In the first of a new series, Portfolio Adviser takes a walk in the life of Will James, manager of the Guinness European Equity Income fund.
Monday
07:00: It’s a refreshed start to the week after a long weekend with the family in Cornwall – but perhaps not for a certain teenager who spent it at the Boardmasters festival. The dog gets a walk while it’s still cool. It’s been a long hot summer.
08:30: Into the office for our management call. We catch up on the week ahead. It’s August and reasonably quiet, but not for me; quite a few people want to talk about Europe.
09:00: I check in with the team to see whether anything has come up over the weekend. Thankfully, there’s nothing pressing – the joy of being long-term investors – so I can pick up some stock work where I left off last week. Currently, we are looking at the opportunities presented by further financial market consolidation in Europe on Euronext, the European exchange.
12:00: HR and I discuss the potential recruitment of a new team member. It’s great to be able to be thinking about adding resource given recent sales and client activity. Who says European equities aren’t the place to be?
15:00: I pull together an update for the sales team, covering fund performance and any interesting newsflow or market moving events, to help them keep clients informed, and get the email out just in time…
16:00: Onto the call with the sales team. It’s very useful update all round, with all teams contributing. Effective communication is everything.
17:00: Follow up with some detail on some of our holdings that clients have been asking about.
17:30: Back to work, and to Monday’s flurry of emails, as the office gradually quietens down.
Tuesday
08:00: I grab a coffee and sit down to catch up on the daily ‘noiseflow’ before getting stuck into some holdings’ Q2 reports. The fund is a conviction portfolio of 30 holdings, equally weighted, where every stock matters.
12:00: Make sure the presentation decks are ready for a meeting this afternoon.
14:00: Off to see a very experienced fund selector near Oxford Street. We introduce the European Equity Income fund and its quality income approach. We get some great questions and are pleased to get the feedback that it is properly differentiated from the crowd.
16:00: A slot with the team to go through one of our portfolio holdings: Konecranes, the Finnish industrial. It’s one of our better performers in recent months. We revisit the investment case, discuss the outlook, and check our assumptions.
18:00: I catch up with my old university flatmates at the Cornershop near Temple. It’s my first time there: decent concept, food and drink. I can’t believe it is almost 25 years since I have seen one of them – although he does live in Tasmania, of all places!
Wednesday
09:00: A call from the new sales contact at one of the brokers we use. I have to explain that we are relatively low-maintenance and tend to do most of the research ourselves.
09:30: A meeting with the responsible investment team, who have been helping out with some extra research into the carbon emissions of one of our Industrials holdings to help us keep our ESG assessment up to date.
11:00: Another client meeting, this time over Teams with a contact in Dublin, on our recently launched Pan-European fund. They are keen, it seems, and just checking a few details. Growing a smaller fund is always a challenge, so it’s great that we are getting such early interest and traction.
12:00: I skip lunch as have more stock work to do…
15:00: It’s time to hungrily check the day’s flows. Nothing of note! Maybe growing funds takes time after all. And it’s August.
17:00: Start chatting to one of the analysts about Stablecoin and its implications for the world of finance, transactions and payments. Not necessarily directly relevant for any of our investments, but interesting all the same. How will companies actually make money from it if they have an offering? Next thing I know, it’s six o’clock! It is clear I need to do some more work to properly get a grip of the subject…
Thursday
09:00: Ahead of a big meeting today with another potential client, I catch up with my co-presenter and do some prep.
10:00: Back to some company modelling and updating our investment theses following recent earnings.
12:00: Squeeze in filming a promotional video for our annual conference. Get it in a couple of takes (which is rare!)
14:00: Head off to the City to present the fund. A reverse enquiry given the attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns the strategy has delivered. The meeting appeared to go well and the feedback was positive. Great to see the positive momentum in flows and client interaction continue. A hugely satisfying part of the job.
15:00: We pass a Guinness taxi – we’ve been advertising – on the way back to the office, liveried up with one of our distinctive animals – this time it’s the jet-powered snail!
16:00: Meet with the team on European macro. Investors are cottoning on that there’s more to the world than just the US.
Friday
07:00: A chance to catch my breath, working from home. I walk Flo, who as ever is delighted to have my company!
08:00: A day free of meetings allows me to properly go through the portfolio, recent newsflow, performance and valuation metrics, and look at whether any rebalancing is required.
14:00: Identify my priorities for next week, check the diary for any unexpected entries, and see which companies are reporting. We are pretty far through a long Q2 reporting season, so it’s a relief to find that none of the portfolio holdings are due to report next week.
16:00: Interview with a potential candidate to join the team.
17:00: Switch off the screens…
Saturday
08:45: After a week of avoiding it, Crossfit beckons! It’s a nasty one today: teams of four doing 60 calories on the rowing machine, pull ups (still working on those), dumbbell clean and jerk (they suck the life out of you), bar muscle ups (never in a month of Sundays). If you think fund managers try to baffle you with terminology, try Crossfit…
09:45: Somehow I manage to get through.
10:00: Quick coffee with the Crossfit gang. It feels especially well earned today!
12:00: Find something for the kids to do on yet another Saturday during the Summer hols…
Sunday
My uncle (80 years young) has decided some trees and hedges in our garden need a trim and a proper tidy up, so he makes his regular Sunday visit to use his trusty beloved chainsaw while I pick up and chip the offcuts. After all these years we have discovered we share the same taste in comedy so over coffee, in the sun, we compare notes and chuckle to ourselves while picking chippings from our clothes.
