194. What do Birkenstock, eBay, recycling and litigation all have in common?
Lucy Isles, co-manager of Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond fund, discusses her investments in the...
84. How to profit when Americans hoard
Martin Flood, co-manager of Lazard US Equity Concentrated, tells us how you can make money from the fact that American’s don’t throw things away. He also tells us why he thinks McDonald’s is such a great business, why dollar stores are the ‘anti-e-commerce’ play and describes how Motorola has moved from flip-top phones to police and fire brigades’ walkie-talkies. Finally, Martin gives his thoughts on a second tech bubble and the upcoming US election.
This extremely concentrated US fund typically holds no more than 20 to 25 companies, ranging in size from the fairly small all the way through to the very large. The well-resourced team spend a lot of time on-the-ground in America and know every company in the portfolio inside out. The managers analyse stocks thinking what could go wrong as well as what could go right, and finding a correct entry point for investing is key to their philosophy.
Read more about Lazard US Equity Concentrated
What’s covered in this podcast:
- Why the fund isn’t invested in big tech names Amazon and Microsoft [1:18]
- Where the fund is finding interesting technology opportunities in the US [4:21]
- Is there potential for a second technology bubble [6:03]
- How McDonald’s has transformed themselves and why it’s a good investment [8:48]
- The investment case for real estate holdings [11:45]. Specifically highlighting holdings in Crown [12:52], Prologis [13:24] and Public Storage [14:06]
- Are we at the start of e-commerce boom in the US post-lockdown [15:08]
- Trade tensions between US and China and the possibility of bringing manufacturing back to the US [18:00]
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