Chris Stott says he found his mind constantly drifting back to markets during a gap year spent on overseas adventures ranging from the mud, heat and humidity of the Kokoda Track to an Ashes Test at Lord’s in 2019.

The fund manager, who made his name over 12 years at Wilson Asset Management from 2006 to 2018, says lots of options were on the table after Wilson, but the pull of markets was too strong to resist.