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Global Equity Observer Is it still worth getting on a plane? Field notes from recent research trips

INVESTMENT INSIGHT | INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TEAM | August 2026

From new-age flying vehicles1 in China to heritage-built Ferraris AUTHORS

in Italy, state-of-the-art production lines in the Netherlands to a wide range of industrials companies laying out their plans WILLIAM LOCK in Florida, meeting management and site visits are a part of Head of International Equity Team our long-standing approach to bottom-up research. Company meetings come in different forms: one-to-one meetings with senior management, mega industry conferences, and broker- CANDIDA DE SILVA arranged field trips. But in an era of instant information and Managing Director

virtual communications, is it still worth getting on a plane?

“In periods of Information is everywhere. Insight is not With earnings calls transcribed in minutes, investor decks easily found change — of which online, and AI able to condense an hour-long management commentary into there has been no a paragraph in moments, the marginal cost of hearing what a company has shortage — we believe to say has fallen close to zero. Information and insight, however, are not the sitting across the table same thing. Passive vehicles may own companies without questioning the thesis or probing the technology in person, but as fundamental investors from a management looking for high quality companies run by capable management, we believe team is one of the most human judgement remains central. effective ways to test This doesn’t mean that attending every trip or meeting is essential, and nor do whether a thesis still we. If a chief executive is a constant presence on the conference and podcast holds, and, at times, circuit, there may be little additional benefit in seeking a separate audience. Where the value lies is in access to a chairman, founder or technical lead who whether we have shapes a company’s long-term direction but is rarely available to investors; been thinking about a seeing for oneself which management teams remain best-in-class and who business or industry is going through the motions, gauging the tone across a sector or market, understanding how the debate has shifted over time, and identifying gaps in correctly at all. It’s our research. The discipline is knowing which meetings matter, what to ask, something I have always and how to interpret the findings. believed, and continue to stress with the team.” 1 eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) – currently in testing in China for future William Lock, Head of commuter use. International Equity team

What we look for in the room China’s innovation in electric vehicles, supported by wide We don’t meet companies to be spun a pitch by consumer adoption, has meant that western car brands are management — and certainly not for material non-public increasingly losing relevance with domestic customers. The information (MNPI). Our goal is to gain incremental country’s investment in battery and drone technology has led information that can make a difference to an investment to another playing field reset, providing it with an opportunity case by asking questions, seeing things in action, and to leap ahead. Commuting by two- or four-seater drone could assembling a picture no single source provides. We look for soon see flying taxis move from testing to reality. businesses where management is focused on sustaining high During our meetings, excitement around AI was tangible, barriers to entry, pricing power and durable competitive while in areas outside AI the mood was more despondent, advantages. Some of that shows up in reports, but a great with companies facing intense competition. The broader deal of it is intangible, and sometimes better understood lesson is that China is no longer simply an end market. It in person. At conferences and on group trips, a part of the has become a competitive benchmark; its agility, supply- signal also comes from other investors: the questions they chain depth, superior technology, price point and consumer ask, where the debate has become crowded, and how their sophistication providing fierce competition for global…