David Samra - Leveraging Fundamentals to Remain Relevant

Today’s conversation is with David Samra, managing director of Artisan Partners and founding partner of the Artisan Partners International Value Team. He is the lead portfolio manager of the Artisan International Value Fund, which he has managed since its inception in September 2002. Mr. Samra also was co-portfolio manager for the Global Value Fund from its inception in December 2007 through September 2018. Before joining Artisan Partners, David was a portfolio manager and a senior analyst in international equities at the legendary Harris Associates.

David enrolled in Columbia Business School (CBS) in 1991, right before the value investing program was re-launched and he considers his classes in the fundamentals of investing and internship with value investor Mario Gabelli to be critical in the development of his investment philosophy. Since leaving business school, David has focused on international investing and under his leadership, his team was twice named Morningstar, Inc.’s International-Stock Fund Manager of the Year in 2008 and 2013.

On this episode, David and I talk about his early drive to pursue a career in money management, why he was drawn to work in international investments, what he learned from working with value investing legends, the contrast between the traditional and modern value investor, the most effective way to select securities, and so much more!

 

Key Topics:

  • When David uncovered his interest in becoming an asset manager (3:56)
  • How David’s inclination towards value investing showed up in school (5:00)
  • David’s early steps towards a career in money management (6:53)
  • Attending CBS before the value investing program was revitalized (8:43)
  • The CBS class that taught David about the difference between a good and a bad business (9:44)
  • How working with Mario Gabelli helped David to develop his investment philosophy (11:01)
  • Why David took a pay cut to work in international investing at Montgomery Asset Management (12:09)
  • Travelling around the world to assess non-US securities (14:46)
  • How working with David Herro complemented David’s approach to security analysis (16:37)
  • The contrast between the traditional and the modern value investor (18:11)
  • Leveraging the opportunities created for value investors during a financial crisis (24:17)
  • What the global financial crisis taught David about risk management (25:54)
  • Finding the balance between price and quality to put yourself in the best position from a risk/reward profile (26:39)
  • Why many value investors had to shift their thinking because of the tech bubble (27:31)
  • Using screens to for investment idea generation (29:44)
  • David’s most effective method for finding securities (30:49)
  • Why the artisan research team is made up of generalists organized by geography (32:36)
  • The benefits of making investment decisions on a company-specific level, rather than economic trends (34:50)
  • The business analysis and valuation process David uses for international investments (36:14)
  • How some European banks have become more appealing for value investors (41:03)
  • Analyzing the price and quality of the Spanish Bank, Bankia (44:43)
  • Analyzing the success of Compass Group (49:18)
  • David’s views on the future of value investing in the face of rising passive investing (51:29)
  • And much more! 

Mentioned in this Episode:

 

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Om Podcasten

Value investing is more than an investment strategy — it’s a fundamental way of thinking about finance. Value investing was developed in the 1920s at Columbia Business School by professors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, MS ’21. The authors of the classic text, Security Analysis, Graham and Dodd were the very pioneers of their field and their security analysis principles provided the first rational basis for investment decisions. Despite the vast and volatile changes in the economy and securities markets during the last several decades, value investing has proven to be the most successful money management strategy ever developed. Value investors’ success over the second half of the twentieth century proved not only the validity of the value approach, but its preeminence over even the most widely taught and practiced modern investment theory, which was developed in the 1950s and ’60s and remains dominant even today. Our mission today is to promote the study and practice of Graham & Dodd’s original investing principles and to improve investing with world-class education, research, and practitioner-academic dialogue. In this podcast you will hear from some of the world’s greatest investors, their views on the investment management industry, how they developed their investment process and how they see the field changing over time.