Thomas Ricketts, CFA, joins the pod to discuss his investment philosophy.  This episode focuses on an investment style that, according to Bill's perception, seeks to identify change and innovation before the market identifies it.  Bill was initially a little skeptical of doing an "innovation episode" given how the term has been used in the financial community.  However, after diligencing Tom, Bill felt comfortable having Tom on the pod.  This conversation adds value to The Business Brew library.  Thank you to Tom for joining the show!

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Tom's Bio
Thomas Ricketts, CFA, founder of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management, serves as Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager, and Research Analyst. Over his 27-year investment career, he developed significant expertise in portfolio management, investment research, and executive management. Prior to founding Evolutionary Tree, Mr. Ricketts was a Sr. Portfolio Manager on Sands Capital’s flagship Select Growth strategy, a $20+ billion concentrated strategy of high-quality, sustainable growth businesses. Mr. Ricketts was one of the longest-tenured investment professionals at Sands Capital. Over the years, he contributed to building and leading the research team and attracting and retaining a broad client base of institutional and high-net-worth clients. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia (1994), his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation (1997), and an Advanced Certificate for Executives from the MIT Sloan School of Management (2016- 2017).

Mr. Ricketts joined Sands Capital in 1994 as the Assistant to the President. He worked closely with founder Frank Sands, Sr. during the startup phase and early years of the firm, helping to grow the firm from less than $100 million in assets under management to approximately $40 billion in assets 22 years later. In 2008, Mr. Ricketts assumed the role of Sr. Portfolio Manager on the Sands US Large-Cap Growth strategy, working as a Co-PM to oversee the $20 billion strategy, and was a decision maker on that strategy for eight years. In 2011, Mr. Ricketts joined the Executive Management Team (EMT), which provides strategic leadership for the firm. In 2013, he became a member of the three-person Directing Research Team (DRT), which provided oversight of the 40-person investment team.