"You Don’t Grow at 1,000% Near the End of Your Life" - Griffin on a Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity

Why It Matters

The fund gives investors a liquid, diversified vehicle to capture multi‑decade AI and infrastructure tailwinds while employing disciplined risk controls, positioning portfolios for outsized growth in a rapidly changing economy.

Key Takeaways

• AI data center buildout drives core portfolio exposure
• Monroe splits fund roughly one‑third AI, one‑third non‑AI, one‑third adopters
• Nvidia remains dominant beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending
• Stop‑loss process mitigates mistakes and protects against market derating
• ETF MCG offers diversified global growth with daily liquidity

Summary

The Livewise Listed Series interview spotlights Monroe Partners’ concentrated global growth ETF (ticker MCG), with portfolio manager Nick Griffin explaining how the fund seeks to capture structural megatrends, especially artificial intelligence, for investors seeking outsized returns through 2026 and beyond.

Griffin outlines a three‑tier allocation: roughly one‑third of assets target the AI data‑center build‑out—high‑performance chips, carbon‑neutral power, and advanced connectivity; a second third invests in non‑AI themes such as digital media, sports‑rights and healthcare; and the final third backs companies that are early adopters of AI. He also notes short‑term oil price spikes from Middle‑East tensions but views oil as a declining structural theme.

Key examples include Nvidia, which receives about 50% of AI‑related spend, and software firms like Anthropic and OpenAI whose recurring revenues have hit $50 billion and are growing at over 1,000% annually. Griffin stresses the fund’s disciplined stop‑loss framework, saying “we’re fund managers, not surgeons,” to weed out mis‑bets and protect against market derating.

By packaging this concentrated, research‑intensive approach into an ETF, Monroe offers investors daily liquidity, transparent pricing and a ready‑made vehicle to ride the decade‑long AI and infrastructure revolutions while managing downside risk, making MCG a potential core growth holding for long‑term portfolios.

Original Description

“You don’t grow at 1,000% near the end of your life. You grow at 30% at the end of your life.”

It was that observation from Munro Partners’ Chief Investment Officer, Nick Griffin, that crystallised just how early we may still be in the AI investment cycle, and put into perspective the opportunity that still sits at the feet of investors.

Griffin was referring to the explosive growth of AI platforms such as OpenAI and Anthropic. While those companies remain unlisted, the second-order effects are flowing through to listed beneficiaries like Nvidia, a position Munro has held since 2018.

There are, of course, multiple forces reshaping the global economy. Munro frames these as “Areas of Interest” defined by powerful structural tailwinds, spanning high-performance computing, climate and connectivity. But in Griffin’s view, one theme clearly dominates.

“The big change at the moment is obviously AI… how’s it going to change the way we work? How’s it going to change the investment landscape?” ponders Griffin.

“We are going through something akin to the industrial revolution here, very much an intelligence revolution. This technology is going to be scaled across every industry and the planet over the next 10 years.”

“If you can get your head around that, then you can get your head around where you should be investing in the future.”

In the interview above, Griffin expounds on the irresistible force that is AI and how Munro is positioning to take advantage via the Munro Concentrated Global Growth Fund Active ETF (ASX: MCGG). He also shares the other Areas of Interest capturing his and his team’s attention (it’s not all AI!), and some of the stocks they are investing in to express those views.

TIME CODES

00:11 – Introduction: Navigating markets with MCGG ETF

00:37 – Structural change: Identifying long-term winners

01:25 – Oil and geopolitics: Short-term disruption vs long-term decline

02:03 – Portfolio positioning: AI, diversification and areas of interest

05:09 – AI buildout: Who benefits from data centre spending

07:11 – What to watch in AI developments

08:13 – Infrastructure: The second-order effects of AI and reshoring

09:44 – Risk management: Stop-loss discipline and learning from mistakes

12:00 – Why ETF structure: Accessibility and liquidity advantages

12:57 – Portfolio role: Expected returns and how to use MCG