Anthony Kingsley (Findlay Park) - Compounding With Purpose

Far From The Finishing Post

In this episode of Far From The Finishing Post we speak to Anthony Kingsley. Anthony is Chief Investment Officer at Findlay Park and has a wealth of experience investing in the US. Anthony discusses a range of topics; his career as an investor, Findlay Park's evolved approach of investing in higher quality businesses, and an investment philosophy that emphasises the avoidance of steep losses in the generation of strong long-term compound returns.
Show notes:
[1:10] Anthony talks about his early career at Foreign & Colonial as an analyst on the American desk
[2:48] The genesis of Findlay Park's investment philosophy
[5:43] American capitalism and dynamism. Why it is such a great place to invest
[8:57] Quality compounders across industries
[10:02] The difference between knowledge and understanding
[11:07] Findlay Park's competitive advantages
[13:08] Findlay Park's evolution and a culture of continuous learning
[16:10] An openness to new ideas and encouraging discussion and debate
[17:48] Shifting up the quality spectrum
[19:26] Focusing on returns on capital rather than capital intensity
[21:21] Digital intensity and its role in creating sustainable competitive advantages
[23:27] Finding companies with strong cores and embedded optionality
[25:20] Focusing on companies with a strong and purposeful culture
[27:10] Assessing culture throughout an organisation
[30:27] Sustaining culture in more acquisitive companies
[33:23] The mistake of not owning great companies for longer
[35:26] Requiring more asymmetric risk/reward for companies with lower checklist scores
[37:14] Focusing on downside risk has been an unnecessary discipline for the last decade but will become more important
[39:28] The character traits of great investors
[41:05] Be passionate and keep learning