The Armchair Trader Podcast The Armchair Trader

Host Stuart Fieldhouse is joined on this podcast episode by Annabel Brodie-Smith of the Association of Investment Companies. Annabel explains the world of investment trusts for the complete beginner: what are investment trusts and why should you have them in your portfolio?

We discuss the relationship between investment funds and the managers who make the investment decisions, and the sorts of markets and strategies investors can access using these listed vehicles. Annabel explains how investment trusts are priced and how the discount / premium equation works. 

Also on the podcast we look at why investment trusts own an advantage over open ended funds when it comes to illiquid assets like property and private equity, and why and how a trust board can fire its manager. We also briefly look at some of the excellent research tools available for investors on the AIC's own website

00:00 What is an Investment Trust?
02:38 How the board of directors and the fund manager interact
05:18 What sorts of assets do trusts invest in?
07:37 Who invest in trusts: retail investor, institutions and professionals
08:46 ISA millionaires: putting investment trusts in ISAs and SIPPs
09:50 Dividend Heroes: for income investors
11:48 What are the Discount and the NAV?
15:41 Accessing private equity and illiquid assets such as property
17:44 Why are a few trusts restricted to "experienced" investors?
20:55 How often do boards fire fund managers?
22:54 Management fees
24:21 Share buybacks
25:35 Find out more on theaic.co.uk

Pierre Debru is back on the podcast to chat with host, Stuart Fieldhouse about the biggest market themes right now. Pierre talks about designing a portfolio with thematic ETFs while managing concentration risk.

Pierre is the head of Quantitative Analysis and Multi-Asset Analysis at WisdomTree.

00:00 What is Multi-Thematic investing?
04:10 What themes have performed well lately?
08:41 What is the appeal of this type of investing?
10:51 How does WisdomTree designing these funds?
15:49 Is the ETF sector overweight in some themes?
16:29 How an investors build their own multi-thematic strategy?
21:41 Managing risk in portfolios
26:01 Concentration risk in the US stock market

This week, podcast host Stuart Fieldhouse chats to Steve Palmer of AlphaNorth Asset Management, a Canadian firm which runs a hedge fund focused on the small-cap end of the Canadian stock market.

00:00 Intro to AlphaNorth Asset Management
01:19 Biases in the Canadian small-cap market
02:40 Steve's views on market sectors
03:37 Focus on mining and oil stocks
04:09 Are mining stocks cheap to buy right now?
05:39 Predicting the next hot mining sector
06:24 What to look for in a good small-cap investment
07:32 Warrants
08:47 IPOs and advice for companies looking for investors
10:43 Private placements
11:35 Optimism for the Canadian small-cap market
13:55 Interesting sectors
15:45 Company debt
16:35 Are long track records important for small-caps?
19:04 Stocks Steve likes
20:20 PDAC Toronto
22:48 Checking the other shareholders

Stuart Fieldhouse talks to Rob Peterman of the Toronto Stock Exchange to talk about the TSX Venture 50 list of companies. Many TSXV-listed companies are available for trading to investors outside Canada. The TSX Venture Exchange includes 1,600 firms and we learn how the exchange picks the best 50 stocks every year.

00:00 Intro to the TSX Venture 50
01:46 How are the constituents chosen?
02:07 What does membership mean to companies?
03:47 What drives trading volume?
05:19 Any sector bias this year?
08:16 Companies in the innovation sector
10:20 Why consider TSX Venture 50 stocks?
12:13 Differences between TSX Venture and the TSX
15:13 How the TSX helps companies list

Manolo Zúñiga, President & CEO of PetroTal [LON:PTAL] joins Stuart on the podcast this week. We talk about the oil company's assets in Peru, how their remoteness affects development of the sites and the transport of the oil, minimising the environmental impact and future plans.

00:00 Intro to PetroTal
01:39 The oil industry in Peru
04:31 PetroTal's assets: Block 95 and 107
06:17 How has the site's remoteness affected development?
10:12 The current drilling schedule
13:26 How is the oil transported?
15:49 What's been driving the PetroTal share price?
17:33 Sustainability and the impact on the environment
21:00 Future plans

Stuart Fieldhouse speaks with Kaleeg Hainsworth, CEO and Founder of Canada-listed Legible [CSE:READ] to discuss the business, it's tie-ups with the big five publishers and how it utilises AI to improve the customer experience.

Kaleeg talks about upcoming plans which includes exciting developments in the automotive industry and the businesses key social mission which centres around accessibility, sustainability and literacy.

00:00 Introduction to Legible [CSE:READ]
02:14 Legible vs. Audible
05:40 Tie-ups with book publishers
07:50 How does Legible use AI?
13:05 Celebrity book launches, including Christina Ferrari cookbooks
16:58 Installing Legible in cars
24:06 Legible's social mission
29:49 Future plans