In our latest episode, Sid and Erika are joined by Mick Dillon, who co-manages Brown Advisory’s Global Leaders and Global Focus strategies and has played a critical role in developing the firm’s global equity investment platform since joining Brown Advisory in 2014.

Mick joins the podcast at an especially timely moment. Many investors and pundits continue to focus their attention on the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks that have dominated the U.S. market for several years, but there are a large number of significant geopolitical and regional matters that are impacting investments all over the globe. In this discussion, he offers his perspective to help Sid and Erika dive deep into what is going on in Europe, Japan, China and elsewhere.

 

Highlights:

  • Mick’s investment philosophy is heavily focused on “bottom-up” investing in companies with strong fundamentals. But such philosophies can be challenged during periods when markets become overwhelmed by macroeconomic issues. The team discusses this and Mick talks about the tools he, and his global equity team, use to assess various macro risks and determine which factors are legitimate threats to the cash flows of their portfolio companies.
  • Mick offers some extended thinking about the Japanese market, and he stated that he is more excited about that market now than he has ever been in his career, due to the big-picture changes sweeping through that market recently.
  • After living in China for nearly a decade earlier in his career, Mick always has excellent insights about that country and where he sees investment potential. He used case studies of portfolio holdings Taiwan Semiconductor and AIAA in a discussion of opportunities and risks.
  • Building from the discussion about Taiwan Semi, the team dives deeper into the discussion of technology and supporting infrastructure. Asked if he is seeing a lot of activity driven by economic stimulus like the Inflation Reduction Act, Mick said he is really seeing the impact of the new U.S. and European programs to support domestic semiconductor development. Here is where bottom-up investors can get creative in their search for exposure to macro trends; Mick discusses three companies that he thinks stand to benefit from a revived Western chip manufacturing industry—none of whom are actual chipmakers

Mick, Sid and Erika covered a number of other topics in a freewheeling conversation including Mick’s Summer reading recommendations. Sid and Erika offered their periodic roundup of key issues impacting the markets and how they are positioning portfolios for their clients.

We hope you enjoy the episode and welcome your questions and feedback.

 

 


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