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Far From The Finishing Post
Far From The Finishing Post explores the ideas and practices of leading investors in an effort to continuously grow our collective knowledge. This podcast is intended for UK listeners only. The views and information contained within this podcast do not constitute investment advice and should not be used as the basis for investment decisions. Any reference to securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities. Any opinions expressed are those of the relevant individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of Troy Asset Management and may be subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and the value of an investment may fall as well as rise.
Far From The Finishing Post
Dan Davidowitz (Polen Capital) - Compounding Made Simple
Dan Davidowitz is lead portfolio manager of Polen Capital’s Focus Growth strategy. We discuss Dan’s evolution as an investor, Polen’s investment guardrails, and other factors that have helped the strategy deliver exceptional returns over the last 35 years.
Show notes:
[01:16] Dan discusses how he pivoted from public health to investing
[02:56] Thoughts on healthcare investing
[04:30] Shifting from a deep value shop to Polen Capital
[07:44] Keep things simple
[10:01] Time arbitrage with businesses that are the best-of-the-best
[12:12] Creating a high performance investment team
[14:23] The importance of being both optimistic and open-minded to change
[16:34] Getting better each day to remain competitive
[17:59] Polen Capital’s evolution
[20:40] Polen’s investment guardrails
[22:14] Vigilance and conservatism for continuous compounding of earnings growth
[24:35] Making sure companies are investing adequately for their future
[26:34] Acquisition-driven companies
[28:45] Investing across the growth spectrum
[31:17] Having a broad mix of competitively-advantaged businesses
[33:51] Valuation discipline
[36:45] Lessons from the last few years
[38:30] Impact of GenAI
[41:03] Why Amazon is a large holding
[45:35] Building any experience is good experience