Navigating the noise – conversations with the Natixis Investment Managers Expert Collective.

Nitin Gupta, Managing Partner and Co-CIO of Flexstone, believes that every investor in private assets should have an allocation to the lower middle market as it drives both portfolio diversification and alpha. He says that this lower middle-market focus, along with Flexstone’s relationships and access, due diligence and investment process and strategy all combine to give Flexstone its enviable track record of never losing money on any of its funds, over its nearly 20-year track record.
In this wide-ranging podcast he talks to Louise Watson from Natixis Investment Managers about:
How he first started in investing and why he chose private markets and Flexstone (3min 12sec)
Flexstone’s focus on the lower middle market and its investing ‘special sauce’ (7min 2sec)
The best and worst investments in his career and what he learned from them (10min 30sec)
The growth of private assets and whether there is a bubble (17min 24sec)
Why Flexstone invests in everyday, ‘boring’ businesses (19min 48sec)
How Flexstone adds value to the businesses it invests in (22min 50sec)
 

2024 was another strong year for share markets and for IML’s small and mid cap funds. In this podcast Simon Conn, Senior Portfolio Manager, discusses how IML’s small and mid cap funds performed during the final quarter of 2024 including the performance of key stocks.

After a strong year for share markets in 2024 things ended with a whimper as the ASX 300 dropped during December. IML Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Research Hugh Giddy discusses how IML’s funds performed during the final quarter of 2024 and looks ahead to what he thinks 2025 might bring.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner, so any significant changes in the Chinese economy can have big impacts on Australia’s economy, share markets and the wellbeing of everyday Australians. In this podcast Jason Guthrie chats to IML Portfolio Manager Daniel Moore after his return from a research trip to China. They discuss:
How China’s economy is performing, including on-the-ground feedback
The recent Chinese stimulus and potential future stimulus
The ramifications of a second Donald Trump US Presidency
The Chinese property market
Chinese steel and lithium industries

Brambles is an Australian global success story and a high-conviction holding in IML’s large-cap portfolios. It has had a very successful year and is up around 35% in 2024, but is it in now fully valued, or is there more to come?
In this podcast, IML Equity Analyst Josh Freiman talks Jason Guthrie through his investment thesis for IML’s Stock of the Month, Brambles, and why he forecasts compound annual earnings per share (EPS) growth of more than 10% for the next three years.

Chris Wallis, Vaughan Nelson CEO and CIO thinks that AI is both ‘over-hyped and underappreciated’ and better investment opportunities could lie outside megacap tech, particularly in global small-mid caps. In this in-depth podcast Chris talks to Louise Watson, Head of Country for Natixis Investment Managers Australia about:
Why he first started investing and why he loves it
Where he is seeing the best investment opportunities
His thoughts on the global economy and future prospects
Why global small-mid caps are misunderstood and why it is an attractive asset class
What sets Vaughan Nelson apart, including the Vaughan Nelson culture

In this podcast, IML large cap portfolio manager, Daniel Moore, chats to Carl McMinn about a very eventful September quarter. He outlines how the Big 4 Banks and large resources companies drove the ASX 300 over the quarter and affected IML’s large cap performance.

In this podcast, IML small-mid cap portfolio manager, Marc Whittaker, chats to Carl McMinn about a very eventful September quarter, with a special focus on IML’s small-mid cap funds, healthcare and IML’s approach to the resources sector.

The global economy takes its lead from the US and it is an important market for many of Australia’s largest companies. IML Equity Analyst Josh Frieman has just returned from a US research trip where he gained first-hand insights into the US economy, as well as Australian companies operating in the US. He joins Natixis IM Distribution Director Carl McMinn to discuss his findings in our latest podcast.
 

Natixis Investment Managers’ Global Retirement Index attracts great interest in Australia each year. This year Louise Watson discusses the report’s findings with its author Dave Goodsell. They talk about:
How Australia’s rankings changed in this year’s index
Why the biggest risk to a comfortable retirement is ourselves
Why many Australians still don’t have enough money to retire, despite our world-class superannuation system
Initiatives for improving retirement savings around the world