Equity Mates Investing Podcast 4 steps to find winning software stocks with Ben Arnold
11 snips
Mar 5, 2026 Ben Arnold, Investment Director at Schroders who focuses on global stock selection and tech, financials and consumer sectors. He breaks down the AI capex debate and a practical 3D risk framework. He explains where to capture AI upside, which software is vulnerable, and why opportunities exist beyond the biggest tech names.
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Hockey Taught Teamwork And Process Over Outcomes
- Ben draws parallels between elite hockey and investing: both are team sports and emphasize process over short‑term outcomes.
- He says debate within teams improves outcomes and sticking to a clear strategy prevents overreaction to short results.
Debt Markets Reveal Which Hyperscalers Are Trusted
- Markets are discriminating between hyperscalers based on debt and ability to monetize capex, explaining divergent moves like Oracle being punished while Alphabet's debt market stayed calm.
- Ben cites CDS spreads and bond issuance as signals investors use to judge sustainability.
Today's AI Build Out Is Smaller Than Dot Com By Revenue Share
- This AI infrastructure build-out is not as extreme as the dot‑com era when capex far outpaced revenue; hyperscalers' 2025 capex was about 25% of revenue.
- Ben compares historical infrastructure booms (railroads, dot‑com) to show today's spend is lower proportionally and revenue opportunities are broader.