Monene Watson, CIO of Old Mutual Multi-Managers, was my special guest on the Investment Community podcast. You can listen to the conversation with Monene here.

In this episode, Monene tells:

  • How difficult it is to assess whether underperformance by a fund manager is due to a broken process (in which case the manager should be terminated), or if it’s due to a temporary shift in market dynamics (in which case the manager should be given time).
  • How she respects fund managers who are self-reflective and have the ability to admit their mistakes.
  • How the focus has shifted from identifying star fund managers to identifying investment teams with great cultures.

We also discussed:

  • That her advice to fund managers is that they should make it easy for investors to understand that the managers know what they’re doing. They should have clarity about their edge and be able to articulate that edge.
  • That there’s a big difference between assessing other investors and yourself being accountable to clients for your investment decisions.
  • That it’s important to distinguish between feelings and valuations, and it’s important to understand both yourself and markets.