My guest this week Geoffrey Batt and the topic of our conversation is how to earn transformational returns in very hard markets. In his case, that means Iraqi equities which we cover in detail. He now runs a large pool of capital in Iraqi stocks through his firm Euphrates, but the journey was arduous to say the least. This is one of my favorite boots on the ground contrarian investments stories thus far on the podcast. I hope you enjoy the story and the lessons that Geoff has to offer.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:15 - (First Question) – What does it take to earn transformational returns
4:43 – How he deals with LPs, especially given the volatility of the market he invests in
10:26 – Why LPs have to think about the other investors in a fund
1:17 – How Geoffrey got interested in the Iraqi market
16:15 – Factors he was considering when exploring Iraq
16:53 – Harvey Sawikin Podcast Episode
19:20 – Visiting companies in Iraq
22:30 – Most memorable meeting with a company on his first trip
27:18 – Size and nature of Iraqi market when he first got interested
30:44 – A specific allocator in Iraq
34:37 – Does price reflect the work over there
37:51 - What does he perceive as his role in the changes to Iraq’s equity market
40:12 - How do Iraqi equities look today compared to when he started and is the opportunity still interesting
44:14 – How businesses perceive him now that the market has opened up more
47:28 – Scale of potential return and where it comes from
49:51 – Advice for younger aspiring investors exploring frontier markets
52:16 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Geoffrey
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
