HOW ARE YOU ADAPTING YOUR BUSINESS TO THE WHERE ARE … · place again in the market like it used...
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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 YOUR BUSINESS TO THE CURRENT CLIMATE? Our contact with companies has remained very strong. This situation is a fast moving picture and trading outlooks are changing very rapidly - we need to keep abreast of that. Everyone here is going the extra mile. We have a virtual morning meeting with the whole team discussing company results, changes of view, dealing activity and any sales and marketing news. It’s good to see each other on video calls, but there’s no substitute for working together in the same place. Tracking down people in a hurry can be difficult and I’m getting a little fed up of being stuck at home. I can walk to work, which is fortunate for when we do start back at the office. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BE IN FUND MANAGEMENT OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS? Reaching clients and maintaining their trust. Active managers must demonstrate superiority in the face of the onslaught of passive investing. We must also deal with ESG in a meaningful way. It is clearly what investors want. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR SMALL-CAPS? Smaller firms lead markets out of the downturns. For asset allocators thinking of moving out of large caps, now is a good time to come down the size spectrum and introduce slightly riskier but higher return stocks and funds into a portfolio. Plenty of smaller firms can benefit from this current stage of the economic cycle. Our largest holding is Games Workshop, the “Warhammer” tabletop hobby/war-gaming company. This Nottingham based vertically integrated global business has very effectively harnessed the internet to build a worldwide market position. WHERE ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NEW GLOBAL MID-CAP FUND WITH CO-MANAGER ANJLI SHAH? Mid-caps can give you some of the better long-term returns characteristics of small caps but with less risk. All stocks are derived from our stock selection matrix which covers the whole mid cap universe. We don’t have any energy or mining stocks. Oil will never have its place again in the market like it used to. We like online retailers that are benefitting from changes to retail patterns, such as UK-based BooHoo and US-listed Lululemon Athletica. We also like market research companies that have become absolutely vital to their end market. We hold three including MSCI which provides a huge amount of information for asset managers and is at the forefront of ESG analysis. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR WORKING FROM HOME? Get a decent computer to work from with a great big screen. I’m using a laptop and it’s doing my head in. Exercise keeps the mind fresh. DO YOU THINK THIS EXPERIENCE CHANGES OUR INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER IN ANY WAY? It’s been helpful for people who require more flexibility in their working life. ASI previously allowed one day a week from home but that’s likely to be more in the future. Talking small caps, mid caps and laptop woes at home with Harry Nimmo of Aberdeen Standard Investments and Richard Romer-Lee, Managing Director at Square Mile. Harry Nimmo Aberdeen Standard Investments June 2020 – 018 WHAT’S THE HEADLINE YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT? ‘Active managers at the forefront of recovery’. The London Stock Exchange through “active” asset management is fulfilling an important function of allocating capital to companies through share placings selectively to help businesses through these hard times and take advantage of opportunities. Passive managers and investing through ETFs does not fulfil this function. Also CCFF debt and tax holidays still have to be paid back while equity does not. Our economy would be in a right mess without active fund management as the current economic crisis demonstrates.
Transcript of HOW ARE YOU ADAPTING YOUR BUSINESS TO THE WHERE ARE … · place again in the market like it used...
Square Mile Talking With
To read more Talking Withs visit squaremileresearch.com/Insights//Talking-At-Home-With
HOW ARE YOU ADAPTING YOUR BUSINESS TO THE CURRENT CLIMATE?Our contact with companies has remained very strong. This situation is a fast moving picture and trading outlooks are changing very rapidly - we need to keep abreast of that. Everyone here is going the extra mile. We have a virtual morning meeting with the whole team discussing company results, changes of view, dealing activity and any sales and marketing news. It’s good to see each other on video calls, but there’s no substitute for working together in the same place. Tracking down people in a hurry can be difficult and I’m getting a little fed up of being stuck at home. I can walk to work, which is fortunate for when we do start back at the office.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BE IN FUND MANAGEMENT OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?Reaching clients and maintaining their trust. Active managers must demonstrate superiority in the face of the onslaught of passive investing. We must also deal with ESG in a meaningful way. It is clearly what investors want.
WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR SMALL-CAPS?Smaller firms lead markets out of the downturns. For asset allocators thinking of moving out of large caps, now is a good time to come down the size spectrum and introduce slightly riskier but higher return stocks and funds into a portfolio. Plenty of smaller firms can benefit from this current stage of the economic cycle. Our largest holding is Games Workshop, the “Warhammer” tabletop hobby/war-gaming company. This Nottingham based vertically integrated global business has very effectively harnessed the internet to build a worldwide market position.
WHERE ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NEW GLOBAL MID-CAP FUND WITH CO-MANAGER ANJLI SHAH?Mid-caps can give you some of the better long-term returns characteristics of small caps but with less risk. All stocks are derived from our stock selection matrix which covers the whole mid cap universe. We don’t have any energy or mining stocks. Oil will never have its place again in the market like it used to. We like online
retailers that are benefitting from changes to retail patterns, such as UK-based BooHoo and US-listed Lululemon Athletica. We also like market research companies that have become absolutely vital to their end market. We hold three including MSCI which
provides a huge amount of information for asset managers and is at the forefront of ESG analysis.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR WORKING FROM HOME?Get a decent computer to work from with a great big screen. I’m using a laptop and it’s doing my head in. Exercise keeps the mind fresh.
DO YOU THINK THIS EXPERIENCE CHANGES OUR INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER IN ANY WAY?It’s been helpful for people who require more flexibility in their working life. ASI previously allowed one day a week
from home but that’s likely to be more in the future.
Talking small caps, mid caps and laptop woes at home with Harry Nimmo of Aberdeen Standard Investments and Richard Romer-Lee, Managing Director at Square Mile.
Harry Nimmo Aberdeen Standard Investments
June 2020 – 018
WHAT’S THE HEADLINE YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT? ‘Active managers at the forefront of recovery’. The London Stock Exchange through “active” asset management is fulfilling an important function of allocating capital to companies through share placings
selectively to help businesses through these hard times and take advantage of
opportunities. Passive managers and investing through ETFs does not fulfil this function. Also CCFF debt and tax holidays still have to be paid back while equity does not. Our economy would be in a right mess
without active fund management as the current economic crisis demonstrates.
