In today’s episode we have the chance to talk to one of the most successful investors of his generation, James Anderson, Former Partner at Baillie Gifford.

I'm joined by Mark Wallace, MD of Rothschild & Co, who brings his expertise on US tech equities to this discussion.

From 1987 until 2022 he led their flagship fund, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. His early investments in Google through to Tesla paid handsome returns to investors, and have made him both highly respected and widely admired.

Now he is at Lingotto, the independent investment management company wholly owned by Exor N.V..

James discusses how his approach to evaluating companies has evolved and what he means by “the normal ways of looking at companies is no longer valid”. He discusses companies’ life cycles and why such a small percentage of listed companies actually deliver the big returns.

He then reflects on the importance of the academic community in sourcing, as well as validating investment ideas before moving on to the vision exhibited by founders and vested principals in newer businesses, from Amazon to Tesla.

He describes his investing priorities thematically, including risks, mistakes, accessing long-term capital and why Europe seems to lack ambition in both seizing and scaling the opportunities.

Finally, he reflects on the public versus private debate, asking and answering the question as to which of those two may be the better sources of return.

The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by Schroders, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.

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