🗣️ Investor Talk #28: Leandro González-Sicilia

Analyst & Main Contributor - Best Anchor Stocks

Welcome to Investor Talk — where we interview successful investors to uncover their journeys, strategies, and the lessons they've learned. Get inspired by real stories and gain valuable insights to sharpen your own investment approach.

Every interview follows the same set of sharp, insightful questions — such as “What is your investment strategy?”, “What are your highest conviction stocks?”, and “What’s the biggest investment mistake you’ve made?”

In this edition, we have the pleasure of interviewing:

Name: Leandro González-Sicilia

Invesquotes

Age: 28
Residence/Country: Spain
Invests since: 2014

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Unfortunately in Spain the investment culture is very poor, probably due to the fact that many people had money in stocks during the Global Financial Crisis and the index was heavily skewed to construction/banking. Stocks in Spain are somewhat seen as a taboo, especially if they don't pay dividends because non-dividend payers tend to be seen as very speculative. Even in an Economics degree in University it's tough to learn about the stock market, but I fortunately had the chance to take a course on Financial Markets which got me interested. From that moment on I began reading about the usual suspects: Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, and Phil Fisher. At first, though, I was so inexperienced that I started investing in index funds until I finally got comfortable with individual stocks.

That's how I got interested in investing. As for work, when I graduated I went into consulting. The investment management industry is not enormous in Spain and it's tough to get in, especially because it's not viewed as a normal career path. At university job fairs you'll see all the auditors, all the consultants, but you'll rarely see investment management as an industry to be honest. You do get investment banking but I mean we all know that it's not investing. When I graduated I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do professionally, which is why I ended up in business consulting. I worked there for 5 years until I got an opportunity to make a living from investing, which I obviously chose to pursue because it's what I love! Now I run Best Anchor Stocks, an investment research service focused on high-quality durable businesses. The goal is to achieve market outperformance with a portfolio that's not tough to hold.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆?
I focus on high-quality durable companies, obviously not at any price. I believe these have several advantages.

First, I get to minimize the number of decisions I have to make. I invest in these companies expecting to (but not commiting to) hold them for the long term. I expect these companies to compound for a long period so I don't have to be constantly looking for new investments. I always strive to improve my portfolio so I am always looking at new things, but I don't have the opportunity cost of having cash laying around.

Secondly, I think that by pursuing this strategy time is on my side, something that's not true when you invest in lower quality businesses. As I strive to look for durable companies I also feel that mispricings are more "normal" as the market tends to systematically undervalue durable companies.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
I currently own 16 companies (plus two index funds) and my idea is to get up to a maximum of 20 but I don't have this number as an objective. I do have it as a maximum because I feel it's the number of stocks I would be able to follow closely and which might allow me to avoid index-hugging.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻?
There are very few sectors (if any) in which I will have a strong commitment to never own. Of course, there are industries that are much more appealing than others, but industries change and evolve so I believe investors should remain open-minded. Take, for example, railways. These were terrible businesses many decades ago, but they have evolved and now they are a good business.

This said, my portfolio is currently weighted to software and semiconductors, although it's pretty diverse across industries.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀?
Three high conviction companies for me are:
$CSU.TO - Constellation Software
$NTDOY - Nintendo
$DE - Deere

I recently uploaded a deep dive on Deere where I share why it's a high conviction holding for me. U can freely access it here: https://bestanchorstocks.com/p/deere-cultivating-technology…

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻?
The stock with the highest return for me is Amazon $AMZN.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲?
My biggest mistakes have always come from not knowing what I owned, or not to the in-depth level I should. And this is not only to the downside but also to the upside, I've also sold stocks that were eventually huge winners just because I didn't really understand what I was holding.

When I was starting to invest in individual stocks I owned Nvidia $NVDA but sold it at a modest gain because I did not feel comfortable holding. I think I made the right decision in selling something that I did not understand but it obviously cost me dearly!

𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀
Favorite books: What I Learned About Investing From Darwin by Pulak Prasad

Favorite podcast: The Investors Podcast @TIP_Network

Favorite quote: "A strong balance sheet is not the one that maximizes debt to minimize the cost of capital but the one that minimizes debt to maximize the safety of capital." - Pulak Prasad

Favorite FinX account: @Speedwell_LLC deserves far more followers than it currently has.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂? There's a link to all of my socials in this linktree: https://linktr.ee/leandrobas You can also find me on X: @invesquotes or u can email me: bestanchorstocks@gmail.com

Disclaimer:
The information and opinions provided in this article are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any financial product, security, or asset. The Future Investors does not provide personalized investment advice and is not a licensed financial advisor. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Please consult the general disclaimer for more details.