Excess Returns The Hidden Fingerprints of 100 Baggers | Chris Mayer and Robert Hagstrom on Finding the Perfect Business
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Nov 13, 2025 
Chris Mayer, an investor and author behind the '100 Bagger' concept, and Robert Hagstrom, a portfolio manager focused on long-term investing, dive into what makes a business great. They discuss crucial traits like sustainable sales growth and high returns on capital. Learn how to build conviction amidst market volatility, the importance of analyzing management quality, and the pitfalls of behavioral mistakes. They also explore the significance of owner earnings and how to navigate fast-changing industries while maintaining investment discipline.
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Durable High-Return Businesses Win
- A perfect business consistently earns returns on capital above its cost and generates excess cash with steady sales growth.
- Longevity of those economic attributes makes a business worthy of long-term ownership.
Research Builds Holding Conviction
- Build deep knowledge of businesses so you can judge whether market drops matter for fundamentals.
- Use that conviction to hold through volatility instead of reacting to fast market moves.
Where Today's Inefficiencies Live
- Market inefficiencies today are mainly analytical and behavioral, not informational.
- Exploit analytical work and behavioral mistakes (machines/algorithms) to find opportunities.
