MAGELLAN - In The Know

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent geopolitical and economic shockwaves around the globe, creating new risks to the investment outlook. A combination of strong western government and corporate responses has drastic implications for commodities, food security and raises the possibility that NATO nations may be drawn into a wider conflict. But as Russia’s military fails to meet its objectives, what does a settlement look like, and what are the implications for a Russian president whose aspirations of a resurrected Russian empire appear to be collapsing? Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Evelyn Farkas, and former Deputy Director of the CIA Michael Morell dissect and shed light on the situation with Magellan’s Head of Macro and Portfolio Manager Arvid Streimann. (interview recorded on 25 March 2022)

Markets have softened after the recent rally, with investors apparently factoring in inflation and interest rate hikes during 2022. Will Magellan’s key investments stand to strengthen from such an environment? In this episode, key members of Magellan’s investment team put a spotlight on current macroeconomic issues and the outlook for two key sectors in our portfolio: payments and technology. Magellan Head of Macro and Portfolio Manager Arvid Streimann, Portfolio Manager Elisa Di Marco and Investment Analyst Adrian Lu are hosted by Key Account Manager Jennifer Herbert in this wide-ranging panel discussion.

Looking back at the extraordinary year of 2021, and towards the year ahead, three senior members of the Magellan investment team explain their approach to managing key sectors and stocks in Magellan’s global portfolio. In this special edition, Magellan’s Key Account Manager, Jennifer Herbert, interviews Head of Technology, Communications and Media for Magellan, Ryan Joyce, Co-Head of Franchises Hannah Dickinson and Head of Financials Alan Pullen. Together these experts look at the volatility of the current investment landscape as well as  potential challenges faced with exposure to  China and the inflationary economic outlook.

In this episode, one of the world’s foremost epidemiologists, and a member of President-elect Joe Biden's Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, Dr Michael Osterholm, talks to Hamish Douglass, Magellan’s Chairman and CIO, about what he calls 'the coming viral blizzard’ and the arrival of the Omicron variant. He has some sobering news for anyone who thinks the pandemic is behind us, warning governments around the world will need to either drastically change their public health policies to deal with what will be an overwhelming situation for hospitals, or consider fresh lockdowns.

We live in an extraordinary time for the global economy. Despite supply chain and workforce issues, a commodities boom and rising energy costs, the US Federal Reserve and European Central bank are keeping low interest rates frozen. But with the inflation spectre looming on the horizon, former US Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh says the window of opportunity for central banks to act may already be closing.

How do you turn a humble delicatessen into the world’s largest operator of shopping centres — Westfield Corporation? What sort of personality do you need to become a giant in the Australian and global real estate landscape? Sir Frank Lowy AC started his journey in war-torn Europe, with his father tragically dying at the hands of the Nazis. He fled to Australia and spotted an opportunity to sell good coffee in multicultural, immigrant-rich Western Sydney . From there he made his first commercial real estate investment, and the rest is history... In this interview Sir Frank candidly shares his story, including mistakes he made along the way, the key character traits he thinks are necessary to become a business success, and the importance of remaining paranoid yet optimistic.

In early 2020, David Gibbs took the helm of Yum! Brands, the American fast-food giant that operates well-known brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, to name a few.  After rising through Yum!’s ranks over the decades, becoming President and COO before being promoted to CEO in 2020, he was soon face to face with a worldwide pandemic.  In this episode, we hear how Yum! and its 51,000 restaurants in 150 countries successfully navigated the global shutdown. David also unpacks Yum!’s rise , the enduring focus on people, culture and growth, and how it continues to identify opportunities and build a world with a ‘little more Yum!’ 

“We don't go online anymore. We exist there”. This is a phrase used by Jay Brown, CEO of Crown Castle America’s largest provider of communications infrastructure. In this episode, Jay talks with Magellan’s Chairman and CIO, Hamish Douglass, about the evolution of this extraordinary business which delivers ever-expanding 4- and 5-G data networks to customers across the United States. We’ll hear about a business model which Jay Brown describes as one of the best business models he’s ever seen; and how, through asset acquisition and lease-back, the company provides win-win solutions for operators, customers and shareholders alike. Now, from macro communications towers to small cell networks, we’ll find out how Crown Castle continues to further penetrate the American market and its insatiable appetite for all things data and connectivity.

Hamish Douglass is joined by Michael Morrell, former Deputy Director of the CIA, and Ticky Fullerton, the Australian Newspaper’s Business Editor at Large, who hosts this month’s discussion on how to approach investing in China during these times of heightened geo-political tensions. Can the US rely on its allies as tensions increase? Could there be extended bans on US nationals investing in China by the Biden administration? Also under discussion, cybercrime and crypto-currency; the regulation of big tech in the US and what keeps them up at night. 

In 2017, Mark Schneider left a leading role in healthcare to become CEO of Nestle, the world’s largest food company with over 150 year old history in providing nutritional products to markets around the globe. Mark was Nestle’s first “outsider” CEO in almost a century, and in just four years, he’s overseen new strategic directions for the company, with a major acquisition agenda underway as he re-shapes this extraordinary consumer goods business towards a healthier future for all – all while tackling a global pandemic, and the big issues of climate change and corporate environmental responsibility. In this episode, Mark joins Hamish Douglass, Magellan’s Chairman and Chief Investment officer, to discuss new strategic directions for the company as it takes on a leading role in global health and wellness.