Scott Woods

Visiting companies is key to small cap investing in particular. Scott Woods looks at how the pandemic has changed this.

The drives between company visits are fun. I listen to local radio, stop at local stores, and can learn a lot about US consumers and how they behave.

Pest control is a rational market. Businesses do not tend to undercut others on price.

I drove about four or five hours from Winchester, Virginia, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – where it was freezing cold and snowing – to visit MSA Safety.

Portfolio Manager Scott Woods talks about how the team are operating from home, ongoing conversations with companies, and how he’s adapting portfolios to market moves.

I flew into Washington DC on a Sunday and had just enough time for some sightseeing in the capital, although it was freezing and a bit of a whistle-stop tour. I then had to drive two-and-a-half hours into rural Winchester, Virginia, which felt empty as most places were closed in preparation for a snow storm.

I recently visited Trex, which manufactures composite decking, a mixture of plastic and wood which is quite expensive to buy