Sep 17, 2026 · 8 min · 5 segments
Markets are constantly changing, but sound investment principles remain the same. In this episode, Kokkie Kooyman and Nigel Barnes discuss how valuation discipline, management quality and a long-term…
Kokkie KooymanGuest
Nigel BarnesHost
Now, Nigel, I think what's vital to understand is Barry and Ben have been with me in the Denka team for, I think, 12 years almost.
And when we go on trips visiting these banks and insurers all over the world, it's not after the meetings, off to the pub.
But then we meet for dinner and then we start the discussion of the meetings that we had and how did it go? What do you think? Is this guy good? Is he not good? And that goes on to late in the evening, we start preparing for the next set of meetings the next day.
And what was really good, just whenever I listened to these guys is they've totally got the same disciplines that we believe in, in terms of valuation.
We won't buy something if it's too expensive, we're looking for a good valuation.
Is this business generating a good return on capital? And then the quality of the management.
We're always looking for good management, but you'll never overpay for a good management.
And so the advantage of us traveling the whole world and having done it for so long, you very quickly spot the guys who will make a difference.
And I think that's a discipline really of this team On a day in, day out, every result gets analyzed.
And when you walk into a situation, you can immediately say, these guys are going to make a difference.
Yeah, I mean, we talk about differentiating factors within businesses and, you know, at Denka Capital, we've spoken about experience.
And I think people get confused with that because it's not about length of tenure necessarily for the individuals as it is.
Now, Nigel, I think what's vital to understand is Barry and Ben have been with me in the Denka team for, I think, 12 years almost.
And when we go on trips visiting these banks and insurers all over the world, it's not after the meetings, off to the pub.
But then we meet for dinner and then we start the discussion of the meetings that we had and how did it go? What do you think? Is this guy good? Is he not good? And that goes on to late in the evening, we start preparing for the next set of meetings the next day.
And what was really good, just whenever I listened to these guys is they've totally got the same disciplines that we believe in, in terms of valuation.
We won't buy something if it's too expensive, we're looking for a good valuation.
Is this business generating a good return on capital? And then the quality of the management.
We're always looking for good management, but you'll never overpay for a good management.
And so the advantage of us traveling the whole world and having done it for so long, you very quickly spot the guys who will make a difference.
And I think that's a discipline really of this team On a day in, day out, every result gets analyzed.
And when you walk into a situation, you can immediately say, these guys are going to make a difference.
Yeah, I mean, we talk about differentiating factors within businesses and, you know, at Denka Capital, we've spoken about experience.
And I think people get confused with that because it's not about length of tenure necessarily for the individuals as it is.
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