Finance Friends
Have you ever wanted a seat at the table with some of the biggest names in finance? The opportunity to hear their stories, the challenges they’ve faced, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way?
That’s exactly what Finance Friends is all about. Each week, we bring you real conversations with industry leaders, sharing insider insights, career advice, and the experiences that shaped their journeys in the world of finance.
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Finance Friends
Season 4 Wrap-up Episode: Stay Tuned for Season 5!
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Season four is officially wrapped, and we’re taking a moment to pause, reflect, and revisit some of the standout moments. From the unique stories our guests shared to the invaluable insights from some of Australia’s top-performing fund managers, it’s been an incredible journey. We’ve unpacked not just their successes, but also what they’ve gotten wrong—and the frameworks they rely on to stay steady when markets get noisy.
Whether you’ve been with us since Season 1 or have recently joined the Finance Friends community, this episode is the perfect chance to catch up, reflect, and get excited for what’s ahead.
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Got questions or ideas for future episodes? Send us a DM @financefriendspodcast!
Season Four Wrap Up
SPEAKER_01And this is the wrap-up for season four, Siena. How good was this season? It was great. I think the amount of people and the amount of stories we heard this season was amazing.
SPEAKER_00How many episodes did we do in total? It was about 10 or so.
SPEAKER_01About 10 episodes this season.
SPEAKER_00Do you have a favorite?
SPEAKER_01Oh that's hard. I loved actually the last episode that's just come out with Martin and learning about his lived so many different lives in different countries. That was really interesting. But I think different stories from different episodes really resonated. So yeah, it was great.
Favourite Guest Picks
SPEAKER_01What was your favourite?
SPEAKER_00Oh well, I love a bit of horse racing. So um I don't really have a bet these days, but I I do enjoy going to the races and having Tom Waterhouse on. His journey from you know growing up in the famous Waterhouse household. I didn't realise his grandfather was a bookie and his dad's a bookie, and then he effectively was the first one in Australia that turned from you know betting at at the uh racetrack to creating a digital platform, which he grew and now runs Waterhouse VC, which is very successful. So really insightful listening to him and meeting him very intelligent and um a great guy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think being able to speak to him firsthand about his experiences from literally working at the races one day a week with his dad to where he is today and being able to sell his business for like 30 mil at 30 or something, something along those lines. It's just yeah, really um, really inspiring to hear that firsthand.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely a great operator.
Bitcoin Made Understandable
SPEAKER_00But I think I've become a Bitcoin specialist after this season because we have had two Bitcoin people on the podcast. We had uh Jonas Benner, who works at AMP Super, and he's uh very intelligent. He talks about Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, and he breaks down the complicated words that I have no idea about into layman's terms, which where our listeners will be able to understand, which was great. I think that was episode 30.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, episode 30, yeah. Yeah, I think that episode could have honestly been like a short, a bit of a short course in itself on how Bitcoin operates and how it works, and what are the different functions and processes of how like what actually makes Bitcoin what it is. So that was really interesting to sit in on because I think Bitcoin and you know digital digital assets, they all the words get thrown around, but nobody really knows what they mean until they start researching. So that was a really interesting conversation to sit in on as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, he talked about mining Bitcoin and and what you know how that's created, what how that happens. So that was quite insightful. The other thing is, well, leading to that, sorry, we had Ryan McMillan on from Merkle Tree Capital, yeah, and he had the best performing fund in Australia in 2022, I think it was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, two years in a row, actually.
SPEAKER_00Oh, was it? Yeah, I think one year did 140%. So he runs a crypto and gold uh fund. And what was quite interesting, he worked in the UK for a period of time and he worked for an investment bank and he helped set up an investment fund for the Rolling Stones, which is quite unique. Yeah. So he chats about that, which um that was episode 37. So have a listen to that.
ESG Versus Resources Investing
SPEAKER_00Um I think that the one thing I've really loved about this season is we have had different people from that run different funds and have quite diverse backgrounds. Like even if we look at um, we had uh Mike Harut on, who's at Munro Partners, they're an Australian uh growth equity fund manager, and they won a uh climate change fund.
