Slow and Steady Wins the Race, with Ariel’s John Rogers – [Invest Like the Best, EP.26]
My guest this week is John Rogers, founder, CEO and CIO of Ariel investments, one of the longest standing asset management businesses still in existence. John has a very impressive resume. In addition to his success at Ariel, he was the captain of the Princeton University men’s basketball team, he was the co-chair of Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, he sits on the board of McDonald’s, and he has given back to his community more than I can list here. John and I discuss Ariel’s investment process and its evolution over the years, lessons from John’s basketball career, value investing, and asset management’s diversity problem among many other interesting issues. Please enjoy!
Books Referenced
A Random Walk down Wall Street: The Time-tested Strategy for Successful Investing
Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Psychological Edge
Links Referenced
Video of John playing Michael Jordan
Show Notes
2:20 – (first question) – Explore John’s experience playing basketball and what he has learned from playing on a team.
7:22 – What is the cleanest way to keep the investment team honest by pointing out any mistakes they are making.
8:28 – Looking at John Rogers investment process to determine his edge
12:27 – How does John analyze managers and executives, especially as it relates to their longer-term investment strategy
13:27 – What are the biggest red flags that make you want to avoid a business
19:31 – Going back to the beginning of Ariel and John’s interest in investing
19:30 – A Random Walk down Wall Street: The Time-tested Strategy for Successful Investing
22:13 – How did John tackle his portfolio early on and what industries he focused on then
24:37 – What helped to inspire John’s value investing strategy
24:54 – Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Psychological Edge
26:16 – The Money Masters
28:14 – What has changed in terms of the prospects for value investing from when he started till now
30:46 – Looking at John’s investment philosophy against the current market
33:58 – How important is brand when evaluating a company as a potential investment and how is that quantified
36:32 – How do you hire people that are going to have vision and be a good fit
38:48 – How to screen for someone who has vision
42:18 – What are the key business lessons John has learned running a firm
45:16 – A look at the I Have a Dream Class
45:53 – Exploring John’s community activism and what has the highest rate of return that are most worth someone’s time.
50:38 – Getting John’s take on the issue of minorities and women in investing and how to improve the situation
55:35 – Identifying the most memorable day of John’s professional career
57:18 – The kindest thing anyone has ever done for John
57:56 – What excites you most about markets today and into the future
59:18 – How did John get to play Michael Jordan in basketball…and beat him
1:00:45 – Video of John playing Michael Jordan
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
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