We begin this week's episode with a rundown of industrial metal price movements. From copper’s boom, Russian sanctions and the price of gold, our commodities correspondent Alex Hamer reveals what investors need to know on all things metal.

A change in fate has swept across one of the UK’s most well-known and loved funds: Fundsmith Equity. It has not beaten its benchmark for the past three years, bringing a concerning end to its long run as a high-growth fund. Dave Baxter talks about the shifts in the portfolio over the past decade, analyst criticism, Terry Smith’s response and more of what readers can expect from this week’s cover feature.

Last but not least, our senior companies reporter Jennifer Johnson unpacks our result of the week: Asos (ASC). The fast fashion retailer released interim results which show the outlook is still underwhelming. Its plan to reduce unsold merchandise panned out but resulted in falling margins. Is there any hope for the company and those holding it in their portfolio?

Associate editor Alex Newman and companies editor Mark Robinson also join the conversation to share their take on the latest market news.

1:30 Industrial metals

11:51 Fundsmith equity

22:35 Asos (ASC)

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We begin with Julian Hofmann, whose latest article covers the companies left behind as doom and gloom takes hold of the British market. Many investors have been turning their noses up at British stocks but Julian says there is still value to be found. He touches on some of these, such as furniture brand DFS, and how investors can calculate a share’s value.

Next is Jemma Slingo who reports on the world’s leading thread manufacturer and British heritage brand Coats. The company recently released full-year results which show it’s making great progress internally, which can be attributed in a large amount to its production move from the US to Mexico. Jemma explores the progress of the company in the wider market and its current value case.

Carrying on the theme of 18th-century British businesses, Mark Robinson joins to discuss ceramics company Churchill China. Mark and Dan discuss how the company is recovering from the pandemic and lockdowns that halted the hospitality industry, its main source of revenue.

Timestamps

1:17 British bargains

13:59 Coats

22:36 Churchill China

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Joe Bauernfreund and value investing are nearly synonymous. The veteran manager runs the AVI Global Trust and AVI Japan Opportunity Trust, and has responsibility for all AVI’s investment decisions as the CEO and CIO. His £1bn global stocks fund scours the world for the best companies but whose shares stand at a discount to the value of their underlying assets.

In this podcast, funds editor Dave Baxter and Bauernfreund unpack his extreme value investment process, how Japanese valuations have changed, how to avoid value traps and more.

This episode was recorded on 27 March.

Timestamps

1:02 The investment process of the fund

2:34 Activist investing

4:27 Hipgnosis (HSF)

5:23 Baunerfreund’s take on investment trusts

7:07 Recovery in the trust space

11:00 The resilience of certain sectors

12:38 Private Equity

16:58 The era of higher rates

18:32 The Japanese market

21:04 Competition in the space

22:32 Interesting sectors or themes in Japan

23:33 Other nations the fund is gravitated towards

25:28 Emerging markets

27:26 The reasons to exit a position and selling Pershing Square

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