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Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking - Baillie GiffordAuthor: Baillie Gifford
Baillie Giffords Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking bring valuable insights into the benefits of taking the long view. Youll hear frank, thought-provoking opinions from our team in Edinburgh and experts around the world. These podcasts do not constitute an offer of or solicitation for purchase or sale of securities or provision of any investment services. They are provided for information only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. Our podcasts have been compiled with considerable care to ensure their accuracy at the date of publication. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made to their accuracy or completeness. For further details please see our legal information at www.bailliegifford.com Language: en-gb Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Emerging markets: when the crowd gets it wrong
Sunday, 27 September, 2026
The biggest car-carrying ships on the planet. A chip-testing rig that weighs as much as a small elephant. Investment manager Alex Summers takes us inside some of emerging markets’ least-watched growth companies to explain how his team sees what others have missed. “Often, the crowd is going to be right,” he acknowledges, but when it’s not, long-termism, access to management and asking different questions are key to how his team determines investment opportunities. Background:Alex Summers is co-manager of our Emerging Markets Leading Companies Fund, an investment manager in our Emerging Markets Equity Team and a member of the International Growth Portfolio Construction Group.In this conversation, he tells Short Briefings… host Leo Kelion why one of his team’s guiding principles is that before investing in a company, he and his colleagues must be able to articulate the critical uncertainty about a stock and why others may be wrong. “Often, you can observe something about a company, and it may be true,” he explains. “But if everybody else believes that, you’re not going to create any additional outperformance by owning those companies.” Companies discussed include:Hyundai Glovis – the logistics company that’s invested in a dozen ultra-sized ships and now sees an opportunity in transporting spent electric vehicle batteriesChroma ATE – the test-equipment company whose customised cabinets provide critical checks for NVIDIA and NasaSilergy – the mainland China-based semiconductor company specialising in power-management chipsReliance Industries – India’s most valuable company and its heavy investment in solar panels, green hydrogen and battery storage systemsToss – the South Korean financial super-app that provides banking, payment and ecommerce services Resources:Baillie Gifford websiteEmerging Markets Leading Companies FundEmerging markets: from imitators to innovators (video)Emerging markets: the next engines of global growthShort Briefings on Long Term Thinking podcast archiveWhen consensus fails Companies mentioned include:· Chroma ATE· Hyundai Glovis· Meituan· NVIDIA· PB Fintech· Reliance Industries· Samsung Electronics· Silergy· SK hynix· Talabat· Toss· TSMCTimecodes (audio version):00:00 Introduction01:45 From Toronto to Edinburgh02:35 A lesser-covered class of companies03:35 Taking a five-to-10-year view04:15 Forming non-consensus views05:35 Hyundai Glovis and EV batteries07:10 Corporate governance reform in South Korea09:30 Getting access to senior leaders11:50 Chroma ATE’s chip-testing equipment14:50 Building conviction in Silergy16:30 Declining to invest in Talabat18:20 Visiting Reliance Industries in Jamnagar20:45 Retaining sell discipline22:00 Toss and private companies24:15 Moving towards physical assets25:35 Podcasts and Substack picks Glossary of terms (in order of mention):Magnificent Seven: A nickname for seven large US technology-related companies – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla.Holding period: The length of time an investment is owned.Corporate governance: The systems and processes by which a company is directed and controlled, including board accountability and the treatment of shareholders.Minority shareholder: An investor who owns less than a controlling stake in a company and cannot direct it alone.Bottom-up investing: Assessing individual companies rather than starting with forecasts for economies, markets or sectors.Economies of scale: Advantages that arise as a company handles more volume, reducing the average cost of each unit.Profit margin: The proportion of revenue left as profit after costs have been deducted.Graphics processing unit (GPU): A chip designed to perform many calculations in parallel, originally for graphics but now also widely used in AI.Analog chip: A semiconductor that processes continuous real-world signals, such as sound, temperature or voltage.Flotation or initial public offering (IPO): The process by which a private company first offers shares to public investors and lists them on a stock exchange.Cash flow: The movement of money into and out of a business over time.Capital allocation: The decisions a company makes about how to use its money, such as investing in growth, making acquisitions, paying dividends or reducing debt.Business vertical: A distinct business area within a company, usually focused on a particular product, service or market.Overweight: Holding more of an investment, sector or theme than the index used for a comparison.Fintech: Technology-driven financial services, such as digital payments, lending or banking tools.Insurance brokerage: A business that helps customers compare and buy insurance, acting as an intermediary between them and insurers.Capital-light: Describes a business that needs relatively little investment in physical assets to operate and grow.
