‘Most businesses would benefit from more intelligence’: Scottish Mortgage's Tom Slater

In our latest IC Interviews episode, funds editor Dave Baxter sits down with Tom Slater, manager of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.
With a simple philosophy of maximising returns over the long-term, and having secured a 300 per cent return in the 10 years to January 2024, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is best known for acquiring ownership of some of the world’s top growth companies. However, it’s not immune to volatility and the past few years has seen a downturn in the growth of its portfolio.
In this episode, Dave Baxter and Tom discuss the troubles the portfolio has faced, the performance and scope of AI stocks, the allure of China, nonconformist business leaders, and more.
This episode was recorded on Monday 15 January.
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1:30 Getting the portfolio back to its peak performance
5:05 Nvidia and developments in AI
10:53 Navigating hype cycles and the importance of company culture
13:37 Business figures
15:59 Tech majors
17:37 Microsoft
19:32 Amazon.com
24:10 Moderna and the challenges facing healthcare
28:32 The prominence of healthcare stocks in the portfolio
31:14 The stance on China
35:14 The geopolitical risk of emerging markets
37:22 The domestic market
39:10 The risk and value of non-conformist business leaders