Simon Conn’s guide to surviving the small cap 'torture chamber'
The professional investment game is relentless. No matter where you are in the world, you cannot escape the endless procession of markets. Sure, you can go on holiday and attempt the concept of relaxation, but each morning when you wake up, Wall Street has just closed. It’s impossible not to sneak a peek. Each month your numbers are measured against the market and your peers. There is no hiding.
After 27 years and more than 50 reporting seasons, one of the mainstays of the Australian share market, IML’s Simon Conn, is stepping aside for a well-earned break. It might be permanent. It might be a refresh. Only time will tell.
Conn joined IML back in 1998 - teaming up with market legend and past guest Anton Tagliaferro. Before long, Conn found himself overseeing the tough end of town - small caps.
In those 27 years he has seen the rise of the internet, the smartphone, the GFC, COVID, and now the AI revolution. Through all of that, investors like Conn have been told it’s a new world. Concepts like ARR, PCV and the Rule of 40 have taken hold, while old measures like PE ratios have been pushed aside for revenue multiples.
Meanwhile, the Small Ords index has underperformed for decades. It all sounds like a torture chamber, but somehow Conn has come through it, delivering 12 percent returns for more than two and a half decades.
In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Conn shares the lessons he learned over his career and how he adapted his approach as markets evolved and over the past three decades.
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Nick Griffin on finding stocks that can double earnings in 5 years
Nick Griffin’s path to fund management may have seemed preordained, his father worked in the industry, but his journey has been anything but ordinary.
After completing a commerce degree, Griffin missed out on a graduate role with one of the big four accounting firms. That setback led him to the Commonwealth Bank’s investment team, where he cut his teeth before embarking on a backpacking trip that ultimately set the trajectory for his career.
Landing in London, Griffin took on a role as an oil and gas analyst and soon found himself in Edinburgh, the traditional home of UK fund management. It was there he immersed himself in the world of long-term capital, working closely with some of the oldest and most respected investment houses in Europe.
Eventually, Griffin returned to Australia and joined K2 Asset Management, where he ran the firm’s global fund. Then, in 2017, he co-founded Munro Partners with a clear mission, back companies set to double their earnings in five years or less by riding powerful structural tailwinds.
In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Griffin shares how he built Munro from $20 million to more than $5 billion in FUM, the key signals he looks for in structural winners, and what comes next for AI, healthcare, and defence investing.
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Jake Klein: The West is ill-prepared for what lies ahead and the gold price reflects this
Jake Klein left a high-flying banking career to chase a hunch about gold, and it paid off in spades. From pioneering mining ventures in China to building Evolution Mining into a $16 billion powerhouse, Klein has made a habit of spotting value where others see risk. In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, he shares how growing up in South Africa shaped his thinking, why Western democracies are unprepared for what’s coming, and what the gold price is really telling us.
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How Fidelity’s Paul Taylor stays ahead of the market
We're often told that beating the market over the long term is impossible. A lucky year or two? Maybe. But doing it for more than two decades? That’s supposed to be out of reach.
Paul Taylor has defied that logic. Managing a concentrated portfolio of 30 to 50 local stocks through everything from the GFC to the COVID crash. It sounds exhausting - but he shows no signs of slowing down.
In today’s turbulent market, Taylor’s perspective is more relevant than ever. In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, he shares the key ingredients for long-term success, explains why failure is inevitable in stock picking, and offers his view on why the current obsession with tariffs and trade tensions will ultimately be seen as little more than short-term noise. It’s a rare opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s most consistent and enduring investors.
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Bob Desmond: Patiently picking the eyes out of quality global growth stocks
Go back 20 years and consensus said that managing international equity portfolios from Australia was just too difficult.
Bob Desmond and his team at Claremont Global are proving that is yesterday’s thinking. Starting from scratch in 2012 the business has grown to over $1 billion and the style of picking the eyes out of quality growth has been able to outpace global markets.
Desmond grew up in Rhodesia, the southern African country that was renamed Zimbabwe in 1980. He studied economics in Western Australia before heading back to his homeland to start working in markets.
Life became difficult under the Mugabe regime and Desmond packed his bags and headed to London where his world view opened before his eyes. It was here that he developed his quality growth strategy for stocks.
Always keen to relocate to Australia, Desmond got the green light for his migration in 2008 just in time to sidestep the worst of the GFC. He kicked off his career at financial group Evans and Co. Four years later Desmond and his colleagues set up Claremont Global.
Desmond has used his vast experience garnered on three continents to identify the best growth stocks on the globe. He does not believe in too much diversification and thinks excessive trading is counterproductive.
Tune in to the latest episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff to learn about Desmond's unique style of investing and some of the companies in the concentrated Claremont Global Fund.
Take a front-row seat to hear the stories behind some of Australia’s most successful and iconic sports people and business leaders. The show is hosted by Matthew Kidman, former business editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and author of three books. Kidman takes the time to uncover the rarely heard stories behind these successful individuals to give listeners a unique perspective of what makes them tick.
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