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By Tim Le
I bought my first stock over a decade ago: 600 shares in a steadily growing, ASX-listed medical devices company.
Each share cost A$7.65 – I recently dug up the brokerage archive to check.
At the time, I was a first-year Medical student. I was in the second half of a dual-degree program at the University of Sydney, having just finished an undergraduate in Economics. After years of lectures on inflation and game theory, I was now memorising anatomy that sounded like Harry Potter spells (Digitus Minimus Manus = your little finger).
With a few months of medical theory under my belt, I was surely qualified to invest in medical device stocks…right? What could go wrong?
Well…by sheer luck, nothing did go wrong. In fact, the stock I bought, ResMed, turned out to be a major Australian success story. RMD shares now trade for A$40 – nearly a sixfold return over the last decade.
Two early lessons
I bring up this story not to celebrate my extreme beginner’s luck, but because I wanted to share two pivotal lessons I learnt early on:
- Firstly, the stock market is an extraordinary engine for wealth creation.
I was brought up in a family that knew little about business or markets. Investing during university opened my eyes to the magic of compounding for the first time, and I was captivated.
Public markets offered me a way to monetize an insatiable curiosity for learning about the world and has become an obsession since. I view it as the ultimate game: competitive, meritocratic and endlessly humbling.
- Secondly, I saw firsthand the power and simplicity of an old-school formula for compounding: find quality businesses and hold on.
Both are difficult, but the true multiplier is in the second part – time.
If there was one mishap to the story of my first stock, it was that I sold out at A$20 – a good run, but still too early.
Corporate ‘doctor’
Drawn to business and markets, I dropped out of medical school, causing my mother deep anguish, and started my career instead as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company.
I advised businesses regionally on topics including strategy and transformation and learnt from great mentors along the way. I jokingly told my mum that I was still a doctor…only for businesses (which likely added to her confusion… sorry mum).
McKinsey was an incredible training ground – but the siren call of investing never faded.
After 3 rewarding years as a business analyst, I stepped into the investment industry, spending the next five years investing professionally in private and public companies both locally and globally.
Recently, I decided to focus full-time on public markets investing and joined Montaka.
What drew me to Montaka?
As I got to know the Montaka team, three things stood out:
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Deep research and intellectual rigor
Montaka’s DNA revolves around first-principles thinking and deep primary research. Good research is expected at any serious investment firm, but I was struck by the team’s depth of analysis, numerous industry whitepapers and clarity of thinking.
My colleagues come from various technical and non-traditional backgrounds – cognitive diversity is valued. The cross-pollination of disciplines helps foster contrarian thinking and robust internal debates, traits that I was highly drawn to.
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Adaptability and a constant drive to improve
Mental rigidity and dogma are the enemies of long-term investing. The world is constantly changing, markets evolve, and good investing requires thoughtful adaptation to new environments.
It was therefore nice to learn how Montaka had evolved over their first decade; from a more value-oriented strategy to one biased towards higher quality, conviction and lower turnover. This signalled to me a team that was intellectually honest and determined to improve, even if it meant rethinking their structure and strategy to better target particular market inefficiencies.
More recently, Montaka has been proactively embedding AI tools and systems into internal investing workflows. I’ve enjoyed seeing the team thoughtfully apply technological innovation, not just research it.
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People, culture, and the opportunities ahead
Fulfilling work is great; but doing it alongside great colleagues in an aligned culture is even better. I have been lucky to enter an environment designed to maximise daily, deep work (minimal distractions, minimal noise) and a culture that priorities partnership and long-termism.
These values have been strengthened by the recent MFF acquisition, which has given Montaka a fit-for-purpose ownership structure that better enables long-term compounding. Being able to work alongside experienced builders and mentors within the MFF group has been a bonus, especially as we embark on the next chapter together.
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I’m excited to be at Montaka and MFF Capital and committed to helping compound our clients’ and shareholders’ capital over the many coming years.
It’s a simple yet fulfilling job for someone who lucked into their first stock a decade ago.
Tim Le is the Senior Research Analyst at Montaka Global Investments. To learn more about Montaka, please call +612 7202 0100.
Podcast: Join the Montaka Global Investments team on Spotify as they chat about the market dynamics that shape their investing decisions in Spotlight Series Podcast. Follow along as we share real-time examples and investing tips that govern our stock picks. Click below to listen. Alternatively, click on this link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/montaka
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