Ricky Sandler - Investing Through Perception Shifts and Market Cycles
Value Investing with Legends
Ricky Sandler, founder, CEO, and CIO of Eminence Capital, joins hosts Michael Mauboussin and Tano Santos to explore a dynamic career spanning over three decades in long-short investing. Starting with stories from his upbringing and early career, Ricky unpacks the foundations of his investment philosophy centered around "change in perception" — a framework shaped by evolving market structures and investor behavior. He shares insights from navigating the 1998 crisis, outlines the value of rigorous risk management, and explains how quality businesses combined with contrarian thinking create...
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Robert Robotti - From Pink Sheets to Portfolio Management: Bob Robotti’s Value Investing Journey
Value Investing with Legends
Robert Robotti, President and CIO of Robotti & Company Advisors, joins host Michael Mauboussin to explore a lifetime shaped by value investing. With deep roots in accounting and formative experiences auditing firms like Tweedy, Browne, Bob shares how those early exposures led him to a career buying underfollowed, undervalued companies. In this episode, Bob discusses how his contrarian approach has thrived amid market inefficiencies, especially in cyclical industries and under-the-radar public firms. He breaks down key investments, including Builders FirstSource and Tidewater, and explains...
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Richard Brekka - From Venture to Secondaries: Richard Brekka on Illiquid Market Advantages
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode, host Tano Santos sits down with Richard Brekka, founder and managing partner of Second Alpha, to examine the lesser-known world of secondary investing in private technology companies. With decades of experience—from venture capital to secondary transactions—Richard shares his journey through private equity at Chase and CIBC, his role in building and reviving companies like Gomez Inc., and how that led him to identify a unique investment niche. He explains the mechanics of sourcing deals in illiquid markets, using data and AI to surface hidden gems, and the psychology of...
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Amit Wadhwaney - From Montreal to Moerus: Amit Wadhwaney’s Deep Value Discipline
Value Investing with Legends
Amit Wadhwaney, founding partner and portfolio manager at Moerus Capital Management, joins hosts Tano Santos and Michael Mauboussin to trace his unorthodox journey from Bombay to Concordia to founding a value investing firm focused on the balance sheet. Along the way, he discusses his early exposure to Marty Whitman, lessons from Third Avenue’s international expansion, and what led him to start Moerus. Amit outlines the core of his investment approach—asset-based valuation, downside protection, and long-term holding periods—and explains why macro factors are typically...
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Bill Ackman - Evolving Investment Playbook, From MBIA to Moats
Value Investing with Legends
Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, joins hosts Michael Mauboussin and Tano Santos to trace the arc of his investing journey—from his early days in real estate finance to founding Gotham Partners and eventually building Pershing Square into a $30 billion firm. Bill discusses formative moments that shaped his thinking, including his controversial early short of MBIA, the painful lessons of the Valeant episode, and the transformation brought about by adopting a permanent capital structure. He also unpacks his investment philosophy, the importance of durability...
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Kristin Gilbertson - Risk, Resilience, and Returns
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode, hosts Tano Santos and Michael Mauboussin speak with Kristin Gilbertson, CIO of Access Industries and former CIO of the University of Pennsylvania Endowment. Kristin shares her early interest in economic development and her unique journey through the World Bank, Stanford Management Company, and into managing a major university endowment. She outlines how risk awareness and preparation helped her successfully lead through the 2008 financial crisis and gives detailed insights into asset allocation, manager selection, and the nuances of family office investing. Kristin also...
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Seth Klarman - Contrarian Investing, Discipline, and Building Baupost
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode, host Michael Mauboussin sits down with Seth Klarman, CEO and portfolio manager of The Baupost Group. One of the most influential practitioners of value investing, Seth shares his formative stories — from arbitraging coins as a kid to launching Baupost in 1982 — and reflects on his decades-long investment philosophy. They explore timeless principles of market inefficiencies, the importance of temperament, specialization versus generalization, the role of patient capital, and the challenges and opportunities ahead for investors in today’s world. Seth also opens up about...
