6: David Yarrow of David Yarrow Photography

06/18/20 • 44 min

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Dave Yarrow is considered one of the world’s greatest photographers. 3 former US presidents have his masterpieces adorning their walls, along with a string of actors and sports personalities and he oversees a multi million dollar fine-art business.

He has helped raise $8 million for charity, and his energy and passion for his work mean that up to the outbreak of coronavirus, he had not spent 18 Days in the same place in the last 2 years.

This is all after spending the first 25 years of his life in the city, first as a broker and then starting his own Hedge Fund, Clareville Capital, which he ran for 17 years.

Dave Yarrow talks about his youth, growing up in Glasgow, and his passion for photography that led him to take the iconic shot of Maradona in the Azteca Stadium, trophy aloft, at the 1986 Mexico World Cup. He talks about his reasons for joining the City, and the journey from broking to establish his own hedge fund, Clareville Capital in 1997. He gives a frank assessment of the highs and lows of managing money, and the capricious nature of the investing community.

Having continued to take photographs, and with marital and business difficulties weighing on him, he takes the leap to start DY Photography. This second career reveals an enthralling story into a world which required developing new skills and understanding where the opportunity lay. As with money management the key lay in great groundwork and research before careful execution.

He describes how he became “a photo-maker, not a photo-taker” and how he has grown a business built on extraordinary shots, with compelling animals, people, and iconic settings and shots. He talks about navigating the maze of social media and helping raise over $8 million for charities. Finally, he gives his advice for today’s youth thinking about their future. What a journey.

He has helped raise $8 million for charity, and his energy and passion for his work mean that up to the outbreak of coronavirus, he had not spent 18 Days in the same place in the last 2 years.

This is all after spending the first 25 years of his life in the city, first as a broker and then starting his own Hedge Fund, Clareville Capital, which he ran for 17 years.

Previous Episode

5: Mark Mobius. CEO Mobius Capital Partners

Mark Mobius, who has been referred to as the Godfather of Emerging Markets, was named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in 2011. Author of several books, he received the Life Time Achievement Award in Asset Management, started the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund which grew to $40 billion, and in 2018 opened Mobius Capital Partners.

He describes being born in New York to German and Puerto Rico parents, his degree from Boston University, a PhD from MIT, and studying in Japan in the 1960s. He talks about his journey from academic life to research and then asset management, and the opportunity to join legendary investor Sir John Templeton and create their emerging market fund, as well as sharing some lessons and advice learned from him.

He discusses his investment approach, the opportunities and pitfalls of investing in developing markets and navigating a passage which can include volatile currencies and regime change. Against consensus he explains why it is important to visit countries and companies you are investing in as opposed to relying on conference calls. He reflects on the approaches taken to deal with Covid 19, his preferred investing destinations today, and why shareholder activism is becoming a powerful force in emerging economies.

Before sharing the tale of his escape from a shoot-out in the Philippines, he offers some honest but direct advice for the young thinking about careers.

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7: Chris Ralph, Chief Strategist, St James's Place Wealth Management

As a FTSE 100 company, managing over £100 billion for 750,000 clients, St James Place (SJP) has been a great financial success story and today is the UK’s largest wealth manager.

Chris starts by describing his journey, studying economics at Hull University, learning key early life lessons working first at Cazenove then Fidelity, before taking up the position as Chief Investment Officer for St James Place. During that period, 2009-2020, the market value of the company grew rapidly and today has a stunning 97% client retention rate.

Chris describes the approach SJP has to building portfolios, through identifying and working with a range of global external managers across asset classes and styles. Unlike many wealth management firms, they use external Funds, do not select individual stocks, and have developed deep, long term relationships with fund managers to whom they have access. He also discusses their approach to developing long-term relationships with clients and their families who are served by the SJP “partnership structure”.

The conversation moves to the huge intergenerational wealth transfer taking place in the UK and the academy SJP run to train their advisors. Career opportunities in the wider wealth management business in the UK is also discussed, referring to an earlier MoneyMaze Podcast where Schroder’s CEO, Peter Harrison refers to the shortage of trained advisors and the growing “advice gap”.

Chris goes on to talk about their approach to investing in private equity and debt, the challenges of active versus passive, and their approach to the growing demand from investors for more clarity in ESG matters.

A discussion follows about the SJP experience with the Woodford Funds, and then on defending the criticism sometimes made about SJP’s opaque fee structure.

Finally Chris talks about his love of rock climbing and admiration for the climbing legends, and of his new passion, kite-surfing, which offers him the potential to be bruised both by markets and his main hobby!