43: 43rd CONKERS' CORNER: 9th April : Conkers' Corner speaking with Jim Mellon

Welcome to the 43rd CONKERS’ CORNER recorded on 25th March 2017 at the Master Investor Show in Islington. In this interview I have the pleasure of speaking to Jim Mellon @jimmhk the renowned serial entrepreneur, self-made multi-millionaire investor, best selling author and the owner of the Master Investor Show.

As one of Britain’s richest individuals with his wealth estimated to be exceeding £900 million, Jim has been described as our very own Warren Buffett. The son of a diplomat, he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University, where he attained his Master’s Degree. However unlike many of his peers, he chose not go into the world of politics as he had travelled widely whilst he was young and had always intended to travel as soon he finished his studies. He was offered six jobs and chose to begin his career as a trainee Fund Manager with GT Management (now owned by Invesco) in Hong Kong. He has readily admitted that at the time, “I only had a vague idea of the workings of shares and bonds”.

Jim made a great success of his time with GT Management, however when he was around 24 years of age his first boss and mentor at GT, Richard Thornton left the business. They sent about setting up their own Fund Management business and co-founded Thornton Management. By the time Jim was 28 years of age he was millionaire. After more than six years with Thornton, Jim set up his own business in 1991, now known as Charlemagne Capital and Regent Pacific. Alongside these businesses, he also has a private investment company, the Burnbrae Group, which makes up most of his vast investment endeavours, all of which have made him a potential future self made investor billionaire.

Jim has also co-written several best selling books with Al Chalabi which you can find here http://www.burnbrae.com/books . Their new book “Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of longevity” will be released next month, and you can pre-order a copy now at https://www.juvenescence-book.com/ . For those that are intrigued by the title of the book, Juvenescence means “the state or period of being young”. The book discusses the benefits of a healthy life; what is good and detrimental for us and the breakthrough technologies that will enable all of us to live longer, as well as potentially invest in.

In the discussion and video with Jim, he provides an insight into the journey that he has taken, which so far has encompassed Fund Management, Investing, Emerging Markets, Asia, Russia, America, Technology, Healthcare, being an Author, Private Investor and much much more.

The topics we discussed include: Making informed decisions; Educational philanthropy; Pensions; Financial risks; Investing Strategy; Investment lessons learned; Russian Mafia; His life at risk; Master Investor Show; “Curiosity, Adaptability & Application”; No easy route to riches; Investing; Collaboration of information; Sharing of information; His new book : ‘Juvenescence’; Risks; Longevity.

He has experienced several financial crashes and also turned around Regent Pacific from the brink of collapse after the Russian financial crisis. Jim stresses, “Like everyone, I have made a tremendous amount of mistakes”. Listen now to gain insights into how Jim Mellon selects, researches and filters his investments in order to find the best cutting edge long-term potential opportunities for his investing empire. Learn from the lessons in his successful, insightful investing journey and the thought provoking knowledge from his many investing books.