The cavalry isn't coming: UK stocks, relistings, and AI analysts | Ben Isaac, Brizo Capital

Brizo Capital's Ben Isaac and I dig into the stuff we've bonded over for years: why the cavalry isn't coming to save value investors, the opportunity set in the UK, how investors can work with boards to improve governance and alignment, and whether relisting to the US actually creates value. We also get into how the analyst role is evolving as AI keeps improving.

This episode is sponsored by Trata: https://www.trata.com

Trata hosts anonymized calls between two buy-side investors on a stock they're thinking about, then publishes the transcript. If you like this podcast, you're going to like Trata.

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro and Trata sponsor

(01:51) Welcome Ben Isaac

(02:04) Columbia, AI and the leg press problem

(07:13) Hiring analysts: compliance, Copilot and Claude

(10:46) Hallucinations and why AI expands demand for analysts

(15:09) Trade shows, scuttlebutt and the student superpower

(19:48) Load-bearing facts vs. the CFO's cat

(20:35) Corporate governance: the cavalry isn't coming

(23:13) Why the UK: global businesses at cheap prices

(27:25) Working behind the scenes with UK boards

(32:40) The US relisting debate

(38:52) What the data says on relistings

(40:39) Pushback: sugar high or buy back stock?

(42:45) Signal or selection bias? CRH and Trian

(45:10) The Walmart of Kenya and cost of equity

(50:00) Spread over the local cost of equity: Brazil and the Selic

(53:16) Are US markets really well functioning?

(56:36) UK take-privates and private equity

(1:00:03) South Korea: Japan 2.0?

Ben Isaac / Brizo Capital: https://www.brizocapital.com

Links:

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