My guest on the show today is Dan Rupp, the Founder and CIO of Parkway Capital. After spending many years at a very well-known, Asia-focused investment firm called Overlook, Dan founded Parkway Capital to take advantage of some of the less liquid and smaller-cap opportunities he was consistently unearthing. Dan is the first Asia-only investor we have had on the podcast, and I was excited to speak with him about: - The types of opportunities he thought he could invest in with a smaller...

My guest on the show today is the Bill Bennett, the CEO of Innovative Foods Group. After a number of years for working for big companies like Wal-Mart and Kroger, Bill became the CEO of Innovative Foods in early 2023. Since that time, he has been leading an aggressive business improvement plan that has started to bear fruit. In this conversation, we covered: - What initially attracted Bill to the company and the CEO role; - Where Innovative Foods plays within the specialty foods subsegment...

My guest on the show today is Adam Wilk, the Founder and CIO of Greystone Capital Management. Adam is a savvy microcap investor who prefers to run a very concentrated portfolio. In this in-depth conversation, we covered: - How Adam applies learnings from being an NBA scout to the investing realm; - Why he has chosen to own so few companies; - The types of microcap companies that Adam gravitates toward; - His approach to assessing management teams; and - What it was like starting a new firm...

My guest on the show today is Jim Cunniff, President and CEO of Electromed, Inc. (NYSE American: ELMD). Electromed is best known for its main products, the SmartVest, a medical device that helps people with a chronic lung condition breathe easier and have a better quality of life. After working at Baxter and Stryker, Jim became CEO in 2023 and has brought a new level of focus and urgency to the Electromed. In this conversation, covered: Why Jim decided to take the CEO role at...

My guest on the show today is Jim Edwards, the founder and managing partner of Maestria Partners. Jim spent a number of years working for big university endowments until launching Maestria in 2023. Jim is a fundamental investor at heart who thought deeply about how to differentiate his firm before going out on his own. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discussed: - Jim’s journey from the allocator world to launching his own investment firm; - What he learned about differentiation and...

My guest on the show today is Carl Herberger, the CEO or Corero Network Security. Carl joined Corero, a UK-listed microcap company, at an exciting time for the company. Cybersecurity is such a hot space that I was excited to speak with Carl about: What he thought was so compelling about the opportunity to lead Corero; Where the company’s products play in the cybersecurity ecosystem; How a small company lands partnerships with well-known, large companies; Ways in which AI is going to impact...

My guest on the show today is Yuri Khodjamirian, the CIO at Tema. Tema is an innovative company that is trying to revolutionize the ETF industry. The company has a passion for providing investors, especially those in retail space, with access to institutional quality managers and strategies. In this in-depth discussion, we covered: Tema’s mission at it relates to providing quality access to ETF strategies How Tema is trying to differentiate its ETFs within a very crowded space Why some...

My guest on the show today is Mathieu Martin, the Portfolio Manager of the Rivemont Microcap Fund. Mathieu is a microcap specialist who focuses on Canadian stocks. I have personally become fascinated with the differences between the US and Canadian markets, and I was excited to talk to Mathieu about: Where his love for microcap stocks began; The level of inefficiency he sees within Canadian microcaps; Why US-based investors don’t venture up to Canada as often as they should; and What he...

My guest on the show today is author and investor, Brendan Hughes. Brendan wrote a very interesting book entitled Markets in Chaos where he analyzed various boom-and-bust cycles that have happened over history. Brendan is also on the investment team at Lafayette Investments, a Maryland-based RIA. In this wide-ranging discussion, we covered: The major lessons he learned from writing Markets in Chaos Lafayette’s approach to security selection; How he and his firm define a quality...

My guest on the show today is Chet Rastogi, Partner and Portfolio Manager of Heron Bay Capital Management. Chet is a seasoned investor who helps the firm run both its discretionary and systematic strategies. In this interesting conversation, we discussed: - Heron Bay’s definition of a quality company; - What it means to be a good steward of clients’ capital; - Why the firm employs both discretionary and systematic strategies; - How he thinks about concentration in both types of strategies;...

My guest on the show today is Bogumil Baranowski: author, podcast host and the Founder of Blue Infinitas Capital. Many people may know Bogumil for his excellent podcast, Talking Billions. However, as I turned the microphone around on Bogumil, I was interested in learning about his investment philosophy and approach. In this in-depth conversation, we covered: - The founding inspiration for Blue Infinitas Capital; - What types of clients he hopes to attract to his new firm - The types of...

My guest on the show today is Tom Bachrach, the Principal at PFH Capital. Tom is an eclectic investor who travels around the world looking for mispriced smaller companies, especially those in markets that a lot of other investors shy away from. He also is willing to invest in sectors that other people shun for various reasons. With all of that as background, I was looking forward to chatting with Tom about: - The founding inspiration for PFH Capital; - The countries and markets he tends to...

