Six of the best investing podcasts
It’s only a few weeks old and is already so popular we now employ seven interns just to open our fan mail. Of course, I’m talking about your favourite podcast, Beer & Bytes from the digital team here at MRM.
But what made us start a weekly show featuring the razor-sharp wit, Gandalfian wisdom and forensic interviewing of some of the UK’s finest award-winning online marketing professionals?
Good question. We did it because we believe we’re in a golden age of podcasting, brought about by the speed of the mobile internet and the yearning of an on-the-go public for news and views that satiate their own niche, often minority and occasionally strange proclivities. It also seemed like a legitimate way to introduce day-time drinking into the office environment.
So, accepting that this is an incredibly poor segue, I’m now going to unveil my favourite investing podcasts…
TOP THREE
I was among the first to review this stocks and shares podcast on iTunes after it kicked its way brashly into the world in its former incarnation as the ADVFN podcast in the autumn of 2014. Now, as the Vox Markets podcast, it has 131 reviews, 129 boasting five shiny stars. (Incredibly, one review gave a single star – obviously a dribbling idiot.)
My tribute read:
“I always listen to the ADVFN podcast on the way home from work. Justin puts the ‘fun’ into ‘fundamental analysis’ and his dulcet Welsh lilt is an auditory ten-bagger!”
The “Justin” is inimitable host Justin Waite and if a good presenter makes a good podcast (it does), then there’s no doubt why this is top of the pops. Expertly negotiating that fine line between offensively non-PC and un-self-consciously illegal, Justin pumps out six shows a week focusing mainly on the LSE’s junior AIM market.
There’s also plenty of fascinating insight into the larger cap stocks, as well as an army of radio-friendly, technical and fundamental analysts ready to give their view on the latest company news and stock charts. Check out Nicola Duke, Zak Mir and Alan Green for further reading. The “micro and macro news”, interviews with CEOs and the “stock with potential” segment give the show a real magazine feel. And it’s all done with a big, mischievous smile.
Probably the most educational and inspiring sections on these shows are the interviews with private investors, most of whom are average Joes and Josephines who’ve have made a fortune on their laptops in their bedrooms (try Big Gib or Bel). You’ll hear honest and terrifying tales of their losses as well as their big wins and what we can all learn from both. Waite himself imparts his own wisdom (“buy a good company and buy it at the right price” is one of many catchphrases) and he publishes a weekly newsletter for subscribers with topics like “how to read a balance sheet” or “the four key attributes in a well-run company”.
But the real treat has to be the weekend podcast with two of Waite’s drinking buddies – Pete and Steve, both beginner investors. If you laughed at Del Boy and Rodders removing that antique chandelier for cleaning, you’ll wet yourself listening to these two as they blag their way through the markets. Vox Markets is a must for any ISA investor.
Investors Chronicle Companies & Markets
It’s all about the presenting again and IC editor John Hughman is a natural. This weekly show is slightly more high-brow than the Vox Markets podcast and you’ll get some really decent discussions and analysis on what sectors and companies are about to do well and why.
What makes this show compelling is the stellar stable of experts that IC has on tap in the shape of its staff writers. And you’ll get the best news and views across the asset classes, not just equities. Companies editor Ian Smith, news editor Bradley Gerrard, tips editor Algy Hall, tech reporter Theron Mohamed and commentator Chris Dillow are particularly listenable. So, there’s no need for outsider guests. If you’re interested in funds and personal finance topics beyond investing, it’s well worth also trying out the IC Personal Finance podcast with Leonora Walters, Kate Beioley and Emma Agyemang.
Warning: this podcast is highly likely to cost you £145 (it’s so good, you’ll want to subscribe to the website).
Motley Fool’s Rule Breaker Investing
Yes, yes, it’s American but it has to make my top three because it’s simply brilliant.
Host David Gartner – co-founder of The Motley Fool – is the Socrates of investing. His thing is thinking about thinking. Gartner is bursting with investment wisdom and he wants to give it to you. Obsessive about long-term investing (he sees stocks as at least three year holds), Gartner has been along for the ride with global success stories Netflix and Amazon – and made a shed-load of money along the way. If you do what he does, you’ll make good wedge; it’s as simple as that.
Gartner’s track record speaks for itself. He has been the major driving force in turning Motley Fool, which was born in 1993, into a worldwide investment and financial advisory services company and he’s done it by picking companies that grow and pay good dividends.
But stock-picking isn’t the topic at hand. If Vox is about fun and IC is about expertise, the Rule Breaker podcast is about systems, principles and the art & science of investing. There’s little on the shape companies are in and loads on the thought processes that good investors go through. Like Socrates, Gartner teaches us meta-cognition – references to schools of thought like Benjamin Graham’s value investing or Richard Driehaus’s momentum investing drip effortlessly off his tongue.
And it’s served in a flawless, Hollywood oratory (good presentation again – vital!). In fact Gartner’s delivery is so good, he needs neither guests, nor co-hosts, ably holding the 15-30 minute weekly broadcasts together on his own. It’s another new-ish effort, having started in November last year and the first 10-15 episodes are as good an introduction to ‘the rules’ of long term stock market investing as I’ve heard.
Highlights include a monthly ‘mailbag’, when Gartner answers listeners’ questions, and the occasional series looking more deeply at a particular facet of stock-picking, such as the recent three-parter on managing risk. There are other Motley Fool podcasts but they’re too U.S. focused for my liking – so stick with Rule Breaker Investing.
BEST OF THE REST
Like our former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, I wake up to Wake Up To Money. Not strictly a podcast, as it’s chiefly a BBC Radio Five Live programme, but I’m including it here because it’s actually broadcast live at some evil pre-dawn hour, about whose existence I am only barely aware. This makes the daily podcast (available from the more civil hour of 7am!) a must.
Anyone who wants their finances to be fun but not frivolous should listen to this daily 30 minute programme. Presenters Mickey Clark (basically an East End fruit and veg stall holder) and Adam Parsons (a marginally less camp Matthew Wright) are a breath of fresh air and Rico Hizon in Singapore is just a joy. This is the show for anyone looking for a briefing on what’s coming up in the next 24 hours.
At the risk of stating the obvious, you’ll like FT Money if you like the FT.
This is the podcast for those who are interested in the policy and politics behind the week’s personal finance news. It was, for a long time, presented by former personal finance editor Jonathan Eley (now of the Lex column), whose knowledge of property, pensions and investing is second-to-none and whose voice is perfectly suited to silent cinema (sorry Jonathan!).
Claer Barrett has now taken the reins and is an authoritative and entertaining anchor. Released weekly, every Thursday.
Immediate disclosure required as Brewin, the London-based wealth manager, is a client here at MRM. You might, then, think I’m currying favour. I’d simply challenge you to listen.
Co-presenters Ben Gutteridge, Brewin’s head of fund research, and Guy Foster, head of research, are actually doing real finance jobs in the City of London! This makes them pretty well connected and, if you look at the list of interviewees they’ve had in over two years, this much is obvious. Big names in investment like Nick Train, Neil Woodford, and Terry Smith have provided fascinating insights in the global economy and their own investing philosophies. Other weighty guests have included Sir Vince Cable, Richard Murphy and Stephanie Flanders.
This is the go-to podcast if you’re interested in the views of the most talented investment managers currently working in the UK.
What have I missed? Tweet @MRMdigital with your favourite podcasts.