Becoming a Fund Manager From Academy to Allocator – Jamie & Henry from Ennismore discuss how to find investment ideas
In this episode, Jeremy is joined by David Seaman for a conversation with Henry Rayner and Jamie Hartley, two fund managers at Ennismore, about how they've developed their craft as small-cap investors through the firm's Academy programme.
We discuss:
- How the Ennismore Academy throws new joiners into pitching their own ideas from week one, and why that builds the muscle for genuine idea generation
- The transition from mechanical screens to lateral thinking, and why building a "bank of companies" takes years
- Useful jumping-off points beyond valuation screens: insider buying, special situations, spinoffs
- Decomposing expected returns into free cash flow yield, earnings growth, and rerating
- Why South Korea may be where Japan was three years ago — and how reforms under the new administration are driving genuine governance change
- Henry's thesis on Saramin, a Korean job classifieds business trading below its net cash balance
- The post-COVID biopharma destocking cycle and why sell-side models missed the bullwhip effect
- Jamie's positions in Spirax (Watson Marlow, steam solutions) and Sotera Health
- Portfolio construction in a multi-manager model and why uncorrelated theses matter
- Using AI to steel-man investment theses
Whether you're a professional investor, a private investor looking to deepen your craft, or someone curious about how young fund managers learn the trade, this conversation offers a window into the discipline, patience, and lateral thinking that go into small-cap investing.
Brought to you by Progressive Equity
Episode sponsor Finance Talking
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small-cap investing, Ennismore fund managers, South Korea value investing, biopharma destocking cycle, net cash balance sheet investing, margin of safety
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