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Kent Daniel — From Physics to Finance: Exploring Market Inefficiencies
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode of Value Investing with Legends, Tano Santos and Michael Mauboussin sit down with Kent Daniel, Professor of Finance at Columbia Business School, to discuss his journey from physics at Caltech to leading research in behavioral finance and quantitative investing. Kent shares insights from his academic work and his years at Goldman Sachs, including his critiques of the Fama-French model, the role of intangible information in asset prices, and the implications of short selling constraints. The conversation spans decades of market evolution, empirical challenges, and the behavioral...
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Cliff Asness — Quant Origins, Value Crashes, and Market Inefficiencies
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode, Cliff Asness joins Tano Santos and Michael Mauboussin for a conversation that spans the evolution of quantitative investing, lessons from market crises, and the enduring tension between risk and behavioral explanations in finance. From his formative years at the University of Chicago under Gene Fama to building AQR into a quant powerhouse, Cliff reflects candidly on theory, performance, and how markets may have become less efficient in recent years. Key Topics: Tano and Michael return from sabbatical and reflect on recent academic and classroom experiences (0:00)...
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Phil Ruvinsky - Sustainable Competitive Advantages in Technology
Value Investing with Legends
In this episode, Michael Mauboussin, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, hosts Phil Ruvinsky, Managing Director and Head of the Fundamental U.S. Growth Team at BlackRock. With extensive experience in the investment industry, Phil shares his journey from law to finance, discusses his investment philosophy, and explains the importance of sustainable competitive advantages. The conversation explores the evaluation of management, the impact of AI on the competitive landscape, and the nuances of portfolio construction. Phil also highlights the role of macroeconomic factors and regulatory...
info_outline“We look for exceptional small and mid cap companies with the wherewithal to become exceptional large companies.”
This is at the core of the investment philosophy of today’s guest, Columbia Business School alum Amy Zhang. Amy is Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager of the Alger Small Cap Focus, Alger Mid Cap Focus, Alger Mid Cap 40, and Alger Small Cap Growth Strategies. She joined Alger in 2015 and has 27 years of investment experience, including over a decade at Brown Capital Management as a Partner, Managing Director, and Senior Portfolio Manager of its Brown Capital Small Company Strategy.
Amy has received multiple accolades, including being named one of the "Best Female PMs to Invest with Now" by Morningstar in 2022 and one of the “Top 20 Female Portfolio Managers” by Citywire in 2021, 2019, and 2018.
In this episode, Amy, Michael, and I discuss Amy’s unconventional background and studies, why she made the move to managing small cap growth portfolios, how to think about small cap investments, the key metrics she looks for when assessing potential companies, her classification system of motorboats and sailboats, opportunities available in the current market, and so much more!
For more information and disclosures please visit www.alger.com
Key Topics:
- Reflections on the 2021/22 academic year (0:51)
- Welcome Amy to the show (1:26)
- How Amy found her way from studying math and physics to starting her investment career (2:44)
- How Amy’s decision to apply to Columbia Business School (CBS) led to her first job in finance (5:43)
- Getting broad experiences after graduating from CBS (8:33)
- The valuable training and experiences Amy gained in her early career (10:24)
- Why Amy made the move to managing small cap growth portfolios (12:23)
- How Amy’s investment philosophy has evolved (14:23)
- Alger’s criteria for small cap (16:30)
- Getting a realistic perspective on the total addressable market (TAM) (19:10)
- Measuring the growth of intangibles inside a firm (23:53)
- Quantitative and qualitative metrics for assessing moats (25:12)
- Why management discussion is essential (26:51)
- Company classification: motorboats vs. sailboats (30:14)
- Why barriers to entry are more significant than first-mover advantage (32:15)
- Making the buy or sell decision (35:05)
- Assumptions that go into the margin of safety (37:37)
- Opportunities offered by the current market turmoil (41:42)
- Not all growth is created equal (45:57)
- How Amy thinks about portfolio construction in today’s market (48:02)
- The importance of being benchmark agnostic (50:53)
- What worries and excites Amy most about the next few years in financial markets? (52:50)
- Amy’s book recommendations (54:47)
- And much more!
Mentioned in this Episode:
- Philip A. Fisher’s Book | Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings
- Seth A. Klarman’s Book | Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor
- Michael Mauboussin’s Book | More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places
- Scott Davis’ Book | Lessons from the Titans: What Companies in the New Economy Can Learn from the Great Industrial Giants to Drive Sustainable Success
- Mark Robichaux’s Book | Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business
Thanks for Listening!
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