Interview with Brian Feroldi - contributor to Fool.com

Few, if any, I think have missed in any way getting acquainted with Brian Feroldi, who writes and podcasts for Motley Fool. Personally, I have appreciated his analyzes and interpretations of many companies, such as Mercado Libre, Pinterest and OLO. I had the honor of having more in-depth contact with him a while ago and then took the opportunity to ask if he wanted to stand up for an interview, which he was positive about.

Brian, thank you for coming to this interview. You work as a writer and podcaster at Motley Fool and are seen more or less daily on twitter. However, there are many if not know who Brian is. Thus - who is Brian?
Career-wise, I'm best known as a contractor for the Motley Fool. That means that I'm a regular contributor to Fool.com as a writer of both free & premium articles, recording audio for their podcasts, and sharing investing lectures on their live stream which is called "Fool Live". I found the Fool in 2005 after learning about financial independence while i was young and realized that that's what I wanted to achieve in my life as early as possible. A big part of financial independence is learning how to invest well, and I had NO CLUE how to do that at the time. The Fool helped me a lot. fast forward to today and I've made just about every investing mistake that you can make. I've made it my career mission "to spread financial wellness", so I'm on a mission to teach other people how to do better with their money. 
 

How long have you been investing and can you share with us some of the best investments of your life, but also those that have not developed well? What lessons have you learned from the above investments and how do you apply it today?
About 17 years in total. The "best" investing moments of my life are when I see a stock that I have owned for years start to pay off to pay off (like $TSLA in 2019 - 2021). As for mistakes, there are too many to count, but this thread can help to showcase my biggest mistakes and the key lessons I learned: Länk 1 och länk 2.

Sweden and the swedes is a country that is very interested in equities and the fact is that most people own shares, either through funds or directly. However, the Swedish stock market is small, especially in relation to the American one. How big is the Swedish stock market in the US? Are any Swedish companies / shares being discussed within your friend/contacts? Witch and why?
I am spoiled. The U.S. has the most investing opportunities of any equity market in the world. For that reason, I rarely look outside the U.S. for investing ideas.
 

You often tell us followers how you buy to build your position and that you are long-term (á la foolish investment), but I never think I heard you tell us about how big
your portfolio is. How many companies are you a partner in and which are in the top 10?
All Motley Fool employees/contractors have to disclose our holdings at all times, myself included. Here's the current composition of my portfolio. Here is the last time I shared my top holdings and this order is still roughly correct.

There is often talk of value vs. growth and this has really been seen since November 2020, when the news of vaccines reached us deadly. However, the sector rotation we have seen has stopped and the same trend has been seen on the ten-year US interest rate, which from quotations of around 1.7% has now fallen to around 1.2%. I am against the categories "value" and "growth", and think more that I invest in good, growing companies. How do you reason about value companies and growth companies? Has the division played its role? Is growth preferable to value?
I don't subscribe to the "growth" vs "value" argument. It's counter-intuitive, but I've learned that a stock can trade at 1,000x earnings and be "cheap" while another company can trade at 5x earnings and be "expensive". I personally pay little attention to macro factors such as inflation, interest rates, and unemployment. It's not because those factors don't matter (they do!). But my sole investing strategy is to find, but, and own awesome companies for as long as possible. Over time, I'm a firm believer that following that strategy will result in good long-term returns.

The Fed and all the other central banks in the world are currently doing everything they can to stimulate the economy, and so far they have succeeded. However, there are many risks and dangers ahead. With respect to the fact that you are not a macro expert and that you do not spend all your time on the above, what are the biggest risks / dangers for the stock market (and thus the world) in the next 6-12 months?
I don't focus on the Fed or short-term price movements. And yes, 6 - 12 months is a short-term price movement. I focus on buying great businesses that can succeed no matter what is happening in the stock market. 

 

7. FIRE is a phenomenon that has begun to grow more and more in Sweden, to the annoyance of our politicians. In the United States, this movement is much, much larger. Is a quick retirement something that has attracted, or still attracts you? If not - what drives you in your investments? The feeling of getting "right"? Financial security? Finances for children and families?I used to think that "FIRE" was the ultimate goal, but I since change my tune. I know a lot of people who are at FIRE, and ALL of them are still working in some capacity. I am no longer chasing "RE" but I am still firmly interest in "FI". FI, to me, is the ability to work on what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long or as little as you when, and you can quit anytime without any lifestyle impact on your family. Once you are there, "retiring" isn't necessary!

 

New question: Speaking of family and thus leisure - how do you spend your free time? Exercise? TV game? Activities with the kids?Leisure time is spent at kid's sporting activities, hanging out with friends, playing games with my family, at the beach, hiking, walking, or doing stuff around my home. 
 

Last question: I will now let you move on and want to thank you for your time. However, before I let you go, we need to know - what do you choose when you consume?

Boston pizza or Domino's?
Dominos!

Starbucks coffee or McDonald's?
Starbucks

McDonald's Crispy Chicken Sandwich or Tim Horton's the same (QSR)?
Pass on both!

Coca-Cola or Pepsi?
Coke

Take Two Interactive's GTA or Activision Blizzards World of Warcraft?
World of Warcraft

Zoom or Microsoft Teams?
Zoom

Netflix or Disney+?
Netflix