Nigel said:
Essence of our mandate offering
“There are times when the burden of taking other people’s money forces you to be active when you don’t really have conviction. Its gives a sense of pressure and expectation. When it’s your own money you don’t have to do anything.” (Tony James, President of Blackstone, commenting on Stanley Druckenmiller’s decision to wind up his hedge fund. As reported in The Financial Times).
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Miles said:
Outliers … #2
If you live in NSW undoubtedly you will have noticed the impressive roller doors and shutters that have been erected through retail outlets statewide covering the display of cigarettes. These structures are evident in service stations, convenience stores, supermarkets and paper stands. I wasn’t conscious of what a privileged place cigarettes held in a retail shop layout, I presumed there were kept behind the counter to stop theft and reduce the risk of sales to minors, but now they are obscured I am finding myself increasingly aware of what a terrific position they held – well organised, central to view, located in a consistent position… oh yes and someone there to serve them to you.
The initiative to cover cigarettes is disarmingly simple but I suspect it may prove highly effective. I am not sure if there is a direct investment angle from this change – all that has come to mind so far is you would love the display space (and server) if you could somehow replace where cigarettes are currently located with your product and someone has also made good money from making and fitting the doors and shutters.
The post was prompted by this article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald. More detail on the restrictions and time frame placed on retailers can be found here link and a picture of what we are referring to is here. NSW Counter
We thought this initiative was something that is interesting and unique occurring locally … essentially all that prompted the post.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Miles said:
Interference Discount:
We wrote a couple of posts in February on this issue and concluded that we would maintain a register of where we are seeing meaningful grass roots investment. The following announcement from CSL seems positive in this regard. 330+ highly skilled medical research positions based in Melbourne focused on researching “cancer, bleeding disorders, inflammation and infection” …. sounds good to us.
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Nigel said:
We’re born like that
A couple of weeks ago I saw a notice in the newspaper titled “We’re born like that”. It was from The University of Adelaide promoting a lecture by a staff member. Last night I attended the lecture. It described some research that shows males and females approach risk taking differently even in utero.
The research shows that the human fetus is able to deliberately slow and modify its development in response to a stressful or sub-optimal environment. This increases its chance of survival. However, only female fetuses use this ability. Males instead attempt to continue to grow at their normal rate, which places them at greater risk in event of further complications. In essense, males are happy to “roll the dice”, while females are about trying to survive.
As an organisation that weighs risk and return everyday, we found this interesting. It also highlighted the high quality of research being undertaken in Australian academic institutions.
Miles said:
Fund Update
Fund Positioning 01_09_2010
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010