Tag: European Markets

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Thematic Investors: High Ground Investment Management on the Pathology of Long-Short Investing

Thematic Investors: High Ground Investment Management on the Pathology of Long-Short Investing

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What fuels the curiosity and drive to become a great investor? Could it be early teenage stock market experiments that return 20% or simply being bored in the UK’s equivalent of Iowa, allowing you to take deeper dives into company annual reports during summer breaks? Edgar Allen began his own investment career, fueled by these experiences, as well as through his studies as a budding pathologist. However, as many allocators experience coming out of the university system, a career change to finance was calling, which Fidelity Investments helped him realize.
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In this episode of Thematic Investors, we welcome Edgar Allen, CIO and Founder, High Ground Investment Management. Edgar runs a long-short equity fund focused on European investing (this builds on past Thematic’s Investor podcasts with Johnny de la Hey and Stuart Mitchell – so be sure to check those out as well). 

Edgar and Kieran discuss value investing and how players can approach some of these counter trends across the market.

Key Takeaways:

  • How being assigned the most random group of companies to analyze at the start of his investment career led to larger groupings of well-known names, and into hedge fund investing.
  • How you begin to balance investment targets by buying low and selling high, against something that is fundamentally cheap, and how much the market has mispriced the asset’s terminal value.
  • What does competition mean in short-selling when the target has a really good product or service?
  • How do Europe and the US differ in terms of return profiles on investment, dividends, valuations, and why there might be greater advantages in European companies than US peers?
  • What does European defense spending mean for the team at High Ground Investment Management when they look at valuations and durations?
  • Why is it important to Edgar to go beyond pure spreadsheet numbers on investment targets to understand more about what a company does and why customers are willing to pay for the product and service that they receive?
  • How investing ideas can be aligned with the fall of Carthage, as well as the three-age system.
  • And more!

Connect with Kieran Cavanna: 

Connect with Edgar Allen:

About Edgar Allen:

Edgar Allen is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of High Ground Investment Management, based in London. Prior to establishing High Ground, he worked at The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), Fidelity, and BlackRock. Edgar brings over 25 years of investment experience and focuses on European equities through a long-short strategy that combines deep fundamental analysis with disciplined valuation and risk control.

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Thematic Investors: Stuart Mitchell on the Investment Sale Across Europe

Thematic Investors: Stuart Mitchell on the Investment Sale Across Europe

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When looking at European investments how will the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy align on energy transition, innovative technology growth, financial services, and more? How can institutional investors capture this market when comparing them against more attractive U.S. opportunities?

In our latest episode of the Thematic Investors podcast, host, Kieran Cavanna, speaks with Stuart Mitchell, Managing Partner | CIO and Investment Manager, S.W. Mitchell Capital LLP. Learn more about Stuart’s background that took him from studying medieval history through the values of detaching emotions from investing, an appreciation of analytical research, and managing over $2bn AUM of European equity assets. 

Stuart discusses: 

  • His background in investing and how he shed the bureaucracy, controls, procedures, and politics of large organizations and created his own investment firm.
  • How the UK market differs in valuations, sectors, and discounts when compared to America and why this isn’t explained by profitability or growth rates.
  • The fanatic move to electric vehicles and other forms of energy in light of oil demand going up in the short term just to keep supply and production at stable levels.
  • Why is Europe having a Hamiltonian moment? What investments will be prioritized by a joining of European states in terms of infrastructure, energy, defense, and more? 
  • How are investment opportunities in defense positioned across the UK and will it ever go above 2% in GDP? If extra spending does occur (due to geopolitical events) why would America get the investment?
  • Why are alternative investments (from BP, Chevron, Exxon, and others) in wind, solar, and hydrogen simply not covering their costs of capital and are predicted to lose money over the long term.
  • European banks appear stronger than those in the US when reviewed for capitalization, leveraged ratios, liquidity, and more.  
  • how culture plays a role in hiring people at S.W. Capital, from year-long internships to individual specialized areas of expertise.
  • And more!

Please note that the information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial and or our host, Kieran Cavanna. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding investment planning.

Connect with Kieran Cavanna: 

Connect with Stuart Mitchell:

About Stuart Mitchell:

Stuart is the Managing Partner and CIO of S. W. Mitchell Capital and the Investment Manager of the SWMC European Fund, as well as a number of managed accounts.

Prior to founding SWMC in 2005, Stuart was a Principal, Director, and Head of Specialist Equities at J O Hambro Investment Management (JOHIM, now Waverton Investment Management). At JOHIM he set up and managed the Charlemagne Fund, a long/short European fund, and the JOHIM European Fund, a long-only European fund. The JOHIM European Fund rose by 133%, from inception in December 1998 until March 2005, compared with 8% for the benchmark index. It was rated number one within its sector by Micropal as well as awarded three stars by Standard & Poor’s.

Upon leaving university in 1987, Stuart joined Morgan Grenfell Asset Management (MGAM) and soon afterward assumed responsibility for managing the continental European equity assets for MGAM’s British pension fund clients. Stuart was appointed a Director of MGAM in 1996. He subsequently took on the role of Head of European Equities and was responsible for $27 billion of equity assets. Whilst at MGAM he managed the Morgan Grenfell European Fund, which rose by 123% from January 1990 to June 1996, compared with 85% for the benchmark index. It was awarded first place in its sector in the Micropal Five Year Awards in 1996.

Stuart was born in Scotland and educated at the University of St. Andrews, where he read Medieval History. He is also a graduate of the Owner/President Management program at the Harvard Business School. Stuart speaks English and French.

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