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The Business Brew — Business
The Business Brew

Welcome to The Business Brew

This podcast’s mission is to dig deep into the thought patterns and analysis of investors and business people. The podcast stemmed from Bill Brewster consistently feeling like he was listening to prepackaged material while listening to podcasts. Instead, he wanted long form, in depth, discussions about finance, capital allocation, and the psychology of investing/business.

We are interested in interviewing portfolio managers, Wall Street sell side analysts, buy side analysts, private investors, owner operators, and anyone that is willing to go in depth about running a company/division. So, if you are interested in participating please email us with the subject “Guest Appearance.”

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this podcast is investment advice. All information in this is opinion based, potentially biased, and requires verification.

Bill and his guests make no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness or reasonableness of the information contained in these podcasts. Any assumptions, opinions and estimates expressed constitute the participant’s judgment as of the date thereof and are subject to change without notice. Any projections contained in the information are based on a number of assumptions as to market conditions and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved. This podcast does not accept any liability for any direct, consequential or other loss arising from reliance on the contents of this presentation.

This podcast series DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICIATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES MENTIONED OR DISCUSSED. Seek the your financial, tax, legal, accounting, or other advisor’s advice before making any investment decisions. We are not your fiduciary or advisor.

Copyright: © Bill Brewster

Latest Episodes:

Adam Wyden - Discussing The Etymology of Returns Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

Adam Wyden, founder of ADW Capital, stops by The Business Brew to share his investing philosophy, discuss some ideas, and talk about lessons learned. ADW is a concentrated, long biased investment partnership founded in 2010. In this episode Adam cautions against idol worship, talks about how he monitors positions and companies, shares his thoughts on management character, and much more. Bill's favorite line from this episode is "Invest with people that have more to lose than you do."
We hope you enjoy the show.
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.
Thank you to the team at thepodcastconsultant.com for producing the show.
Detailed Show Notes -
8:00 – Meeting Joel Greenblatt
14:45 – Lessons from Fiat
22:30 – How Ferrari could grow faster
30:30 – Adam’s background as an investor
40:40 – Pivoting to better businesses
43:00 – Being proud of admitting mistakes quickly
44:30 – Takeaways from 2022
48:00 – Where to hunt
51:50 – What is the etymology of a return?
54:00 – Monitoring a position over time
59:30 – Watch out for idol worship
1:10:00 – The biggest risk is (a) investing with sociopaths and (b) becoming one
1:18:15 – Further discussion about APi Group
1:30:30 – The comfort of owning assets with honorable managers

Arnaud Cosserat and Rick Mercado - Researching Resilience Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Arnaud Cosserat, CEO of Comgest, and Rick Mercado, PM at Comgest stop by The Business Brew to discuss quality growth investing. Comgest is an independent, international asset management group, which since its creation in 1985, has pursued a long-term ‘Quality Growth’ and responsible investment style.
Arnaud is a long-standing Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in European equities. He started his career in 1989 as an Analyst at Banque Paribas, before joining Société de Bourse Oddo and then Generali as a Portfolio Manager.
He holds a Master of Science degree from the ESSEC business school (France) and is a member of the French Society of Financial Analysts (SFAF, Société Française des Analystes Financiers).
Before joining Comgest, Rick worked in London as a Portfolio Manager responsible for a North American equities fund with USS Investment Management and prior to that, as a Global Equities Portfolio Manager with F&C Investments. From 2001-2008 he worked in Australia, with Capital Partners as an Investment Analyst and with AMP Capital Investors as an Investment Strategist.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of New South Wales. He is also a CFA® charterholder.
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.

Big shoutout to @mathewpassy and the team at The Podcast Consultant.

Detailed Show Notes:

4:10 - Comgest's philosophy and focus on culture

8:10 - Fighting the ABCs (arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency) of decay

12:05 - How to appraise culture

Paper cited https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-holds-the-modern-company-together

18:48 - Handicapping quality among high quality companies

24:05 - How does Comgest consider valuation risk of the portfolio?

