David Ricci of William Blair - The Future of Growth Investing

Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by David Ricci, a Portfolio Manager at William Blair. David Ricci, CFA, partner, is a portfolio manager on William Blair’s Large Cap Growth strategy, which he joined in 2011. From 2005 to 2018, he was also a portfolio manager on the Mid Cap Growth strategy. Previously, he was the group head for the consumer sector, focusing on specialty retail and e-commerce companies, in William Blair’s sell-side research group. Before joining William Blair in 1994, David gained extensive experience at Procter & Gamble, Melville, and Bain & Company. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago. David received a Sc.B., magna cum laude, from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Key Takeaways
• [03:31] - David’s professional background, his current role and his volunteer work.
• [06:55] - When it comes to managing a growth portfolio, what is David’s philosophy?
• [11:51] - Does David think that active managers who are using fundamental analysis can still outperform in current market conditions?
• [14:40] - Does he think that the markets right now are more disconnected from the economy than they have been historically?
• [16:16] - What is David’s market outlook and how does this outlook affect his portfolio positioning, if at all?
• [19:14] - If we do get higher interest rates, how would this impact longer duration growth companies?
• [21:16] - What is David’s current outlook on the high profile names of The Magnificent 7?
• [24:32] - What are the implications of today’s massive IT outage for long-term investing?
• [25:58] - Who does David think should be on “The Mount Rushmore of Growth Investors?”
• [27:40] - What is David’s favorite investment idea for the remainder of 2024?
• [30:35] - Who are some of the colleagues and mentors that David is thankful for?
Quotes
[12:27] - “Everyone…is talking about The Mag 7, but if you go back 5, 10, 15 years - it has really been a market dominated by large tech, whether it is Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta [or] Amazon. I mean, these companies have been in the spotlight today, five years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago, some of them go back much further than that. So, it has been a fairly narrow world [for a while now.]” ~ David Ricci (linkedin.com/in/david-ricci-ab11947)
[16:47] - “[Aside from the election] I think the major tug of war going on right now…is the expectation of lower rates and what that could mean for the economy.” ~ David Ricci (linkedin.com/in/david-ricci-ab11947)
Links
• David Ricci (linkedin.com/in/david-ricci-ab11947)
• William Blair (active.williamblair.com)
• “Piano Man” by Billy Joel (open.spotify.com/album/77ErLrVvYETIlQJHAwhfIH?…)
Connect with Us
• Meet Rusty Vanneman, Orion’s Chief Investment Officer (orion.com/rusty-vanneman)
• Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts (orion.com/resources-search?resource_type=podca…)
• Power Your Growth with Orion (orion.com)
Disclosure(s) - Orion Portfolio Solutions, LLC, an Orion Company, is a registered investment advisor.
The CFA® is a globally respected, graduate-level investment credential established in 1962 and awarded by CFA Institute — the largest global association of investment professionals. To learn more about the CFA charter, visit cfainstitute.org.
Compliance Code: 1909-OPS-7/31/2024