Alex DeGroote, TMT Analyst & Investor, "How the City works", Investing Matters Podcast, Episode 47

Investing Matters

Welcome to this brand-new investing podcast from the London South East. My name is Peter Higgins, you can find me on Twitter @conkers3 and I will be your host for this series of Investing Matters podcasts.

What can you expect from the Investing Matters podcasts? A great question. You will find long form interviews with noteworthy veterans and experts from the investment and fund management industry. During these interviews, each interviewee will share and impart their knowledge, learning and insights on what aspects of Investing truly matters to them and what in their view should matter to investors. We hope this knowledge exchange benefits all and enables all those accessing and listening to these podcasts to achieve even greater investing success.

With that in mind, welcome to episode forty-seven with Alex DeGroote, a highly rated sell-side Media, Internet and Tech (TMT) investment analyst with 27 years of Investment experience. A History graduate from Durham University, Alex went onto to attain his master’s degree in European Management Studies from the London School of Economics.

Alex commenced working in the Investment industry in 1996. He has worked for a number of European banks and stockbrokers. In Equities, Fund management and corporate broking/finance, learning the tricky arts and science of valuation.

During his career Alex worked for the following companies: Starting as a graduate with the Midlands based Albert E Sharp, a Securities and Wealth Management firm; Charterhouse Bank, where he worked alongside an equally then young Phil Oakley. He also worked at ING; Credit Agricole; Panmure Gordon; Peel Hunt; Cenkos Securities; Arden Partners.

He has published extensive research and valuations on various sector topics, on behalf of City employers. Alex is also a published author himself, and has been a contributor to the Financial Times, The Guardian, MediaTel, Campaign, Digiday, Flashes and Flames. Given his experienced roles that involved working with the likes of Rightmove, Reach, GoCompare, WPP, STV and numerous other companies. Alex’s view on TMT matters is sought by Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC, and others. He is a keynote speaker in the investment industry conferences, in the UK and overseas.

In this fascinating Investing Matters interview, Alex shares his world view of investing globally across equities, investment companies, Funds, ETFs. He explains how to go about valuing a company, sustainability of operating margin, why management is key, nuances of Corporate Broking and Finances, debt. Companies discussed include Rightmove, WPP, Cab Payments, Microsoft, Google/Alphabet, Nvidia. Seeking multiple recurring revenues, scalability, the importance of analysing balance sheet, why UK markets are lowly valued, Mifid2, why liquidity is a big issue,

Alex also shares his own personal investing strategy, passion for tech, global markets, why he avoids home bias, why he is overweight US assets, the importance financial education and digital skills, the power of compounding investments and much more.

We hope you enjoy this podcast, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.

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