Monday
Morning
At the beginning of the first full week post-festive season, I dust off the cobwebs with a pre-breakfast walk with our black lab Hamish before getting to the desk and checking in on markets.
Afternoon
It’s ‘outlook season’, so I sift through some analysis on some key sectors for the fund, particularly the data centre/power trade associated with the AI infrastructure build-out. 2026 is very much shaping up to be a ‘show me’ year for AI revenues. One of the differentiators of the real assets world is that we tend to see less speculative capex and a higher proportion of contracted cash flows, and this should become more visible as we cycle through earnings over the next 12 months.
Tuesday
Morning
I spend some time with my new analyst, who joined in December, working through some of the details behind our process and getting him focused on a few priority research areas for the coming weeks. One is the cost of debt as many companies refinance out of Covid-era rates. How much of any higher financing costs is priced in?
Afternoon
I’m on the road visiting clients around the country next week, so I spend the afternoon finalising updates to our investor presentation. Explaining and taking questions on the investment process is always helpful as it helps you check your thinking.
Wednesday
Morning
After dropping off my youngest daughter at her new school, it’s a dash to the train to head into the Westminster office. Check in on news; Trump tweets about residential housing in the US, causing some tremors in parts of the real estate market. Not an area we’re exposed to, and we believe selective exposure remains the name of the game in real estate. We continue some analysis on primary healthcare business models, where we see some attractive value especially in the UK.
Afternoon
I record some video content for our marketing team, outlining my comments on 2025 and the outlook for 2026. I focus on three main areas to watch: the continuation of the rate easing cycle, the opportunity in European utilities, and returns dispersion within real estate.
Thursday
Morning
The fund celebrates its 6-month birthday today, so I spent some time reviewing and recapping performance, preparing some commentary for our sales team. Having launched several funds, the first couple of years are often the hardest, but also the most rewarding as the strategy takes shape and clients come on board.
Afternoon
Time for some stock work on those European utilities. Europe has lagged the US in terms of electricity demand growth but is set to follow suit, and this could present opportunities. A new investor places a sizeable deal, so I line up the trades ready to go and send them out to the market.
Friday
Morning
Often the quietest morning of the week, giving me a chance to tie up any loose ends from the week and spend some time reviewing portfolio positioning.
Afternoon
I have lunch with an industry contact who spends most of his time providing finance to infrastructure projects; always useful to hear what’s happening within capital markets and how financing conditions look for the sorts of companies we invest in.
I’ve done dry January for a few years now, and my quest for the best 0% beer continues. Tonight, I’ll give Peroni 0.0 a fair hearing as I make dinner for the family.
Saturday & Sunday
The weekend is now a familiar rhythm of dad-taxiing between sport practice, parties and shopping whilst attempting to fit in some exercise where possible. I ran my first half-marathon in 2025, so I’m aiming to at least match that in 2026 before I turn 40 next year!
