Christian Rom from DNB is our Fund Manager of the Month

Christian Bergholt Rom is Portfolio Manager for DNB Miljøinvest and DNB Fund Renewable Energy and is also in charge of the long-short and long-only renewable energy strategies in the company. After about four years as an Equity Analyst at Carnegie Securities, Christian joined the company in 2010 as part of the Renewable Energy Team and was in charge of the long-short and long-only renewal energy strategies in the company. Christian holds an MSc in Business and Economics from BI Norwegian Business School.

What made you decide to go into the financial sector? Did you have any other vocations?

Wanted to become a cook/chef, but opportunity to practice volleyball at a particular high school made me stick with scientific subjects. I was not sure what to do next but decided at a beach volleyball tournament in Kyiv towards the end of the summer that 1 year at business school would keep doors open. Here I had my first finance course which got me hooked. It was so fascinating that it was possible to actually calculate the fundamental value of a stock and earn on mispricings. So I started to read finance books and invest and enrolled for a bachelor's in finance and went on to take a master's with a major in finance and a minor in economics with a clear career goal of becoming a portfolio manager.

How should investors orient their portfolios in this environment?

The key for us has always been to work bottom-up. Get a deep understanding of the companies we invest in. What they do, business models, and competitive positioning. Then cross-check whether your research can be backed up by historical financials. So the portfolio should consist of a relatively concentrated portfolio of companies you understand well and where you find the fundamental upside. We have a preference for companies that have proven capability to create shareholder value over time. This portfolio should be relatively broad in its exposures such that you position yourself to be in a position to create alpha in many different market outcomes.

How is the relationship with your clients in times of market crisis? How do you manage emotions?

We try to always be there for our clients. We provide them with a thorough monthly fund update and try to answer as best we can the follow-up questions that our clients might have. Psychology is clearly one of the central parts of investing where having an outside-in view of your and the emotions and biases of the market is important. So you do that outside-in analysis and try to act somewhat contrarian to these emotions and biases. Cognitive biases like Confirmation bias and overconfidence bias are highly present in investing.

Could you give us an example of a fund that you have held for a long time in your portfolios and why?

A stock we have had in the portfolio since I started back in 2010 is Concord New Energy. This is a small Chinese independent power producer which develops, owns, and sells wind farms and solar parks in China. It has been a roller coaster ride, as it has been plagued by high financial leverage. However, over time it has delivered solid financial results by doing sensible business decisions while deleveraging. Stock remains attractively priced and continues to compound capital at a good rate.

What differences do you observe in the way new generations invest?

They seem to be clearly more environmentally driven as they have real concerns over climate change. So on average, they take decisions that are more positive for the environment compared to previous generations.

If you had to define yourself with 3 words, what would it be and why?

Competitive team player (competing in team sports until I made the move to compete in the stock market) with grit (in general been low on talent so my solution has been to compensate with more hard work) and integrity (in my opinion being honest with strong moral principles compounds over time so it makes common sense).

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Spend time with my family (4 kids at home keeps us busy :) ) and read books.