Isn't Human Agency Really Important?

Value Capital Partners are joining us on the podcast this week. Sam Sithole, Co-founder and CEO, and Antony Ball, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director, are activist investors based out of Johannesburg who have a value lean. By becoming active shareholders and board members, Value Capital Partners seek to improve the value of companies through governance and management guidance. We chatted with them about what it’s like to be an activist investor in an emerging market and some of the processes they use once they join the board of a company. Juan was joined by co-host Rollo Roscow, a fund manager at Schroders.

MINUTES:
1:07 Episode Intro
1:48 Sam and Antony’s backgrounds
5:08 How do you think of the processes of activist investors in South Africa? How does it differ from the American model of activism?
10:03 What type of personality do you think lends itself well to private assets or activist investing?
13:14 Is an activist nature’s skill set natural or nurtured?
14:39 When you select a company to invest in, is there a sense that some are more receptive than others?
18:30 How has the value approach changed over the past 5 years in comparison to previous private equity approaches?
21:52 With a more concentrated investment community, how do you work with other asset managers?
25:23 How do you manage the uncertainty of convincing other stake holders that you, as an activist investor, add value? How do you gain entry to the board?
31:36 The exit process: do you ever leave the company after turning it around?
33:30 How much does price dictate your process?
35:40 When you identify the company you’d like to invest in, what team dynamic do you
have when setting up an approach?
38:40 How do maintain perspective and objectivity? How do you acknowledge a short coming?
41:08 Book Recommendations
47:17 A bad decision from process rather than luck

Book recommendations:

Dear Chairman - Casey Graham

Nelson Mandela - Long Road to Freedom

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