Behind the Balance Sheet

Latest Episodes:

#43 The Growth Investor - Tom Slater on Scottish Mortgage, China & the Mag 7 Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

In this episode with Tom Slater of Baillie Gifford, managerof the £10bn Scottish Mortgage investment trust, we cover a lot of ground. Of course, we discuss his current thoughts on China and the Mag 7, including why he has trimmed Nvidia but still likes Meta and his thoughts on Elon Musk. Tom explainshis investing philosophy, what growth managers do differently from traditional value managers and how the firm’s culture has made Baillie Gifford such a successful manager.

Tom explains how he remains calm in the roller coaster rides of many of his stocks, with drawdowns of 60-70% common, notably Nvidia in 2022 on its way to that $3tn capitalisation; why he favours technical founders who can advantage their companies in the AI age; what Elon Musk said to him in 2013 and why that has stayed with him; the difference betweeninvesting in quoted companies and those in private markets; and why he and colleagues don’t pitch stocks to the team, which he believes gives them an important behavioural advantage.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#42 The Credit Expert - Greg Peters on ZIRP’s Legacy, Bonds, Covenants, & Equity vs Credit Risk Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

When it comes to credit, few people have better credentials than Greg Peters, co-CIO of PGIM, with AUM of $700bn. In this fascinating conversation, we discuss the differences between investing in equities and credit, the legacy of the zero interest rate period, why PGIM uses scenario based forecasting in preference to single point estimates, why covenants have gone out of fashion and why that’s dangerous, ad much more. Listen to the end for an update on the outlook for markets in 2025.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#41 The Composer - Anthony Bolton on 28 Years of 19.5% Returns, Mistakes & Staying Humble Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Anthony Bolton is best known for Fidelity Special Situationsfund’s 19.5% pa returns, 6% above his benchmark, over a 28 year period. He was not only a highly accomplished investor but was both revered and liked by his colleagues. Pragmatic, unfailingly courteous, courageous, and universally popular, he exhibits none of the arrogance that is sometimes exhibited by successful investors with far inferior performance.

In a first for this podcast, this interview was recorded live at the Library of Mistakes in Edinburgh on November 21, 2024, in front of an audience of investors, professional and amateur.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#40 The Chronicler - Lionel Barber on Masa Son, SoftBank, the FT & Wirecard Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Lionel Barber is the former editor of the Financial Timesand probably the only journalist on the planet to have interviewed Presidents Obama, Trump and Putin. Under his stewardship, the FT metamorphosed from a newspaper into a digital subscription business, and was sold to the Japanese company Nikkei for 44xearnings. And as editor, Barber fully backed up former guest Dan McCrum in his investigation of Wirecard.I was delighted when Lionel agreed to come on the show to talk about his new book, Gambling Man, a biography of Masa Son, founder of Softbank and creator of the $100bn Vision Fund. I have long been curious about Son, who for 3 days at the peak of the dot.com boom was the richest man in the world.Barber spent 3 years writing his meticulously researchedbook for which he interviewed 150 subjects, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, as he explains in our discussion. Some of his stories, including his description of Son’s inner sanctum, are marvellous.If you enjoy this episode, head over to our Substack, (sign up button on https://behindthebalancesheet.com/), take the monthly paid option and get exclusive additional content, including Steve's interview with Alok Sama, former CFO of Softbank International.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our website.
If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#39 The Optimizer - Bill Nygren on Modern Value Investing, the Mag 7 & Mistake Management Sep 19, 2024

Show notes

Bill Nygren has been at Harris Associates for over 40 years and considers himself a value investor. Yet his portfolio has owned Netflix, Amazon and Meta recently, while Alphabet is his largest position. Bill explains his unusual but highly effective approach to value investing.

Harris has also constructed a unique organisational methodology to handle investing mistakes – I have never encountered a process in which the analyst is changed when the stock doesn’t go to plan. Bill explains why and other techniques in this fascinating discussion. Steve was so looking forward to this conversation and Bill didn’t disappoint.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠website⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#38 The Cyclist - Peter Oppenheimer on Market Cycles, Secular Shifts & the Future of Equity Returns Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

Peter Oppenheimer is chief global equity strategist and head of Macro Research at Goldman Sachs in Europe and the author of two books on market cycles.

His first book, the Long Good Buy is sub-titled Analysing Cycles in Markets. His follow-up book Any Happy Returns, is sub-titled Structural Changes and Super Cycles in Markets and looks at longer term secular trends and the future outlook for economies and markets. Our discussion covers both.

Our episode title refers to Peter’s study of cycles inmarkets, but amusingly for a partner at Goldman Sachs, he arrived for our recording on a bike, not their usual mode of transport.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#37 The Analyst - John Armitage on 30 Years of Outperformance at Egerton Capital Jul 18, 2024

Show notes

John Armitage is a giant in the hedge fund world and in the world of investing more broadly. His firm, Egerton Capital, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. In this conversation, John explains how he started with $10m, and why you couldn’t do that today. He touches on his portfolio, talks about his approach to investing, explaining why he requires his analysts to follow more than one sector, and why he doesn’t employ data scientists. We discuss Elon Musk, AI, and geopolitics and John gives advice to a young person contemplating a career choice.

And Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the largest single equity owner in the world, explains why John is so highly regarded by his peers.

John is our first podcast guest to return for a second episode.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or simply a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

#36 The Runner - John Huber on Concentrated Value Investing, Capital Allocation & Revenue Growth Sweet Spots Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

John Huber is an investor with a small fund managing his family assets and outside capital in a concentrated portfolio.

John has written an excellent blog, Base Hit Investing, for many years, explaining his investing principles.

We discuss these in this episode, including what John looks for in an investment, why he emphasises capital allocation even more today, where he sees the sweet spot in revenue growth, why he likes Alphabet, why he is focused in North American stocks but is now looking at Japan and US small caps and why Floor & Décor is one of his major positions.

Show Notes

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

E3 Carine Smith Ihenacho of Norges Bank IM May 26, 2024

Show notes

Carine Smith Ihenacho is Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management, the Norwegian wealth fund. It’s the largest single equity owner in the world and sets out to be the most transparent. She is therefore likely the most powerful person in the world of ESG.

In our podcast episode, Huw van Steenis and I discussed:

How you can combine sustainability with the pursuit of returns
The difference between the US and Europe when it comes to the energy transition
How the fund takes action to divest and exclude companies on climate, enviromental and even tax grounds
How NBIM conduct their reviews
Issues with ESG ratings and how they can be improved
Why companies pushing back targets paradoxically may be a sign of progress

Carine is uniquely placed to comment on the energy transition and all things relating to governance and this was a fascinating conversation.

Show Notes

#35 The 100 Bagger Hunter - Chris Mayer on 100 Baggers, Long-Term Compounding & Family-Owned Stocks May 16, 2024

Show notes

Chris Mayer is the founder of Woodlock House Family Capital and the author of 100 Baggers: Stocks that Return 100-to-1 and How to Find Them. He has written several other books and formerly wrote an investingnewsletter which led him to travel the world seeking investment ideas.

Studying the universe of 100 Baggers has led Chris to a clear set of investing principles which mean his universe of investible ideas is extremely limited and his fund owns just 11 stocks.

Our discussion covers his respect for family owned businesses, his emphasis on corporate culture and his focus on the very long term. He even rejected aninstitutional investor as a client because they wanted monthly performance.

Show notes

Behind the Balance Sheet is a fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives intohow real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.

For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠.

If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

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