My guest on this show today is Meb Faber, the CEO at Cambria Investment Management. Cambria manages a number of ETFs that in total have over $2 billion in AUM. Meb is also the host of an excellent podcast where he interviews people from all different corners of the investment world. I have been a listener of the podcast for years but recently realized that I knew a lot more about Meb the podcast host than I did about Cambria. Accordingly, I was interested to chat with Meb about: - Cambria’s...

My guest on the show today is Whit Huguley, the Portfolio Manager at River Oaks Capital. Whit is a microcap specialist who has been running this portfolio full time since early 2020. Whit puts together one of the most comprehensive quarterly letters I have ever seen—in many cases discussing all the companies in his portfolio. As I learned more about his process and philosophy I became curious about: Why he first became interested in microcaps; The checklist he uses to evaluate stocks; His...

My guest on the show today is Maj Soueidan, the Co-Founder of Geoinvesting. Maj is a microcap expert who has been investing in the space for over 30 years. Maj and his team are always searching for potential multi-baggers as they perform extensive research on top-tier microcap companies. Given how out of favor microcaps are at the moment, I was curious to speak with Maj about: - Why it has been so tough to be a microcap investor in recent years; - What he looks for when he is assessing...

My guest on the show today is Scott Colson, the CIO of Irrational Capital. Scott has partnered with well-known academic and author Dan Ariely to build indexes based on human capital assessment—and partner with asset managers to create ETFs--that are tied to a proprietary metric they call the Human Capital Factor. In this eye-opening discussion, we covered: The founding of Irrational Capital and how Scott got involved; The various ETFs that Irrational Capital has launched with Harbor...

My guest on the show today is Mac Sykes, the Portfolio Manager of the Gabelli Financial Services Opportunities Fund. Mac has been with Gabelli for over 15 years and runs a portfolio that is focused on the financial services industry. We haven’t had many chances to discuss banks on this podcast. So, I was excited to speak with Mac about: - The major tailwinds he and his team believer are supporting the companies in the portfolio; - How technology is transforming and impacting the incumbents...

My guests on the show today are Jen Yu and Alex Penfold, the co-founders of Jaxon Lane, a beauty and skin care company they run as a husband and wife team. I have known these two for many years and am a user of their products. Jaxon Lane is known for its Bro Mask, a product whose goal it is to make healthy facial skin more accessible to men. In this wide ranging discussion, we covered: - The founding idea and story of Jaxon Lane; - How Jen and Alex figured out how to navigate a brand new...

My guest on the show today is John Zolidis, the President and Founder of Quo Vadis Capital. John is a consumer and retail specialist who manages money for clients and, harkening back to his sell-side days, offers single stock research to professional investors. Given all of the secular and cyclical factors that have impacted retail companies over the last decade, I was really looking forward to speaking with John about: - The unique return on capital lens that he approaches brick and mortar...

My guest on the show today is Jeff Schwartz, the CEO of Dentity. Jeff has a long track of success and has been the CEO of a number of public companies. Jeff’s newest venture is called Dentity, a company that is attempting to make digital identities ubiquitous across the internet. In this fascinating conversation, we discussed: - How a self-described “auto guy” got into the digital identity space; - The business model surrounding creating digital identities for people; - Why he enjoys...

My guest on the show today is Clare Flynn Levy, the Founder and CEO of Essentia Analytics. I met Clare several years ago when my prior firm worked with Essentia to help us improve our decision making. The process of having Essentia analyze past successes and mistakes was so insightful that I became a big fan of the product. Accordingly, when I reconnected with Clare recently, I was excited to speak with her about: - The founding inspiration for Essentia; - The concepts of Behavioral Alpha...

My guest on the show today is Nick King, the co-founder and CEO of Vint. Through Vint, Nick is on a mission to turn wine into a financial asset class. Nick was working on the buy-side at a value investment firm but left to work on Vint full-time in 2021. Since then, the company has gone through a rigorous SEC registration process and is now in position to offer investors the ability to participate in the returns available that come from owning wine. With that as a backdrop, I was eager to...

My guest on the show today is Soo Chuen Tan, the Founder and President at Discerene Group. Soo Chuen started the firm over 13 years ago with less than $100mm in assets. Since then, the firm has grown to manage over $2 billion in for clients. Discerene has one of the most compelling structures and relationships with its LPs of any public investing firm I know. I have had the privilege of listening to Soo Chuen speak on other podcasts and I was excited to chat with him on Compounders about: -...

My guests on the show today are Corey Henegar and Jeff Fahrenbruch, the co-portfolio managers at Oakview Capital. Oakview is an SEC-registered, Dallas-based investment firm that was started in 2010. Jeff and Corey bring a unique lens into value investing and I enjoyed talking to them about: - How decisions are made at Oakview given the co-PM structure; - The types of companies they look to invest in; - Portfolio construction, including position sizing; - How they use checklists within their...