Behind the Balance Sheet · Stephen Clapham's Podcast on Value Investing | Stockmarket Analysis | Equities

#35 The 100 Bagger Hunter - Chris Mayer on 100 Baggers, Long-Term Compounding & Family-Owned Stocks

·58 min·3 clips

A long-hold Copart thesis has to survive electric cars, autonomous vehicles, and higher repair costs.

1. Behind the Balance Sheet speaks with Chris Mayer about 100 Baggers: Stocks That Return 100 to 1 and How to Find Them. 2. Chris Mayer is the author of 100 Baggers and manages Woodlock House Family Capital; the host focuses on his framework for long-term compounding. 3. The episode asks how investors can find businesses that can compound for 20 to 30 years without relying on short-term trading. 4. Mayer traces his interest in investing to the 1987 crash, Warren Buffett, Ben Graham, and Peter Lynch. 5. He says Thomas Phelps' 100 to 1 and Chuck Akre's 2011 speech helped inspire 100 Baggers. 6. Mayer says he would update the book today with more serial acquirers and more international case studies. 7. He says the book's old market-cap and revenue screen would change because public companies are larger and IPO later today. 8. Mayer puts many 100-baggers in the 20% to 25% revenue-growth range. 9. He says that growth rate can produce a 100-bagger in about 20 to 25 years. 10. He adds that growth above 30% to 50% can invite problems, while slower growers may need 35 to 45 years. 11. Mayer argues that valuation must be judged against compounding, not just against a raw P/E multiple. 12. He says a company compounding earnings at 25% for 10 years can make a higher multiple look reasonable. 13. Mayer spends most of his time assessing whether a company has a hard-to-reproduce competitive advantage. 14. He uses Copart as an example, pointing to its land bank, buyer network, and insurance relationships. 15. He says Copart's business may also benefit from scale, while the host raises questions about electric vehicles and autonomous driving. 16. Mayer replies that cars are more complex, repair costs are higher, and Copart is expanding into yellow iron and power motorsports. 17. He says family-owned companies appeal to him because they tend to have aligned incentives and longer time horizons. 18. He says he wants real skin in the game, and for family-run firms he likes to see the family on the board. 19. The tone is a long-form interview with detailed back-and-forth on valuation, moats, and ownership structure. 20. Listeners who like patient fundamental investing will get the most from it; short-term traders may skip it.

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