33:35 - Comgest's 80/20 rule and how they hold companies with higher valuations

39:20 - Why recessions are great from an investment perspective

46:20 - What inflation might do to quality companies

53:30 - When to exit an investment (and how to stay in)

1:00:00 - How macro events impact Comgest's analysis

Randy Baron - International Truffle Hunting Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Randy Baron, lead Portfolio Manager for Pinnacle Associates Ltd's various international products, joins The Business Brew to discuss his investing philosophy. Randy is best known for international value investing and for publicly discussing Amyris. Amyris is an unprofitable company with a CEO that has a controversial reputation. But, it is a very interesting company backed by some very real investors.
Bill and Randy have spoken a few times over the past 2 years and Bill likes how Randy looks at the world. Bill was also curious about Amyris and how Randy's public support of the company has or has not influenced Randy's analysis. Randy is open and transparent on this podcast and it is a very entertaining, and informative, listen. We hope you enjoy.
Randy's official bio can be found at https://www.pinnacle-associates.com/team/randolph-baron
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.
Detailed Show Notes:
4:15 - Intro
10:15 - Long term investing and international valuations
15:10 - Why US companies are listing in the UK
19:25 - What is Wandisco
22:25 - Randy’s idea of where returns will come from
23:50 - A discussion on Amyris
36:23 - A socially responsible investing tangent
38:23 - Back to Amyris
43:43 - Why every CEO should promote their stock
45:23 - When the price of a stock price matters
49:33 - Why explaining why you own something is important to investors
57:23 - How to act
1:05:20 - Renalytix; potentially solving a big problem
1:09:20 - Sizing early stage bets
1:11:30 - Looking to EM for cheap, good ideas

Whit Clay – Crafting Communications Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

Whit Clay stops by The Business Brew to discuss his role in the financial ecosystem. Whit sits at the intersection of investor relations and public relations. He works with a wide variety of companies. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Whit Clay is a Co-Chief Executive Officer with Sloane & Company and has been with the firm for more than 21 years. Beyond day-to-day leadership and management of the firm, he leads its financial and crisis communications practice with a focus across multiple sectors and clients.

Whit has worked on complex transactions, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, litigation and numerous other special situations. He provides strategic counsel to the C-suite and taps his deep relationships with the media, business and financial community to achieve successful outcomes.

Clients of note across a range of industries include: Archer Aviation, Bloom Energy, Centrus Energy, Fortis, Francisco Partners, IMAX, Liberty Media, NOVA Infrastructure, Paladin Capital and Stagwell, Inc. among others.

Whit joined Sloane & Company in 1999 after more than three years working with Edelman Financial Worldwide, the financial communications and investor relations division of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Prior to that, he worked in Washington, DC for Capitoline, the U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and the American Trucking Associations.
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.

Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.
Detailed Show Notes (Time Stamps)

2:45 - What is Sloane & Company?

4:04 – How much does narrative matter over the intermediate term?

6:30 – How management teams can create value through messaging

13:15 – How 5 year projections can cause value destruction

20:00 – What is Whit’s role in the financial ecosystem

22:20 – Whit’s background

29:08 – Whit takes some career risk in the late 90s

37:30 – What happened to Sloan’s client mix in 07-08

40:18 – Do CEOs know when bubbles are occurring or do they get just as caught up as the rest of us? And, what traits make CEOs good at navigating bubbles?

50:30 – Which clients are good matches for Slone & Company

56:00 – How has social media influenced corporate communications?

1:06:00 – How has being exposed to CEOs rubbed off on Whit as a leader?

1:10:00 – Sloane & Company’s values

Will Thomson - Real Assets Are Like Hansel (So Hot Right Now) Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Will Thomson stops by The Business Brew to discuss his approach to real asset investing. Will focuses on companies that happen to produce commodities and/or real assets. That said, he is looking to exploit company/project specific opportunities rather than making commodity calls. In this episode, he describes hi s process and explains how an investor could use publicly disclosed information to see a company's business plan (See: a 4301 document in Canada).

Will is the Founder and Managing Partner of Massif Capital, LLC.

He has experience in private equity and credit/political risk insurance, in addition to having served as a strategic and economic adviser to NATO/ISAF in Afghanistan. Before starting Massif Capital, Will worked in the New York office of Chaucer, a Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate, serving as the co-portfolio manager for a $750 million portfolio of credit and political risk insurance policies. He is a Graduate of Trinity College and holds a Masters in Government from Harvard University.

This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.

Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.

A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.

Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.

Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.

Detailed Show Notes:

5:00 - Will's take on oil

8:00 - What is the Lassonde Curve

11:38 - How a filing can help an investor underwrite mining companies.

14:00 - How Will thinks of comparing his DCF to market prices

15:00 - Will discusses how he thinks about investing

19:50 - How will thinks about placing commodity bets on equities

22:00 - The risk reward of majors vs minors in mining

27:50 - "Are you buying well or are you buying good things?"

