Today I’m happy to present a new installment in our Dick Davis Digests Contributor Series. Today I’m interviewing Adrian Day, editor of Adrian Day’s Global Analyst.
Chloe Lutts: When did you start publishing Adrian Day’s Global Analyst?
Adrian Day: 1997. It arose out of my previous letter, Investment Analyst, which had been published since 1987.
CL: Why did you decide to start an investment newsletter? And why did you choose the global focus?
AD: I’ve worked for investment newsletters since the early 1980s, originally as an editor for Personal Finance. From being an editor of other people’s work, I took an interest in investing and one might say that one thing led to another. The global approach was not a decision, but rather, to me, the obvious and necessary approach. When I first came to this country from London in the mid-1970s, I was struck by how many Americans took a narrow focus on most things—food, sports, travel and most definitely investing. We could expand this answer into an essay! I wrote two books on international investing in the early 1980s.
CL: Tell us about your newsletter today.
AD: We focus on specific stock recommendations, with clear buy limits, and follow those recommendations until we issue a clear sell. There is not a lot of commentary or macro analysis.
CL: What’s your investing system or philosophy, and what do you look for in a candidate for the newsletter’s portfolio?
AD: We are long-term, global value investors. It does not matter to me if it’s a large or small cap, or what sector or market it is in. We search the world looking for quality companies selling below their intrinsic value. Although we have some well-known names, such as Nestle, more often we are looking at less-well-known opportunities.
CL: What’s one of your favorite markets or countries to invest in right now?
AD: Good question, but difficult to answer. We generally take a bottom up approach, within some understanding of the macro situation. But now we have individual companies around the world, in many markets and sectors. I would perhaps say Singapore is one of my favorite markets: strong finances, sound banks, but undervalued equities.
CL: What’s one of your favorite stocks to buy today?
AD: In the resource space, I like Virginia Mines (VGQ, Toronto), which I’ve recommended in the Digest before. In addition, many of the producing gold stocks are very inexpensive relative to bullion (such as Goldcorp, (GG)). In the global arena, I like Pargesa Holding (PARG, Switzerland), a holding company selling at a 30% discount to the value of its holdings; it yields over 4%.
CL: What’s one important piece of advice you think more investors need to hear?
AD: Pay attention to limits; a wonderful company at $10 is not the same as that wonderful company at $8.
CL: What do you see as the biggest challenge in the market right now?
AD: Investor disillusion — so many people lost so much money in 2008 (and unfortunately sold without waiting for the recovery) and they are unlikely to return to markets any time soon.
AD: Let us get to know you better — what do you like to do besides investing?
AD: I love opera, everything from comedies, such as Figaro, to Wagner’s Ring. And I love good food (especially foie gras) and wine.
CL: Thanks for talking to us!
Wishing you success in your investing and beyond,
Chloe Lutts
Editor of Investment of the Week
