Ryan Quinn, Client Portfolio Manager at WCM Investment Management, spoke with Damian Craven, Head of Retail at Associate Global Partners, to discuss WCM’s investment philosophy and their focus on corporate culture and expanding economic moats.

Questions:
0:27 – Tell us about WCM’s investment philosophy and how that’s different to other managers in the market.
10:30 – In February you sold Amazon because you couldn’t make the case their economic moat was expanding. Talk to us about this trade and how it’s consistent with your investment style.
19:09 – How do you go about achieving such strong downside capture and participate in over 100% of the upside while maintaining such a concentrated portfolio?
24:13 – What sectors are you overweight at the moment and why?
26:15 – Talk us through the ‘picks and shovels’ approach and how you use that the get exposure to these sectors
29:54 – With an election coming up in the US, what kind of focus does WCM put on the ‘macro’ factors when investing?
37:48 – What is your view on the election?

Questions from the audience:
39:08 – You’ve discussed your diversification among stocks and sectors. Can you comment on your geographical diversification?
40:28 – Do you have significant under/overweight country allocations or are they are the margins?
43:20 – Does valuation along ever lead to a decision to sell, and how important is a view on interest rates to work out that valuation?
46:59 – You mentioned ROIC is a sell signal. Currently Shopify has negative earnings. What makes you think Shopify can turn this around?