Want to get into the mind of a professional buy-side investor?
This interview is with Michael Lasota, an investor with 13 years of experience at asset management firms like William Blair and T. Rowe Price.
You’ll learn Wall Street wisdom for investing in the stock market:
-How a buy-side investor makes money in stocks. -The types of stock setups he looks for. -How he thinks through decisions. -How he finds dominant trades to maximize returns.
Part 1:
00:06 Introduction
01:56 Michael’s origins and career start
03:57 Starting in the Buy-Side in the Financial Crisis of ’08
06:49 Recommending Marriott
08:20 Making Money in Dislocations
11:26 Investment Process (How to develop ideas)
13:02 Look for Asymmetry
14:14 Catalyst & GARP style
15:52 Looks for high-quality business models: high margins, return on capital
16:52 Industry setups tend to drive returns
19:43 How do you make buy and sell decisions?
21:23 Creating earnings scenarios
23:30 Thinking through distribution tails
26:28 Dominant trade in energy
29:58 EQT thesis: a natural gas investment idea
34:14 Thinking through the natural gas cycle
37:16 Relative value trades: oil versus gas
39:44 Why EQT versus other gas producers?
43:38 Short-term Wall Street incentives
Part 2:
00:00 Interview-Michael-Lasota-pt2
00:06 Evolution of process
01:59 How money management firms make decisions
03:18 Current analysis process?
04:43 Top-down or bottom-up?
07:04 Tools and process: letters, earnings calls, talk to people
07:52 Not a fan of screens for fundamental analysis
09:30 Using financial models (keep it simple)
12:08 Merger arb opportunity for individuals
16:13 Energy bull market and inflation
20:27 Will inflation keep rising?
24:10 Shrinking demographic implications
25:56 Lessons for new investors
27:27 Develop your own thesis
27:51 Think long-term
29:06 Think dominating trades
30:12 Michael’s newsletter for active investors
31:14 Tell me what to do
