Co-Head of Quality Ninety One · 2020-06-04 · Co-Head of Quality, Ninety One and Richard...
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Square Mile Talking With To read more Talking Withs visit squaremileresearch.com/Insights//Talking-At-Home-With HOW ARE YOU ADAPTING TO THE CURRENT CLIMATE? I’m still seeing clients – just on video. I’ve just finished a virtual tour of all our Scottish clients in the Fund. It’s been much easier to get hold of chief executives since lockdown. Booking in a next- day call would normally be unheard of - at the moment it’s do-able. As a team we make sure we have no meetings for the same two hours in the morning, so everyone is contactable straight away. WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO THE UK ALPHA FUND SINCE THE CRISIS? We have bought lots of new stocks that have been on the bench for a while. These include Ascential (a media company) and SSP (the operator of food and drink outlets at airports and stations), Hargreaves Lansdown and Next. We have also added to existing holdings that have been directly impacted by the coronavirus, such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Ryanair. We believe that these businesses will emerge much stronger. How have we paid for this? By taking profits from holdings that performed well. Stocks including Tesco and Unilever and British American Tobacco have been taken back to their original positions. While we’ve added more risk to the portfolio with the new positions, none of them are in the top ten holdings. Our largest weightings in the fund are still globally diversified, typically cash generative, defensive names such as the London Stock Exchange and Tesco. WHAT’S THE HEADLINE YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT? ‘Covid-19 inoculation available’. WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED WORKING REMOTELY? Managing home life during the working day can be tough. My two-year old son regularly bursts into the room during calls. You just have to go with the flow and remember many others are in the same boat. As a team we are missing the interaction of being in the office. On Friday afternoons we have a social team call. We have also developed the Fortnightly Profit – our very own team online newspaper. There’s industry news as well as team updates such as births and engagements - and a quiz. I do the recipe column. WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE STOCK MARKET? The economy will take far longer to recover than people think because banks, corporates and the Government need to be rebuild balance sheets. The OBR and the Bank of England’s predictions of a short recession that will recover by the end of 2021 is astonishing – they’re living in cloud cuckoo land. One positive is that we don’t have a banking crisis. The science is also a factor. Much is dependant on whether we find a vaccine and if people can contract coronavirus a second time. We’ve never seen a situation quite like this, where the economy is so dependent on politicians and scientists. With the Bank of England funding 100% of government issuance, we are on the edge of what is acceptable monetary policy. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BE IN FUND MANAGEMENT OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS? Holding the confidence of those who place their life savings with us. This is a time when we can really demonstrate the importance of active management. I wrote to my team at the beginning of the crisis to explain that this was a time that would define their career. WHAT IS YOUR TOP TIP FOR WORKING FROM HOME? If you plan to exercise, do it first thing in the morning or you’ll never do it. Talking recycling capital and exercise at home with Simon Brazier, Co-Head of Quality, Ninety One and Richard Romer-Lee, Managing Director, Square Mile Simon Brazier Co-Head of Quality Ninety One June 2020 – 012
Transcript of Co-Head of Quality Ninety One · 2020-06-04 · Co-Head of Quality, Ninety One and Richard...
Square Mile Talking With
To read more Talking Withs visit squaremileresearch.com/Insights//Talking-At-Home-With
HOW ARE YOU ADAPTING TO THE CURRENT CLIMATE?I’m still seeing clients – just on video. I’ve just finished a virtual tour of all our Scottish clients in the Fund. It’s been much easier to get hold of chief executives since lockdown. Booking in a next-day call would normally be unheard of - at the moment it’s do-able. As a team we make sure we have no meetings for the same two hours in the morning, so everyone is contactable straight away.
WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO THE UK ALPHA FUND SINCE THE CRISIS?We have bought lots of new stocks that have been on the bench for a while. These include Ascential (a media company) and SSP (the operator of food and drink outlets at airports and stations), Hargreaves Lansdown and Next. We have also added to existing holdings that have been directly impacted by the coronavirus, such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Ryanair. We believe that these businesses will emerge much stronger. How have we paid for this? By taking profits from holdings that performed well. Stocks including Tesco and Unilever and British American Tobacco have been taken back to their original positions. While we’ve added more risk to the portfolio with the new positions, none of them are in the top ten holdings. Our largest weightings in the fund are still globally diversified, typically cash generative, defensive names such as the London Stock Exchange and Tesco.
WHAT’S THE HEADLINE YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT? ‘Covid-19 inoculation available’.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED WORKING REMOTELY?Managing home life during the working day can be tough. My two-year old son regularly bursts into the room during calls. You just have to go with the flow and remember many others are in the
same boat. As a team we are missing the interaction of being in the office. On Friday afternoons we have a social team call.
We have also developed the Fortnightly Profit – our very own team online newspaper. There’s industry news as well as team
updates such as births and engagements - and a quiz. I do the recipe column.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE STOCK MARKET? The economy will take far longer to recover than people think because banks, corporates and the Government need to be rebuild balance sheets. The OBR and the Bank of England’s predictions of a short recession that will recover by the end of 2021 is astonishing – they’re living in cloud cuckoo land. One positive is that we don’t have a banking crisis. The science is also a factor. Much is dependant on whether we find a vaccine and if people can contract coronavirus a second time. We’ve never seen a situation quite like this, where the economy is so dependent on politicians and scientists. With the Bank of England funding 100% of government issuance, we are on the edge of what is acceptable monetary policy.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BE IN FUND MANAGEMENT OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?Holding the confidence of those who place their life savings with us. This is a time when we can really demonstrate the importance of active management. I wrote to my team at the beginning of the crisis to explain that this was a time that would define their career.
WHAT IS YOUR TOP TIP FOR WORKING FROM HOME?If you plan to exercise, do it first thing in the morning or you’ll never do it.
Talking recycling capital and exercise at home with Simon Brazier, Co-Head of Quality, Ninety One and Richard Romer-Lee, Managing Director, Square Mile
Simon BrazierCo-Head of Quality Ninety One
June 2020 – 012
