Mark Slater Interview - We Want Your Questions!

16th Feb '16 by Ben Hobson

14 comments 19327 reads

It’s taken a bit of work (I’ve been nagging) but next week I’m heading to Slater Investments to talk to one of the UK’s best known fund managers, Mark Slater.

Mark is ranked as one of the best performing fund managers in the UK, with funds including the MFM Slater Growth and MFM Slater Income. He’s a very popular figure among UK investors and a source of a huge amount of investing common sense. It’s going to be very interesting to hear how he sees the current market conditions and how he’s positioning his funds.

If there are any questions that you’d like me to put to Mark, please let me know in the comments below. As always, it’s difficult to make any promises, but I’ll do my best. Also note that last minute interview postponements can happen!

UPDATE - the interview is published here - http://www.stockopedia.com/content/mark-slater-int...

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Blissgull

18th Feb '16

I'm not sure if it's a very polite question, but what I would like to ask him is whether he gets fed up with always being described as "Mark Slater, son of....."

TMFMayn

19th Feb '16

Would be interesting to know:

1) How does he find his investment ideas?

2) Does he ever rely on third-party data sites for accounts and ratios, or does he compile/calculate them all in his own spreadsheets for himself?

3) Many quality/growth shares have been trading on rich multiples for the last few years, but that has not stopped them from delivering handsome returns of late (e.g. Rightmove). How does he judge when to 'pay up for growth', and does he use long-term DCF projections or similar to justify 'paying up'.

4) Where does he think most private investors go wrong with their portfolios?

5) How does he evaluate management? How often does he speak to directors of each holding -- if at all? What questions does he ask? Does he ever buy before speaking to the board?

6) How does he successfully compartmentalise three different investing strategies -- income, growth and recovery? It is hard enough to be successful at one strategy, let alone three, as the approaches and mindset for each can differ markedly.

7) What in particular does he look at in the accounts -- any unusual ratios that can prompt a 'red flag'?

8) Does he ever consider director pay, options etc, in his decision making -- and has he ruled out firms purely because of apparent boardroom greed.

9) How much does he rely on his staff to evaluate companies -- does he delve into accounts himself to double-check their work? Or does he simply buy the best ideas that he is presented with by his team?

10) What does he think about the diversification rules of managed funds? Most of his top-10 positions are only c3% of the fund, and there are limits as to how large such holdings can go (I believe). Must be frustrating when he sees great buying opportunities.

11) How does he define how much of a portfolio goes into a new stock? Save for regulatory rules on maximum portfolio weightings, does he have any weighting-based rules for trimming shares when they become too large a proportion of the fund?

12) Why did he get Lakehouse wrong and what is he doing now with the shares?

13) How does he think he can become an even better investor?

14) How can us potential clients know that he has not been lucky over the years, and that his outperformance can continue over the long term (albeit with the occasional temporary underperformance)?

15) Looking back at the Zulu books, they are littered with examples of 'dynamic growth shares' that could only sustain their dynamism and growth for just a few years -- and some became truly awful businesses (e.g. JJB Sports). So does he think the Zulu principles are really that useful for true long-term buy and hold investors -- or should the strategy appeal only to those wanting to hold for a 1-2-3 year re-rating?

15b) Oh, and does the Zulu system still work -- or was it just the right approach at the right time? (small-caps were thumped after the early 90s recession, and the wider economic recovery provided wonderful re-ratings -- in hindsight)

TangoDoc

Does he think that advances in technology attached to the buying and selling of shares have now gone too far and needlessly contribute to the wild gyrations so often seen with sometimes quite modest transfers and does he think anything can or should be done to help stabilise the market so that it becomes a more accurate reflection of the global economy?

iwright7

How does Mark's share selection criteria differ from Jim's and has Mark added additional criteria? Ian

lancschap

Excellent questions TMFMayn.

bsharman

20th Feb '16

Great questions submitted so far, I will be very interested to see the answers.

I'd be keen to get Mark's thoughts and ideas on the following:

The share prices of small caps can often fluctuate quite a bit on no news. Does he do his research and buy companies over a longer time frame without paying too much attention to market sentiment and macro economic factors - i.e. Does he make decisions to sell solely on company specific newsflow? If he is underwater in a position (say 20 to 30%) because of market gyrations would he contact the management to find out if there is a reason for the share price decline, would he use stop losses, or would he hold through the noise and trust his initial analysis on the basis that nothing has changed other than sentiment?

I attended a talk by him a few years ago and he mentioned 21st Century Technology (LON:C21) as a 'top 3' buy. He owns a big stake in this small business but the price has remained flat/down. Does he have any thoughts about this business now?

Does he invest initially in lots of small companies and build up his positions over time as he gains confidence in the management and the business proposition? Does he reduce his positions in those companies which do not deliver?

What are his thoughts on IPOs. His fund bought Marimedia at IPO or just after and it came out with a major profit warning less than a year afterwards. The share price collapsed. Has he learnt any lessons from this specific investment?

This is a bit cheeky but could you ask him for some companies he is either looking at or has small stakes in and is bullish on because of a specific moat and prospect. Companies which he has just started to buy not those that are established in his portfolios such as Hutchison China MediTech (LON:HCM) !!

Which other fund managers does he rate as being exceptional?

Could he describe a typical day in the life of Mark Slater.

Finally. Could you ask him to please bring back the monthly commentary section for his fund fact sheets on his website! Recently he has just been listing his top 5 contributors and detractors.

Many Thanks,

Ben

dustyie

23rd Feb '16

His opinion on Brexit, and how it will affect the earning growth of companies if britain leave the eu ?

does he think there is more companies like "globo" listed in the uk market ?

frank

DWit199

Does he have any doubts about the quality of Chinese medical research?

Lancet Article

dwg

25th Feb '16

Does he employ stop losses and how would he set these a) initially and b) once the investment is established?

JamesrWilson1989

Lots of good questions thus far, will be a good interview!!

With the winners he has picked - when does he sell these? I assume its based on when they become over-valued but how would he determine this?

Edward Croft

The interview has been conducted. Mark graciously gave Ben about 90 minutes of his time and by all accounts the write up will be a real gem. It's a lot to transcribe, so it will be published likely next Monday or Tuesday.

10th Mar '16

Have I missed the published interview? Or do we need a faster transcriber :-)

Ben Hobson

Hi Mayn,

No, the the transcriber was pretty rapid! Just waiting for the ok (there's a lot on it) - fingers crossed it won't be long.

12th Mar '16

The interview is published here - http://www.stockopedia.com/content/mark-slater-interview-a-masterclass-in-growth-investing-123686/

Mark Slater interview - we want your questions!

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Ben Hobson

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