Zak Mir Interviews - Jim Mellon
“In my life, I try and find undervalued sectors for my next investment “challenge”, and so my first foray was into mining about ten years ago, after that German property (seven years ago) and about three years ago, biotech.” We have many other interests in Burnbrae, but the one I am laser focussed on at the moment is biotech which, despite its three year bull market, remains my favourite investment area at present. Funnily enough, the guy I started work with, Paul Matthews (my first boss!), started his own fund management company in 1992 and I invested in the management company. My modest $10,000 investment has been a spectacular one, with Paul now managing over USD 25bn. It’s good to back your friends (at least the competent ones!) Zak: Over the past couple of years Spreadbet Magazine has interviewed quite a coterie of traders, investors and “personalities” within the investment industry. What all of them seem to have in common is above average intelligence and incredible willpower, and they all are clearly driven in terms of achieving their own particular goals.
Would you say that, rather like an entrepreneur, you either have this disposition or you do not? Jim: In a nutshell, yes. The more liquid the asset, the harder it is to get an edge over fellow investors due to the mass of information out there. Prime example is foreign exchange where there are some smart traders, and also because of asymmetric information flow in many of the big banks that less privileged investors don’t get to see. Although for the most part I get the trends right in FX, my timing is not good! In fact, I think I might just give up FX trading – it makes me only a little money, and absorbs a lot of heartache and time! In contrast, I make good money in shares. I trade both long and short, and also write options. We also hedge out positions with futures. But our operation certainly isn’t Goldman Sachs!
April 2014
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