Arnaud Cosserat and Rick Mercado - Researching Resilience

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

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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. Bill is a private investor. He cohosts the podcast Value: After Hours with Tobias Carlisle and Jake Taylor. Tobias, Jake and Bill met at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting and formed a lasting friendship. And, as it turns out, people really like the podcast. While Bill tries to replicate Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s thought processes, he is heavily influenced by Bill Miller III, Stan Druckenmiller, and others. This podcast is his attempt to dig deeper into other investing/business philosophies and share the knowledge with the world. 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: Bill manages a portfolio under the name of Sullimar Capital Group. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this podcast or on SullimarCapital.Group 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.