31:00 - A discussion about Lithium Americas

36:10 - Don't fall in love with the assets

40:33 - The difference between processed commodities and depleting commodities and what it means for margins

45:14 - Some Inflation Reduction Act discussion

51:00 - Sometimes change creates opportunities in the things that don't change

1:05:00 - Chesterson's fence and then discussion

Thomas Ricketts, CFA - Investing in Innovation Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

Thomas Ricketts, CFA, joins the pod to discuss his investment philosophy. This episode focuses on an investment style that, according to Bill's perception, seeks to identify change and innovation before the market identifies it. Bill was initially a little skeptical of doing an "innovation episode" given how the term has been used in the financial community. However, after diligencing Tom, Bill felt comfortable having Tom on the pod. This conversation adds value to The Business Brew library. Thank you to Tom for joining the show!
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.
Tom's Bio
Thomas Ricketts, CFA, founder of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management (see https://evolutionarytree.com), serves as Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager, and Research Analyst. Over his 27-year investment career, he developed significant expertise in portfolio management, investment research, and executive management. Prior to founding Evolutionary Tree, Mr. Ricketts was a Sr. Portfolio Manager on Sands Capital’s flagship Select Growth strategy, a $20+ billion concentrated strategy of high-quality, sustainable growth businesses. Mr. Ricketts was one of the longest-tenured investment professionals at Sands Capital. Over the years, he contributed to building and leading the research team and attracting and retaining a broad client base of institutional and high-net-worth clients.
Mr. Ricketts joined Sands Capital in 1994 as the Assistant to the President. He worked closely with founder Frank Sands, Sr. during the startup phase and early years of the firm, helping to grow the firm from less than $100 million in assets under management to approximately $40 billion in assets 22 years later. In 2008, Mr. Ricketts assumed the role of Sr. Portfolio Manager on the Sands US Large-Cap Growth strategy, working as a Co-PM to oversee the $20 billion strategy, and was a decision maker on that strategy for eight years.

Detailed Show Notes

The paper Tom mentions can be found here.

5:00 - Background

13:00 - Valuation as part of the process

18:00 - 2022's biotech opportunity

20:50 - Maintenance vs. growth spend

29:20 - nCino as an example

34:00 - Why Salesforce has an incentive not to push too hard with Force.com

39:00 - Ingredients of a successful investment

52:20 - Avoiding hype

59:30 - Risk Reducers

1:13:50 - Why to exit before maturity

1:18:52 - Lessons from Frank Sands (bet best ideas, quality will out itself eventually, invest in solutions, think long term, look for long term growth in earnings power)

Henry Reardon - Asymmetric Contrarian Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

Henry Reardon, aka @integrity4mkts on Twitter, joins the podcast to discuss his investment philosophy. The conversation starts by discussing his Carvana short thesis then goes into his general investing philosophy. The conversation is a bit shorter than normal but packs a punch.
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.

Jake Taylor - Improve Your Decisions Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

Jake Taylor stops by The Business Brew to discuss his new product Journalytic. Journalytic is a software designed to help investors improve their process and decision making. Clear thinking and decision making has been a passion of Jake’s for a very long time. Now, he is releasing the culmination of years of hard work to us, the public, FOR FREE. You can sign up at https://journalytic.com/.
This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.
Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.
Detailed Show Notes
4:30 – What is Journalytic
8:40 – What you need to get the most out of Journalytic
17:30 – Getting reps and calibrating
21:00 – How is Journalytic encrypted
26:00 – You can control process
29:00 – Why Jake wants feedback
38:30 – When you write you cannot rewrite what you were thinking
42:00 – Monitoring position sizing and whether it helps
46:30 – The End of The World is Just The Beginning
Chit Chat

John McClain - Opportunities in Credit Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

John McClain, CFA stops by The Business Brew for a discussion about credit. John serves as a portfolio manager for the Brandywine Global’s High Yield and Corporate Credit Strategies. In this episode John makes the case for why high yield credit is a good bet after a bad year, discusses how corporate finance departments are more professional now (vs pre GFC), talks about companies adding value by buying back debt, and much more.

Before joining Brandywine Global, John was a Senior Vice President - Credit at Standard Life Investments from 2010 to 2014. From 2007 to 2010, he was with Nationwide Mutual Insurance as a Management Associate in the Financial Leadership Rotation Program and then an Investment Analyst in Distressed Debt. John is a CFA charterholder and earned a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from University of Kentucky (magna cum laude).

