Spotlight on Qiao Ma, Partner and Portfolio Manager, Munro Partners
Global Thought Leader Spotlight
Qiao Ma, Partner and Portfolio Manager, Munro Partners
In my role as Partner and Portfolio Manager at Munro Partners, I am the lead Portfolio Manager of the Munro Global Small and Mid-Cap Fund.
I am also responsible for championing stock ideas and managing these positions within each of Munro's investment strategies - Munro Global Growth (absolute return), Munro Concentrated (long only) and Munro Climate Change Leaders Fund.
Few winners, lots of losers!
Munro believes that the investment success stories of the future will arise from the major structural changes shaping global society. Identifying areas of structural growth lead to company earnings growth and, ultimately, share price growth.
As a result, we dedicate much of our research to identifying and understanding these transformative trends, which we refer to as our Area’s of Interest (AOI). We believe that for a trend to be structurally growing, it must be gaining market share from another market, such as digital payments replacing cash or streaming services overtaking traditional free-to-air television, as some examples.
A repeatable way of unearthing long-term winners
Munro believe earnings growth drives stock prices. Companies that consistently earn more than the year before are generally rewarded with higher stock prices over time. Over the past almost 20 years, Munro have developed and fine-tuned a way of identifying what we believe to be a ‘great growth’ company. So, what makes a truly great growth company?
Every great growth company have these 6 characteristics:
Growth – many companies profess to be growing. Munro look for a growing TAM and faster revenue growth vs peers.
EPS Growth – economic leverage to grow margins.
Earnings Durability – able to sustain growth due to scale, position, IP, property or location advantage.
ESG – Strong management of environmental, social, governance risks and opportunities.
Control – Founder led and aligned management teams.
Customer Perception – Strong customer reviews and rapid adoption of its products and services.
Small boat, big sails
Small and mid-cap stocks tend to have limited analyst coverage, making them an under-explored and overlooked part of the market. This lack of attention often means there is less public information and fewer research reports, which can complicate the process of evaluating their potential. However, it also creates the opportunity to identify undervalued stocks before they gain widespread recognition.
Because these stocks often have lower coverage and trading volumes, they are less likely to be priced efficiently. This inefficiency opens the door for investors to discover mispriced stocks that the broader market has yet to fully acknowledge.
Implications for sophisticated investors
Within the global small and mid-caps equities asset class there are few winners and lots of losers. Structural change acts as a tailwind and presents opportunities for investors.
To unearth the long-term winners, there is a checklist of characteristics that drive repeatable returns, which investors need to be aware of and incorporate in their investment process.
Small/mid-caps are generally under researched, inefficient and overlooked, which is a recipe for strong alpha generation.
Qiao will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum, taking place on Wednesday, 7 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.
Qiao Ma, Partner and Portfolio Manager, Munro Partners
Qiao is the Lead Portfolio Manager for the Munro Global Growth Small & Mid Cap Fund. She joined Munro Partners in February 2023 and is responsible for championing stock ideas and managing these positions within each of the Munro’s strategies – absolute return, long only and climate.
Prior to joining Munro, Qiao was a portfolio manager at the Melbourne-based Cooper Investors and has spent nearly a decade with well-known hedge funds in New York City, including Coatue Management and Jericho Capital.
Qiao holds a dual degree of Bachelor of Science, Commerce (B.Sc) and Economics from the University of Virginia and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
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Disclaimer
The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the individual and do not reflect those of their employer organisation. These views should not be relied on as research or investment advice regarding any stock and are subject to change. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Forecasts are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which change over time, and the individual undertakes no duty to update any such forecasts. International investing may involve risk of capital loss from unfavourable fluctuations in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles, or from economic or political instability in other nations.
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