Struggles and Success: A Journey Through Class and Identity

This chapter examines the speaker's upbringing in a working-class environment, emphasizing themes of struggle, perseverance, and the value of genuine experience over elite status. Through personal anecdotes, they reflect on their unique challenges as a Jewish individual in prestigious institutions while gaining insights into independence in investment philosophy. Ultimately, the discussion reveals the importance of adaptability, resilience, and the impact of overcoming obstacles on personal and professional growth.

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In this episode, William Green chats with British investing legend Terry Smith. Terry, a member of Bloomberg’s index of billionaires, manages the Fundsmith Equity Fund, which is the UK’s largest stock fund. Since 2010, it’s returned more than 600%, beating the MSCI World Index by over 200 percentage points. Here, Terry talks in depth about the skills, personality traits, & principles that catapulted him from poverty to the pinnacle of the investing world.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro

04:01 - How Terry Smith was shaped by poverty & violence.

35:17 - How he achieved fame by exposing financial deception.

39:26 - What he looks for when identifying great businesses.

46:54 - Why many of his favorite companies are 100 years old.

51:56 - Which sectors he shuns & which he likes.

58:42 - How Microsoft embodies what he loves in a business.

1:00:29 - Why it’s worth paying up for the best companies.

1:20:15 - Why the US is his favorite place to invest.

1:21:44 - How being a CEO made him a better investor.

1:32:07 - What he learned from Sir John Templeton.

1:35:46 - Why he refuses to speak with brokers or read their research.

1:40:30 - Why it’s hard to be successful professionally & personally.

1:52:46 - Why he’s deeply skeptical about Tesla.

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

Terry Smith’s investment firm, Fundsmith.
Terry Smith’s book, Investing for Growth.
Terry Smith’s book, Accounting for Growth.
William Green’s book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book.
Follow William Green on X.
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