Honey, I Shrunk The World

Just two ASX-listed stocks can cover a lot of overseas territory

- Greg Hoffman

Shares are my bag. I love researching them, finding under-priced opportunities and combining them thoughtfully into a portfolio. But there’s an international shares shaped hole in the portfolios I run.

In more than 30 years of investing, I’ve never bought a share listed on an overseas exchange. It’s just been a bridge too far in terms of complexity and administration.

It’s true that some stocks in my family portfolios have direct or indirect exposure to international markets (holdings such as Computershare, BHP Billiton, Virtus, Enero and Platinum Asset Management) but it’s only a by-product of my research and ad-hoc opportunities. When it comes to international shares, I’m happy to outsource.

When assessing prospective investment funds or companies, many investors zone in on past performance, even though we’ve all read the disclaimers about past performance being no guarantee of future returns. My approach is different.

I start with the individuals and teams involved. I want fund managers who I respect, with a philosophy and approach that resonates with me, who have a fair fee structure and a track record of showing independence of thought. I also like them to have some skin in the game, being money invested in their own company or fund, as the case may be.

In this article I’ll highlight two listed investment companies that fit the bill for me.

MFF Capital Investments