MAGELLAN - IN THE KNOW

Some Asian markets fell right after Chinese President Xi Jinping cemented his position as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. President Xi used the Chinese Communist Party’s National Party Congress, which is held every five years, to not only break the tradition of maximum ten-year terms in office, but he also removed supporters of his more open, market-oriented predecessors from the key policy making body. John Garnaut, fo...

It’s a time of crisis, but, as Albert Einstein once said: “in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” A negative supply shock in Europe has seen global energy prices soar and has forced governments to scramble for alternatives to safeguard their national security. According to Portfolio Manager David Costello and Magellan Head of Macro and Portfolio Manager Arvid Streimann, shifting attitudes are pushing the market towa...

One of the USA’s largest power generation and gas distribution firms, WEC Energy Group supplies electricity to 4.6 million customers — including some of the country’s biggest manufacturers — across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. The company has delivered attractive and consistent returns as part of the Magellan portfolio for more than ten years. WEC Energy’s Executive Chairman, Gale Klappa, says the power provider sho...

A recent addition to the Magellan Global Strategy, Diageo is now the world’s leading producer of distilled spirits, with top shelf brands like Johnny Walker, Smirnoff and many more. Despite the pandemic, the company’s global revenue has compounded at over 9% p.a. over the past three years, as spirits have gained share of total alcohol sales, and consumers have increasingly chosen to “drink better” rather than drink more. Chief Exec...

The future of the 21st Century could be decided in the coming months. That’s the view of Secretary Leon Panetta former US Secretary of Defence.  Secretary Panetta speaks to Magellan’s Head of Macro and co-Portfolio Manager of the Global Equity Strategy, Arvid Streimann, about geopolitics and the challenges for democracies globally. It is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking interview about the place in history in which we find ours...

The world’s largest payment network, which facilitates more than 6000 transactions every second, is in the front seat of the digital payments’ revolution . VISA has enjoyed a doubling of its volumes in many regions over the past three years, thanks to the increased uptake of digital payments across the world. VISA Vice Chair and CFO, Vasant Prabhu, says his company’s primary mission to replace cash and cheques with digital payments...

Infrastructure investment is a long-term activity, so it pays to identify areas of potential and start talking to governments early. That’s the methodology employed by Scott Charlton, who is the CEO of the world’s biggest toll-road operator — Transurban. Scott outlines how the company concentrates on areas of growth in the three markets where it has a competitive advantage, namely Australia, the USA and Canada. In this podcast epis...

Identifying underappreciated quality businesses, as well as keeping an eagle eye out for diamonds in the rough, underlines the approach of one of the industry’s leading Australian Equities players: Airlie Funds Management, a business that Magellan purchased in 2018. John Sevior has a long track record of managing funds on behalf of individuals, superannuation funds, public institutions and charities. In this episode, John is interv...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent geopolitical and economic shockwaves around the globe, creating new risks to the investment outlook. A combination of strong western government and corporate responses has drastic implications for commodities, food security and raises the possibility that NATO nations may be drawn into a wider conflict. But as Russia’s military fails to meet its objectives, what does a settlement look like, and...

Markets have softened after the recent rally, with investors apparently factoring in inflation and interest rate hikes during 2022. Will Magellan’s key investments stand to strengthen from such an environment? In this episode, key members of Magellan’s investment team put a spotlight on current macroeconomic issues and the outlook for two key sectors in our portfolio: payments and technology. Magellan Head of Macro and Portfolio Ma...

Looking back at the extraordinary year of 2021, and towards the year ahead, three senior members of the Magellan investment team explain their approach to managing key sectors and stocks in Magellan’s global portfolio. In this special edition, Magellan’s Key Account Manager, Jennifer Herbert, interviews Head of Technology, Communications and Media for Magellan, Ryan Joyce, Co-Head of Franchises Hannah Dickinson and Head of Financia...

In this episode, one of the world’s foremost epidemiologists, and a member of President-elect Joe Biden's Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, Dr Michael Osterholm, talks to Hamish Douglass, Magellan’s Chairman and CIO, about what he calls 'the coming viral blizzard’ and the arrival of the Omicron variant. He has some sobering news for anyone who thinks the pandemic is behind us, warning governments around the world will nee...

How do you turn a humble delicatessen into the world’s largest operator of shopping centres — Westfield Corporation? What sort of personality do you need to become a giant in the Australian and global real estate landscape? Sir Frank Lowy AC started his journey in war-torn Europe, with his father tragically dying at the hands of the Nazis. He fled to Australia and spotted an opportunity to sell good coffee in multicultural, immigra...

In early 2020, David Gibbs took the helm of Yum! Brands, the American fast-food giant that operates well-known brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, to name a few.  After rising through Yum!’s ranks over the decades, becoming President and COO before being promoted to CEO in 2020, he was soon face to face with a worldwide pandemic.  In this episode, we hear how Yum! and its 51,000 restaurants in 150 countries successfully ...

“We don't go online anymore. We exist there”. This is a phrase used by Jay Brown, CEO of Crown Castle America’s largest provider of communications infrastructure.

In this episode, Jay talks with Magellan’s Chairman and CIO, Hamish Douglass, about the evolution of this extraordinary business which delivers ever-expanding 4- and 5-G data networks to customers across the United States. We’ll hear about a business model which Jay B...

Hamish Douglass is joined by Michael Morrell, former Deputy Director of the CIA, and Ticky Fullerton, the Australian Newspaper’s Business Editor at Large, who hosts this month’s discussion on how to approach investing in China during these times of heightened geo-political tensions. Can the US rely on its allies as tensions increase? Could there be extended bans on US nationals investing in China by the Biden administration? Also u...

In 2017, Mark Schneider left a leading role in healthcare to become CEO of Nestle, the world’s largest food company with over 150 year old history in providing nutritional products to markets around the globe. Mark was Nestle’s first “outsider” CEO in almost a century, and in just four years, he’s overseen new strategic directions for the company, with a major acquisition agenda underway as he re-shapes this extraordinary consumer ...

In 2006, after a stellar career as a financier and economist in the US, Kevin Warsh was elevated to the highest level of banking globally when he was appointed to the US Federal Reserve Board. Within two years, the world was plunged into a global financial crisis. Now, 12 years on, another global crisis has been triggered by COVID. Kevin shares his remarkable insights into the role of central banks during times of financial turmoil...