Come prepared, ask the right questions, listen intently – Aoris’ formula for great company meetings

Part three: our approach to company meetings

In the previous parts of this series, we discussed why company meetings are important and the potential pitfalls that can undermine their usefulness. In this final section, we outline how we approach company meetings, from preparation to how we structure them and work as a team. Our aim is to ensure these conversations provide insight, not just information, and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of a business.

A purposeful process

A well-executed meeting starts well before the conversation begins. We don’t meet with companies for the sake of it. There must be a clear purpose.

We like to think of meetings in scientific terms: we form a hypothesis about a business, and the meeting acts as a way to test that hypothesis.

A good meeting leaves us with a clearer view of what makes the business special or where risks might lie. This depends in part on the person we’re speaking with, but even more on the quality of the questions we ask.

Asking better questions

In preparation for the meeting, we focus on a few key topics - usually fewer than five - that tie directly to our investment thesis. We avoid long lists of questions and instead try to ask more thoughtful, targeted ones.

Meetings serve as conversations, not interrogations. While our preparation provides structure, we remain flexible and adapt to the natural flow of the conversation.

Crucially, we avoid leading questions that might elicit rehearsed responses. We also rarely open our conversation with highly critical questions that may result in responders becoming defensive.

We favour open-ended questions, which allow the other party to speak freely and reveal what’s top of mind. While we try not to stray too far off-topic, tangents can sometimes uncover useful context.

Examples of questions we like to ask include but are not limited to:

• If I were an employee who left the company five years ago and rejoined today, what would I notice is different?
• If I were to survey your customers and ask them about ways in which doing business with your company is different today vs. five years ago, what would we hear?
• What is management’s definition of success and how do they achieve this?

Reducing the influence of bias

In Part Two of this series, we touched on the psychological biases we’re all susceptible to during company meetings. To counteract this, we try to include multiple analysts in each discussion

While that might seem inefficient, we believe it results in better judgement. Different perspectives help check individual biases and surface different takeaways.

To ensure our most valuable resource - analyst time - is being used effectively, we avoid having passive participants. Each analyst prepares in advance, listens carefully, and contributes. After the meeting, each person records their independent learnings. These are then catalogued to build a growing repository of insights on the business.

Informing better decisions

Company meetings are just one input in our research process. They help deepen understanding and prompt discussion, but they don’t, on their own, drive investment decisions.

As we noted earlier, we often have several analysts join a meeting. We’re all generalists, we work on one strategy, and we follow the same investment philosophy. Still, the range of views that emerge after a meeting is often wide. These different interpretations enrich internal conversations and help refine our judgement.

We’re aware of the limitations of these meetings. It’s rare that a single discussion leads to a decision. Our process is reflective and deliberate. We weigh new insights against our existing view of the business.

One example is our sale of MSCI (NYSE: MSCI). While valuation played a role, we also became increasingly uncomfortable with management’s pricing strategy and broader direction. We had several meetings with different representatives over time. Each one added to our understanding, but none was decisive on its own. It was the accumulation of what we heard alongside earnings calls, investor presentations, and team discussions that shaped our decision.

A piece of a larger puzzle

Company meetings are part of a broader research process. They help us fill in pieces of the puzzle, but they don’t complete the picture.

Our decisions come from thoughtful, collaborative judgement. We build conviction through repeated interactions, diverse perspectives, and a structured approach to learning.

Closing thoughts

Company meetings are one of several tools we use to build a deeper understanding of a business. When approached with purpose, preparation and clear thinking, they offer insight into quality and risk. While they don’t stand alone, they play a valuable role in supporting sound investment decisions.