Fortunately, my job is to pick stocks, not fund managers. It is notoriously difficult to separate luck from skill, and even harder to work out whether someone who has been skillful in the past is going to be skillful in the future. My one free piece of advice, however, is to find someone is very clear about their own area of excellence. When you ask them how they generate excess returns, the answer should be extremely clear. And whatever it is that particular fund manager is good at, they should stick to it. If you want a good example, watch this interview with Leah Zell from Lizard Investors. It was my favourite interview from our panel at the recent Sohn Hearts and Minds conference.