BrandywineGlobal’s High Yield Fund has earned a 5 star rating from Morningstar. Morningstar gives the fund above average ratings for Process and People. In the words of Morningstar, “the strategy’s distinctive, value-oriented approach exploits price inefficiencies that often materialize across smaller high-yield issuers. It earns an Above Average Process rating…Comanagers Bill Zox and John McClain execute a disciplined value approach: They buy issues when their market prices are lower than the team's estimate of intrinsic business value and sell them when their initial thesis has played out or when there are better opportunities in the market.”

This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc. Stratosphere.io provides clean data for segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy. Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.

Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial. Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.

NOTE: Investing carries the risk of loss. Brandywine Global’s past performance is not indicative of future results.

Detailed Show Notes

5:32 – How to think about credit generally

7:18 – What is a bond shell?

8:13 – The case for active management with credit

11:55 – How liquidity creates a cost of capital advantage for some companies

13:00 – Why high yield is no longer “junk”

15:45 – Company finance departments are better run than they were pre GFC

20:00 - Borrowing against assets and how professional it has gotten

22:35 - What The Fed cares about

27:30 - How retiring debt can help EV

30:00 - Some of the best capital allocators are in high yield

33:55 - How companies can manage our deleveraging cycle

34:50 - Why high yield hasn’t had back to back down years

38:00 - How the improvement in energy has benefitted high yield

41:45 - How Brandywine manages the quality of portfolio companies.

45:00 - How 2020/2021’s tech darlings can take advantage of today’s debt markets

46:30 - John’s take on private credit

49:30 - How tech could hurt private credit returns

54:30 - Long CEOs/short politicians

58:30 - How Brandywine manages their liquidity while running a open end fund

1:01:17 - How ETF transparency can create opportunities

1:03:00 - What type of investor is right for high yield

1:11:00 - How transparency can hurt liquidity

1:15:00 - Illiquidity and what it’s doing to the market

Bob Robotti - Searching For Improving Industries Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

Bob stops by The Business Brew to discuss his early career, what he has learned over his career, investing in cyclical businesses/industries, and his biggest investment "loser." This conversation is filled with good lessons and we hope you enjoy.

Robert Robotti is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Robotti & Company. Prior to forming Robotti & Company, Incorporated in 1983, Bob was a vice president and shareholder of Gabelli & Company, Inc. He worked in public accounting before coming to Wall Street and is currently an inactive CPA. Bob holds a BS from Bucknell University and an MBA in Accounting from Pace University. Some of Bob's areas of coverage include Special Situations, Energy Industry and Home Building. Bob is the principal of the managing member or general partner of several investment vehicles.

Bob currently serves on the Board of Directors of a NYSE-listed real estate company, AMREP Corporation, located in Germantown, PA; as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pulse Seismic Inc., a seismic data licensing business located in Calgary, Alberta; as an Independent Director of PrairieSky Royalty, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed company located in Calgary, Alberta, having one of the largest portfolios of sub-surface mineral rights in western Canada; as a recently elected Director of NYSE-listed Tidewater, Inc. which owns and operates one of the largest fleets of OSVs (Offshore Support Vessels) in the industry; and was previously on the Board of Directors of BMC Building Materials Holding Corporation, prior to the completion of its merger with Stock Building Supply Holdings, Inc. on December 1, 2015; and Bob had served on the Board of Panhandle Oil & Gas Company, a NYSE-listed diversified mineral company located in Oklahoma City through May 1, 2020.

In addition, he serves on the Boards of many non-profit organizations where he generously donates his time and expertise. Previously, Bob was a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies, established to examine the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other aspects of the federal securities law.

This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io. Stratosphere.io is a fantastic web based research terminal for company specific metrics like KPIs and segment revenues. Head over to Stratosphere.io to try the product for free OR use the promo code BREW for 15% off Stratosphere's premium product.

Detailed Show Notes Below:

3:20 - Bob’s early career

6:35 - How Bob ended up as CFO of Gabelli and Company

10:25 - Bob’s evolution as an investor

14:25 - How tough times create better businesses and Builder’s FirstSource discussion

18:20 - Holding equities and Bob’s biggest loser

29:50 - Why earnings drive liquidity

31:20 - How Bob implements his takeaways from his biggest loser

33:20 - Why Bob got excited about the Revenge of the Old Economy in 2020

35:20 - The case for Olin Corp

43:50 - How Bob’s “margin of safety” comes from his portfolio company’s asset bases

45:50 - Bob’s energy outlook; this is an around the world oil discussion that lasts ~11 minutes

1:02:20 - Why reshoring makes sense

1:04:30 - Did Volker really succeed?

1:05:20 - Why China is no longer deflationary

1:09:20 - The nuance of selling

1:11:20 - The potential perils of linear thinking

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