SPEAKER_01And talking about climate change and ESG and how that uh, you know, how what his filtering process is and what his background is was was quite unique to Yeah, and what sustainable investing actually is and and learning that he he's a lecturer at Melbourne Uni and he wants more people coming into this industry to know what it is and learn about it and learn the importance of it. So him kind of being a leader in that space and and you know speaking to us about where he started and how he's you know getting the next generation into it as well is yeah, that was really interesting.
SPEAKER_00It was, and then we had probably the polop sorry, the opposite uh where we had Rick Squire on from Acorn Capital, and he runs a uh resources and energy fund. Um, and he's been to Africa. How many times has he been to Africa? Like 20 times, something multiple countries, and he shares his insight into looking at you know mining exploration companies and and what to look for and key management and countries where you want to invest and countries where you don't want to invest into. Um, and he his fund did 80% last year return. So, you know, exceptional numbers there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the fact that he was a geologist, like he that was his first career, and then became and then moved into finance and has used that kind of niche uh exper like experience, but also just perspective, and brought that into his you know, his success in finance was really interesting to listen to. I think he talked about how he was at a country, I can't remember for maybe it was South America or maybe he was in one of the one country in Africa, but while he was there, actually I think it was Mulawi. He was in Malawi. And while he was there, the like they were still fighting the Taliban. And so he was at the airport, and there was like the UN, the French, the US, like all the air forces still there. And so, you know, there's so much risk involved in what he does, but how interesting it just learning about different different places um and different countries and being on the ground is is so unique,
Dividend Growth And Wingstop Research
SPEAKER_01especially in comparison to a lot of the other other stories we got to hear.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I love learning about different investment uh funds and processes because we also think episode 34, Jonathan Neuri came on and he's uh based in Sydney. They fair the fund, they run about $600 million, and their focus is a lot about let's look at uh companies that can grow their dividend over any given cycle, and that's a good indication of how well the company can uh grow their share price and market cap. So that's their strategy, and he talks a lot about that. He talked about one stock, which was quite interesting, which we spoke about uh off-air, which was Wingstop. And if you have a look at our socials and listen to the podcast, uh Jonathan talks about that and their business model, how it's you know really unique and doing well, and you know, they are exploding and growing all across the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think one of the most interesting um parts of that discussion was how they evaluate businesses and with Wingstop, they needed to know that that Wingstop could get over to a hundred units or a hundred locations within one country, within at least three differently, like culturally different places. So that was how they evaluated the the whether or not the business would be a success. And they saw that and it happened, and that's when they decided that they wanted to be a part of it. Um, and it's you know the same, like it's it opened in Sydney, it's not not in Melbourne yet, hopefully soon, but in Sydney they did minimal marketing for the opening of the store, and even on the you know, day one, there was lines like you know down the street at 9 a.m. for for chicken wings. Yeah, so it's interesting how they researched the company before they decided to be a part of it, and and yeah, it was really interesting.
SPEAKER_00And it's quite interesting. I wasn't aware of this, but you did share this with me, Sienna. Maybe it's my age versus your age. But there's this thing where people like video themselves eating food, yeah, and it's like it's like TikTok now, it's gone. It's a big thing, right? So everyone is helping them promote their product without getting paid ultimately.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I think that was probably the biggest thing about Wingstop, and even a few others, like Raising Cains, maybe a competitor, I don't know if I should mention, but but you know, like um people in the US doing these videos, showing themselves eating these delicious fast food, and because that kind of you know, that posting can reach Australia, it almost creates a demand, like some demand that's come not from the the actual company itself, but from consumers. So yeah, it's interesting to observe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. And
US VC Guest And AI
SPEAKER_00then we go to the the other side of the equation where we've got uh episode 36. We had Stephen Orr on the podcast from the US. That was our first VC um podcast we've done. So quite interesting, big personality, Stephen. He's very American, which we love. He showed, you know, hard on the sleeve. He uh worked with President Clinton in the White House, worked on that campaign.
SPEAKER_01That was yeah, that was amazing to hear.
