IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

• Lessons Jon learned working for legend Bob Robotti
• Why Jon favours high-quality, growing businesses
• How Jon counters bias when meeting charismatic CEOs
• The three essential traits Jon demands in investments
• Why local investor networks unlock global insights
• Why Jon prioritizes owners’ earnings over net income
• What makes an investment a “no-brainer” for Jon
• Why holding winners is harder than it seems
• Why Jon leans toward “boring” low-tech businesses
• What traits Jon values most in company leadership
• And so much more!

TRANSCRIPT

Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors and slightly off timestamps may be present due to platform differences.  

[00:00:03] Kyle Grieve: Jon Cukierwar has quietly built one of the most impressive emerging track records in global investing today since the fund’s inception five years ago. He’s compounded returns at 15% per annum, crushing the S&P 500 returns of 9% per annum over the same time period. But Jon’s route to success hasn’t been the most conventional.

[00:00:21] Kyle Grieve: After cutting his teeth under the legendary value investor, Bob Robotti, where he learned about the power of truly independent thinking and deep bottom up research, Jon launched his fund, but instead of focusing on deep value, Jon focused on business templates that resonated with him. These were global stocks that tended to be smaller in size and we’re often overlooked by Wall Street.

[00:00:40] Kyle Grieve: Now, while these companies may be obscure, they tend to tick the trifecta that Jon looks for, which are quality, growth, and value. Another interesting thing I learned about Jon was that he benchmarks his fund against the S&P 500, despite never holding a single stock inside of that index. His reasoning for competing with that benchmark is explicitly the response that I’d want to hear if I ever decided to have someone else manage my money.

[00:01:04] Kyle Grieve: We’ll look at why Jon prefers foreign markets to us once and how he crosses a hurdle of understanding businesses in foreign countries. We also have a much closer look at what Jon looks for during his site visits and talks with management. If you’ve never gotten a chance to read any of Jon’s research, you’re in for a treat.

[00:01:22] Kyle Grieve: His research during the due diligence process feels more on par with something like investigative journalism than what you’d expect versus the average analysis. This is how he decides if an investment is a true no-brainer. And speaking of no-brainer investments, we’ll go over precisely what he looks for in these types of investments that have gone on to produce some incredibly large multibaggers for him over a pretty short period of time.

[00:01:45] Kyle Grieve: One other interesting topic we discussed was his thoughts on steady state earnings. This is a way of looking at the underlying free cash flow business if it weren’t investing for growth. He has identified many great companies where cashflow appears meager. Still, when adjusted for factors such as growth capital expenditures, they reveal some cash generating machines with some very impressive upside potential.

[00:02:08] Kyle Grieve: So if you’re the investor who values original and contrarian thinking, deep fundamental research and the pursuit of multibaggers stocks, you’re going to love this episode. Now let’s get right into this week’s chat with Jon Cukierwar.

[00:02:25] Intro: Since 2014 and through more than 180 million downloads, we’ve studied the financial markets and read the books that influence self-made billionaires the most. We keep you informed and prepared for the unexpected. Now for your host, Kyle Grieve.

[00:02:50] Kyle Grieve: Welcome to The Investor’s Podcast. I’m your host, Kyle Grieve, and today we welcome Jon Cukierwar from Sohra Peak Capital Partners onto the show. Jon, welcome to the podcast.

[00:02:59] Jon Cukierwar: Hi Kyle, Thanks for inviting me here.

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