manager of The Ruffer Investment Company, for a conversation about his investment philosophy and how he thinks about risk in today’s financial markets.

He describes himself as a pragmatic, macro-informed, value investor.

The Ruffer Investment Company is a billion-pound London-listed investment company with the simple aim of delivering consistent positive returns regardless of how financial markets perform with the ambition to protect and increase the real value of its investor's capital.

A simple but challenging mandate.

To achieve this distinctive objective, Duncan has a highly differentiated strategy and has constructed a portfolio that looks nothing like most portfolios.

Since launch in the early 2000s, Ruffer has a good long term track record.

However, over the last couple of years, performance has slipped as risk assets, particularly equities, have outperformed Duncan’s expectations.

But Ruffer’s performance has a tendency, as Duncan says, to perform like ketchup coming out of a glass bottle.

The events of early August, as the yen carry trade sent markets in a spin, offered a brief glimpse of the better times that might lie ahead for this fund.

Duncan offers a master class in different, often esoteric, markets and how he has used instruments such as gold, FX, credit spreads, derivatives, inflation-linked bonds and even bitcoin to find uncorrelated returns and asymmetric and reflexive risk profiles.

Duncan is positive on the outlook for gold, the yen, and commodities. However, he thinks investors are over their skis regarding US equities, specifically the Mag Seven.

He is more positive about UK equities and describes why the consensual view that Chinese equities are uninvestable draws him to them.

As he says, we are all invested in China already, but at several times the value of most Chinese stocks.

As always, nothing you hear in this podcast is investment advice, and all the views expressed by the contributors are in a personal capacity only and do not represent the views of Progressive Equity or any other organization mentioned in this podcast.

Please enjoy my conversation with the maverick, Duncan MacInnes.

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Coming soon, Duncan MacInnes presents a tour de force of the major financial asset classes and how to manage risk in today's crazy markets.

He covers why he is so bullish on gold, gold miners, the yen and UK equities, and long Chinese equities, the ugliest in his portfolio of ugly ducklings.

He also riffs on the yen carry trade, Bitcoin, premium drinks, and how we might know we are nearer the top than the bottom of the current equity market cycle.

Made possible by Progressive Equity Research.

In today’s episode, I am joined by Mark Wharrier, an experienced professional investor who previously worked with companies such as Mercury and Black Rock and is now focused on investing in public and private companies.

We have a fascinating conversation with Ami Daniel, the co-founder and CEO of AIM-listed Windward.

Windward is a 14-year-old company that provides B2B data and software solutions. It helps governments and businesses track, manage, comply with, and protect maritime assets worldwide. Its solutions provide awareness and insights into what Ami calls the problem of big oceans and small ships.

Windward was listed on AIM in 2021 and is currently valued at £120m.

Ami is a high-energy entrepreneur. Having survived a near-death experience while serving in the Israeli Navy in 2006, he has established Windward as a high-growth, recurring revenue company with a large addressable market. Ami is one of life’s optimists and a joy to chat with.

In this episode, he discusses the challenges of running an unprofitable growth company, how being told "NO" is only temporary, the importance of building resilience, and why listing in London has been such a positive move for him and the business.

It was great having Mark’s experienced approach to guide Ami through the key pillars of Windward’s investment case and paint a picture of what Windward could become as it approaches profitability and reinvests in its rapidly growing platform.

I must remind you that this is for information purposes only. None of what you hear in this episode is investment or any other type of advice, and the views expressed are purely those of the contributors and not the views of Progressive Equity or any other organisation mentioned in this podcast.

Please enjoy our conversation with the maverick, Ami Daniel.

Made possible by Progressive Equity.

Coming soon on your favourite podcast app is a fascinating chat with Ami Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Windward. Ami is a high-energy entrepreneur driving the fastest annual recurring revenue business in the London market, and he was a joy to talk with. Windward has an impressive customer list and is building a suite of AI-powered products to drive Ami's ambition for Winward to become a multiple hundred-million-dollar revenue "rule of 40 company."

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