SPEAKER_00Like very unique, very unique, and now he he set up his uh his own fun. It's like an AI tool and trading platform and um a subscription-based model, which is which is very unique. And you know, he's got uh some really interesting stories. He's presented on CNN, and it's you know, he lived in New York, he's worked in sports media, so that's quite unique. And you know, looking at his platform, which is exceptional, actually. I'm looking forward when I head to the US later in the year to catch up with him in person and and talk about sort of everything really politics, sport, business, finance.
SPEAKER_01So it's creating it's an interesting time to have that, those, all those discussions. I think as well, um him talking about AI and being being able to embrace it and actually leverage everything good that it can do for the finance industry because there's still, I think we're in that in-between period where there's a lot of companies who are so reluctant to introduce and to embrace AI, but it's almost getting to the point where you can't ignore it anymore, and it needs to be kind of integrated any way that we f you find fit. So I think him really leveraging that opportunity and being using it in a positive way and creating a positive impact um was really interesting to hear.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. Um very unique.
Macro Uncertainty And Lived Experience
SPEAKER_00And then the the I think we've mentioned almost everyone. We left uh Mr. Andrew Mickey, episode 29, and he's quite interesting because he runs a um, they run like a multi-asset fund. So looking at total portfolio construction, which is a very different view, and you know, they do invest in direct equities themselves, but it's more about okay, what what macro factors are going to affect the portfolio? And you know, we're recording this on the 20th of March, and it'll probably come out in a few weeks' time. Um, but you know, there's a lot of uncertainty globally with you know inflation and oil prices and and the war in the Middle East. Yeah. So, you know, that there's lots of factors that determine different asset classes, and and he spoke about that. Actually, I forgot forgot about uh Martin Simpson, which is our last episode I was gonna say, Martin Simpson, because we spoke a lot about um you know the war in the Middle East.
SPEAKER_01Well, what's interesting is that he actually lives in Dubai, so he kind of got one of those last flights out to Melbourne before all travel was kind of suspended, and he talked about that, and that was you know, being kind of seeing it firsthand and having that perspective and bringing that into everything he does, and even serving in Iraq, and he's lived in so many different countries, just that perspective and that yeah, yeah, a great personality as well.
SPEAKER_00I cracked a few jokes, yeah. We actually had a beer after the episode because we don't normally rec we normally record first thing in the morning, but we did do an episode at 5 p.m. and and he was uh had some spare time. So we had a bit of a uh we had a beer after work, uh, and after work after the podcast, I guess it's our work, and uh and had a good laugh. So it's
How To Support Season Five
SPEAKER_00good. But you know, that was that's pretty much the wrap-up for season four. I can't believe season four, you know, we've recorded lots of episodes now. We've had some exceptional guests that listen number increase. Um, one thing I would say is please like us on, you know, if you're listening through Spotify, follow Instagram, TikTok, um, because it means that the more listeners that, you know, click subscribe and follow, that means that you know, we're gonna get it's the opportunity for other people to get made aware of this as well. So we do, if you do listen, you do like the podcast, please like, share, tell your mates, um, because we would really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I think uh as well, there's every single episode that we've put out, there's something to gain and something to learn from every single one of our guests, um, no matter your background. And I think that goes to show based on all the differing backgrounds of each guest. So yeah, definitely share with friends. Um, follow us on Instagram for all of our updates. We're excited for season five, but it's just been such an amazing run so far. Four seasons of this, and you know, we're getting better each episode. And yeah, it's just been amazing to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and we hope you've you've enjoyed listening in. If you do have any guests that you want to hear from, let us know. Send us a message, and there's a good chance we probably know them or know a way to get them on the podcast. So uh, you know, really excited for season five. There's a lot uh in the background working on on this, so just keep an eye out, and we'll catch up with you soon.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Thanks guys.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Sounds true.
Disclaimer
SPEAKER_01Disclaimer. This podcast exists for informational and entertainment purposes only. The personal opinions of the speaker and guests do not represent the view of any other party. If this recording contains reference to financial products, that reference does not constitute advice nor recommendations and may not be relied upon.