Michael Garcia – Meet the Management Before You Invest

Michael Garcia is  CEO and Chief Investment Officer of MDG capital, a boutique investment advisory firm based in Manila.  MBG Capital serves as investment adviser to Seahedge Philippines Fund (Bloomberg: SEAPHFA:KY), a Philippines-focused equity fund domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Before establishing MBG Capital in 2011, Michael worked for nine years as the Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Trust & Investment Services Group of Union Bank of the Philippines, where he oversaw US$1 billion of client portfolios.  Michael is a CFA charter holder. He holds an MBA degree from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and an undergraduate degree in AB Management Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. In this episode, Michael shares how he invested in one particular investment company in Vietnam without taking into consideration management ethics. He will also tell us how not sticking to step by step process in investing and observing due diligence could cost big time.   “You have to take the time in your due diligence to meet the management. There's a lot you can learn, in a personal meeting.”   -Michael Garcia What do you want to hear from the My Worst Investment Ever Podcast? Tell us here! Resources:  My Worst Investment Ever Book myworstinvestmentever.com Topics Covered: 02:42 – Michael thoroughly relating to the ferry boat company he invested in Vietnam 04:12 – Mentioning about his  particular stock portfolio and their Vietnam stock exposure 04:54 – The events that happened which contributed to the company's fallout 06:22 – The eventual failure of Michael's investment and  the losses he incurred 07:36 – How Michael didn't see it coming, the fallout of the company he invested in and what to learn from it 08:48 – Michael's lessons on his worst investment ever 11:59 – Telling in hindsight about management ethics on this particular company Michael invested in 13:01 – On dealing with stocks in Asia and about liquidity, volumes and stop losses. 13:57 – Michael advises: "Don't rush into your investment capital." Main Takeaways: Lesson 1: “You have to take the time in your due diligence to meet management. I mean, there's a lot that you can learn, in a personal meeting, vis a vis, just reading financial statements.”– Michael Garcia Lesson 2: “You don't rush into things, and you have to apply your investment process steps in a very disciplined manner.”– Michael Garcia Lesson 3: “Ensuring that management ethics and...