Our
process
We follow closely the seventy
or so consumer businesses in Asia, fifty in Africa and forty in
Latin America which we regard as having the potential to be long
term winners.
Our single minded focus means that we have the fire power to
research our targets better than anybody else. We undertake over
1000 company meetings per year in more than 30 countries.
We know the management of our companies intimately. We have
followed many for decades. We meet senior executives at least
once per quarter; engage with functional heads regularly;
monitor distributors, competitors and customers; and brain storm
from time to time with industry consultants.
We prepare detailed financial models on all our target
investments. These tend to look backwards as much as forwards.
We make cross comparisons between geographies and examine the
history of consumption in the developed world to help us
anticipate what might come to pass in the emerging world.
We write detailed research reports which we share with both our
investors and investee companies. We like to learn together.
We recognise that investment performance depends on imagination,
patience, courage, hard work, luck and knowing more than the
next man.
Our
portfolios
We believe in running concentrated
portfolios. At any one time we expect to own no more than 25 to
30 stocks in our Asia Fund, 25 in our Africa fund and ten in our
pilot Latin America Fund.
We believe in running our winners. Good businesses, for the most
part, go on being good businesses. Excessive “active
management”, in our view, destroys value; accordingly, we buy to
hold.
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