MARKETING - The PRIDE Magazine by Liontrust - Flipbook - Page 8
TEA M P R O FI LE
“
We’re very aware of the tricks
companies might play to make
their earnings look better.
“
James Inglis-Jones and Samantha Gleave explain to Lora Coventry
how their investment process helps them to avoid the psychological
pitfalls of investment.
“Cash doesn’t lie.
You can manipulate earnings, but
cash doesn’t lie.” So says James InglisJones, Fund Manager, history PhD and
reluctant accountant. James didn’t take
the usual route into running money –
an economics degree followed by an
apprenticeship at a fund management
company. Instead, he started life
pursuing academia, via a doctorate in
Modern History at Oxford University.
From there he moved into management
consultancy, taking a role at Unilever
which necessitated his undertaking of
accountancy qualifications.
Initially, James admits, the study bored
him – particularly compared to his time
reading history – but he learnt to use it
to his advantage.
We’re all our own worst
enemies – we make stupid
decisions, especially when
we’re under pressure and
money is at stake.
“Accountancy can appear complicated
at first as there are an overwhelming
amount of analytical measures and
accounting terms. It was dreamt up by
a Venetian in the 15th century, but it
does make sense once you learn to
crunch the numbers,” he says.
This ability to step back from the
emotional side of investment and focus
on the numbers is a skill he shares
with co-manager Samantha Gleave.
8 - THE P R I DE - Issue 1 Winter 2017
Samantha studied Economics and Management
at university, where she became intrigued by
financial markets.
“I didn’t know much about them, or which role
would allow me to explore them further, but I knew
that markets held a fascination for me. My first
job took me into stockpicking and analysis. That
was a great experience for a number of years,
but I wanted to be on the other side, making
the investment decisions. It’s much more
rewarding – your decisions show through to
performance,” Samantha says.
By keeping an eye on the
mathematical minutiae, James
and Samantha avoid the
psychological pitfalls of
investment, a flaw all too
common in investors, both
professional and novice.
James explains: “We’re all
our own worst enemies –
we make stupid decisions,
especially when we’re under
pressure and money is at
stake. It’s also easy to get
caught up in the romance of an
investment story – people love
weaving a narrative on how
and why a company has had
a great rise or fall. As humans,
we’re not well equipped to
make
sensible decisions.
Some people have an intuition
for it, but I’m overwhelmingly
drawn to following an investment
process, asking why should it
work and why not. Where can
it go wrong?” The investment
process James and Samantha
have developed and follow is
Liontrust Cashflow Solution –
Samantha Gleave
Favourite investor: Benjamin Graham,
author of The Intelligent Investor
Favourite book: Juliet: The Creation of
a Masterpiece by Jack Somer. This is a
fascinating story describing the initial
design to launch one of the world’s most
admired and now iconic superyachts. Built
by the famous Royal Huisman Shipyard,
it is now considered to be a pioneer in
superyacht sailing design and technology
Hobby: Sailing
Something you might not know about me:
If I wasn’t at my desk, I’d be racing on
a yacht!
If I were on The Great British Bake Off,
my signature bake would be… Chocolate
raspberry pavlova….there’s never any left!