Deon Gouws, CIO of Credo, was my special guest on the Investment Community podcast. You can listen to the conversation with Deon here.

In this episode, Deon tells:

  • How the most formative experience of his career came from being “technically bankrupt” for a few weeks, due to having a long and geared position in a single stock that tanked as interest rates rose sharply.
  • How being a good CIO means having to be skilled at both investment management and people management.
  • How he learned to wear his own opinions lightly (“don’t believe your own bullshit”).

We also discussed:

  • That many different investment approaches can work, as long as the manager has a demonstrable process and sticks to that process through the cycle.
  • That the key attributes of an excellent investor are intellectual honesty and emotional stability.
  • The importance of focussing on our strengths rather than weaknesses, because that’s how we have a shot at being exceptional.