Shai Dardashti, managing director of MOI Global, recently conducted an exclusive interview with Sean Stannard-Stockton, president and Chief Investment Officer of Ensemble Capital, based in Burlingame, California. The firm, which dates back to 1997, manages the Ensemble Fund (ENSBX) as well as separate accounts.

The following transcript has been edited for space and clarity.

MOI Global: It’s a pleasure to introduce Sean to the MOI Global community. Before joining Ensemble Capital, Sean was a member of a private client advisor team working with high net-worth individuals at Scudder. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of California, Davis, the CFA designation, and is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy.

Please share with us further detail on your journey to become Chief Investment Officer of Ensemble Capital.

Sean Stannard-Stockton: I was the kind of kid who wanted to pick stocks when I was 14 and read all sorts of books on the subject. I started off with terrible books that told you how to get rich quick and finally, over time, settled on books written by a lot of great investors.

I went to Scudder Investments at the end of the dot-com boom, right out of college – first the mutual fund group and then the private client group. In 2002, I joined Curtis Brown and Company, which was a one-person sole proprietorship run by my good friend and business partner Curt Brown. In 2004, Curt and I formed Ensemble Capital Management and built a firm that now manages over $600 million of assets – including private clients, many charitable institutions, and a publicly traded mutual fund.

MOI: Who have been your professional inspirations?

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