In this conversation, I had the pleasure of chatting with Marcus Burns, Portfolio Manager for Spheria Asset Management, a fundamental-based small cap equity manager, based in Sydney.

Marcus’s investment background includes a stint working for GLG Partners in London, one of Europe’s largest Hedge Funds, as a portfolio manager for their global consumer focused fund. Investing in illiquid and emerging markets, both from the long and short side during his time at GLG, has given Marcus a unique perspective on how to manage risk, which is critical when investing in small cap Australian equities.

One of the important character traits to successful investing over the long term is humility. When you’ve been doing it long enough, owning your fallibility helps you reduce your poor decision rate and keeps you motivated to do the work required to sniff out opportunity. It was so clear from our conversation, that Marcus’s humility is central to his success.

As an investor in small cap Aussie equities myself, I found this conversation most helpful, particularly regarding what pitfalls to avoid and how to find value in a market segment that often sells more dreams than reality. I hope you find as much value in the chat as I did. Enjoy.

Marcus Burns can be found at:

Web:  https://spheria.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-burns-8484061/

Podcast Music: The Spiel by Flag Duty. Copyright 2019. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/flag-duty/1473761192