John Hempton on hotspots for fraudsters

Q: I hear you have a database of dodgy people, listing their actions and associations.  How helpful is this for a short seller?

A: Our database is enormously helpful.

There are also certain hotspots for bad people.  The biggest hotspot is Vancouver, then Toronto.  In the U.S., there's Salt Lake City and Boca Raton.  In Australia, there's Perth and the Gold Coast, in that order.  In the UK there's the AIM market and in Hong Kong there's all sorts.

They all have a reason.

~ John Hempton, "Crisis Talk: John Hempton, CIO of Bronte Capital: 'good things happen to bad people'," GlobalCapital, June 12, 2020

John Hempton on risk management and position sizing

The size of the position has to be determined by what you can lose because it's the fat ugly tails that kill you in this business.  It's not that I don't like to win.  It's that I hate losing.  "Hate losing" is necessary for survival.  I do like to win.  Believe me, I like to win.  The business is built around taking care of the losses.

~ John Hempton, interview, HedgeD, With A Capital "D", March 22, 2023