Going Beyond the Numbers: Investors Meeting Executives - MS001

Meeting Strategist - Conversations on Leadership & Communication

In this first episode, Marcel van de Hoef interviews Joost de Graaf, a senior portfolio manager at Kempen Capital Management. Based in Amsterdam, Joost helps manage more than 3 billion euros at Kempen’s Global and European High Dividend funds.

Reflecting on the hundreds of meetings he has had with company executives over the past 20 years, Joost talks about the human edge in investing, the predictive power of information gathered from meetings, the importance of what’s not being said and how to build rapport with powerful people.

Here are some of the episode’s highlights with timestamps:

• 8:27 - The human edge in collecting and judging information, as more money is managed by algorithms
• 14:16 - Why business model disruption and the financial crisis have made it more important for investors to meet with management
• 23:50 - The importance of intangible information in sizing up a management team
• 34:13 - The winning mindset in meetings
• 47:38 - How to build a relationship with powerful - and sometimes difficult - personalities like Elon Musk
• 56:29 - Joost’s book tip and how meetings helped Marathon Asset Management identify problems at Anglo Irish Bank

For more detailed information about this episode and relevant links to people, books and other resources, visit the show notes on www.meetingstrategist.org/podcast

About this podcast

Welcome to the debut episode of Meeting Strategist! On this podcast, Marcel van de Hoef interviews professionals and thinkers from the worlds of investment, business and arts about their approach to business conversations. You'll hear inspiring stories about impactful meetings, while also learning about the strategies, tactics and mindsets these guests rely on to make meetings more productive and meaningful.

Marcel is an Amsterdam-based communication advisor and trainer and the curator of the Meeting Strategist blog. His mission is to help senior professionals think more strategically about meetings, ask better questions, improve their listening skills and have more meaningful conversations in business and life. Learn more and stay up to date at meetingstrategist.org