Interview Pt 2: John Garrett, MA Financial Group - Mental Models

John Garrett is a Portfolio Manager at MA Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MAF) (formerly Moelis Australia) and shares investing wisdom on his website, mastersinvest.com. He joins Raymond Jang on The Australian Investors Podcast to share his investing knowledge and lessons with our investing community.

John's career in the financial markets has spanned across over nearly 25 years and currently manages three funds at MA Financial Group. His significant experience combined with an insatiable appetite for consuming books along with learning from the greats has helped him build an encyclopaedic knowledge of mental models to find great businesses, which can compound at high rates over long periods of time.

Talking points

- Which great investor resembles John the most.

- Importance of understanding the qualitative factors that drive the financial output and taking a holistic view of the business.

- Why companies that can 'fight the fade' are rare and can override a valuation model. Notable mentions include Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA).

- Why John believes management and culture are the longest forms of potential competitive advantages.

- How John devours so many books and retains knowledge to build his mental models. Book references include Let My People Go Surfing by the founder of Patagonia and Invention: A Life by James Dyson.

- How a concept in Nassim Taleb's book, Skin in the Game led to an investment in Australian Ethical Investment.

- Lessons about culture and incentive structures from reading Pride in Performance by Les Schwab along with further discussion about Johns Lyng Group.

- Why I quickly bought, In Search Of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman after my chat with John.

- John shares a personal anecdote to highlight how great businesses find ways to get the best of their employees.

- Why John has been devoting more time towards reading everything about technology.

- John provides his views on the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency.

- The emotional and psychological mindset required to be a great investor.

- What John does to overcome biases and he discloses the two biggest ones for him.

- John lets us know who has had the most influential impact on him as a person and investor.

Watch the video version on the Rask Australia YouTube page.

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Full individual disclosures for each guest are available via the show notes page. Owen and The Rask Group Pty Ltd do NOT receive anything for mentioning Super funds, products, shares, bank accounts, etc.

DISCLAIMER: This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Because of that, you should consider if the information is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on it. If you’re confused about what that means or what your needs are, you should always consult a licensed and trusted financial planner. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this podcast, including any financial, taxation, and/or legal information. Remember, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Rask Group is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial (tax) adviser, or financial adviser.

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Date recorded:18th Jan 2022

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