In this episode, Laura Thomas and Tom O’Hara, Portfolio Manager of Henderson European Focus Trust, discuss how he identifies favourable and unfavourable changes in a company that make a compelling case for investment or divestment. Tom also touches on the trends/sectors experiencing rapid change on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Takeaways

• The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalisation in many companies, and this has led to increased cost cutting, restructuring and digitalisation of supply chains as businesses have adapted to the hybrid-working model and increased online shopping.
• The right management team can improve a business’s performance through several ways including, restoring customer focus, reshaping the company culture, removing disfunction, and re-aligning incentive structures.
• The reduction in travel during the pandemic resulted in record low emissions and air quality drastically improved in cities across the globe. As a result, traditional carmakers have sped up their electrification efforts.