A short listen. 

In this podcast, Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, talks to Sam Shaw about he and his team select fund managers, and his frustrations with groups promoting short-term investment performance. 

He explains that while some fund managers may, perhaps, have outperformed because they were in small-cap rather than large-cap stocks, in high-yield rather than investment-grade debt, or in pharma rather than mining companies, this is not a good way to judge skill.

“We are interested in what they have delivered above and beyond through stock selection,” he says.

Laith also outlines the length of track record that he looks for in a manager – different to what some asset managers promote – and why it’s “not a pretty picture” for the industry given recent fund flows.