Senetas (SEN).An ex politician (Liberal or Labor) -- is not...

Senetas (SEN).

An ex politician (Liberal or Labor) -- is not usually-- history shows-- a good reference ....for a Chairmanship ....of any "supposed" significant listed company looking to prove itself as a true-- .... 'up and commer.... in the mid tier ranks of the ASX Industrials.

Why do I say this... (and this is not aspersion; on Mr. Stockdale (who is probably a fine upstanding citizen etc etc etc.....)-- one way or the other--individually-- ...-- it is ratehr a comment on waht it takes to Lead a Growth mid sized Company...successfully ...


Politicans are ....not -- repeat NOT-- the same.... as people who have built a business from scratch and driven a team of executives....sucessfully and compted and won consistently in global businesses...

And that is why ....bureacratic pollies.... rarely make excellent leaders, strategists,passionate competitors in business, or strategically superior executives...

Instead, it has been my observation, that pollies, often take cushy Board Jobs-- and basically-- keep a LOW Profile and toe the company line....of the Larger Puppet Masters-- who are ....often..... it seems, the larger private Investors behind them who really... ahem... seem to ...."pull their strings"....

--Pollies, are usually not: the 'x factor" Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Eddy Groves(ABC Child Care) , Harold Mitchell (Emitch) , Ross Neumann/Michael Perrot--Port Bouvard), Richard Branson, Kerry Packer, Gerry Harvey, Sahba Abedian (Sunland) --etc, etc-- Passionate to Succeedwith the requisite corporate experience-- and entrepreneurial personality Types-- in Growing the Enterprise-- "fire in the belly-- strategically adapt-- proven Businesmen -- who out-perform-- and create Economic Intrinsic Value and allocate capital with finesse and ingenuity-- for YOU-- the Share--Holder ...--

That is not what being a 'polly'... is//or was... ever ....ever.... about.....

A Chairman and CEO team need to have a Proven ability to Lead and Drive and Communicate...

Emphasis on the word..."proven" .

It is about; imo, the business and entrepreneurial experience of driving the net consistent EARNINGS and Efficiency in the allocation of YOUR Capital.... and the Leadership of a entrepreneurial Sales Driven and commercial operation; which is to what I refer--

Again I repeat; this is very different from the wheeling and dealing of Party Rooms and number crunching..which is a pollies forte.......

....What is running a Business...really about...?

Peter Drucker said business is about Leadership and execution of Strategy , engaging honestly and inspiringly and upliftingly and HONESTLY and ETHICALLY-- with all stakeholders, and Customers-- with Innovation and very competitive and clever Marketing....

Buffett says 'business leadership' is about those above things too, and also emphasizes -- eliciting of Trust, Liking and admiring .... -- someone who people can put thier money with, and thier work lives with, and their customer with-- gets back to the TRUST word...-- This is also waht Ray Kroc--founder of Mc Donalds said-- it is about trust and total implict confidence of the shareholders--employees an customers... Kroc (who was an Amercian business legend) said, when you have lost that simple Trust--and Reputation for Honest and Plain business Dealings-- ...you have ... Nothing...

So tehn;.... Who do YOU guys TRUST, ADMIRE, and LIKE... as Business leaders....with whom you enTRUST your money.... ??

Buffett goes on to say that investing and working with business management-- of the deceitful type-- who cause your stomach to churn-- people for whom their actions and not their words attest to their primary motive and fact of duplicity, greed, selfishness and lack of transparency-- is absolute investment madness..... (see Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Report -- 1986.) .

....Question :-- How many State local Politicians have over the last ten-twenty-- years--??-- proven to be truly inspiring fantastic and great Business Top Leaders in Management...??

An organizational psychologist could possibly tell you why....this is so....

... The best people to run Business are usually very very Successful-- Owner/Managers--

Who still think .....like Owner Managers-- and who by retaining their own shares-- and not ever having -- "in the money Appendix 3B Options granted gratis..."-- with the shareholders scarce capital.... as their way of demonstrating THEIR Long Term Genuine commitment... and trust with shareholders precious funds....

Know a man not by what others say... or they say, or even what folk on a forum say....

Instead; Know the men who run Senetas-- by what they have done, waht they do, and have done, and by specifically their actions... and inactions....

That is the test...


Then simply.... ask yourself.... , do I truly Trust them...do they inspire me with CONFIDENCE-- with..... my.... hard won money.... with my hard won scarce investment capital....??

If the answer.... in your heart of hearts.... is factually " yes" ... then that is a Company worth considering... possibly...

alongside the future likely Return on Equity (ROE) and future net profits performance ....and ALSO...

whether they have a recent history of: over promising and under delivering; or under promising and over delivering ....???

-- Again judge not by the words of me or other forum viewpoints...

-Jusge by the facts, and what they do with YOUR money-- and have done. --with YOUR money .

Ask the questions; and then, be totally candid, detached and above all , HONEST.

In other words, in your considered view, Does Senetas(SEN) Management, ... in your balanced view points--??-- have a track record of:

Confident humility, good communications, honesty, and transparency ....and above all-- FAIR and EQUITABLE dealing ....with its owners--(the (SEN) shareholders)--??--and with their MONEY....of which they are moral and ethical or otherwise ....custodians...

And also; do they demonstrate and evidence this; ....with their Recent consistent track record of either:

(a) over promising (on Profit Forecasts and future Key Corporate Developments)-- and under delivering...

or (b) The much better guide to good ethical performance and corporate good governance, and good business like management ...in my view, namely:

Under promising .... and ... THEN ....quietly over delivering by their actions and deeds, ... not their words.......???

(c) So then; ....also....Which one of the above choices; do you think...??-- the 'big end of town', is impressed or otherwise with...??-- This btw will also effect credibility down the track....

.....This is simply; what Warren Buffett calls being .... :-- "Reliable, trustworthy and totally Business Like"....

Buffett goes .....
on and on.... on and on ....about How critically important .....these aspects..... are to him and Mr Charles Munger ....his Partner at Berkshire Hathaway-- when he appraises ....whether to invest or not...... in a listed ....or privately held company.....

Being "Business Like" --btw-- is what Ben Graham ....(Buffett's Mentor and teacher) .... said ....was (in Graham's & Buffett's view is probably-- alongside "margin of safety"--- one of the most important factors to consider....and is actually ... in the final analysis -- a very unsentimental.... and rather objective attribute.

Being .... "business like" .... simply means being :

(1) straight forward,

(2) delivering effectively and efficiently and productively-- on all what you state and promise --

(3) and doing so ....on time, and on budget, and puntually -- and being effective and efficient and fair to shareholders-- who are, the ultimate co. owners-- in all their dealings ....

(4) and again-- treating the owners/all shareholders-- of the corporation (in this case Senetas)... with all the ....total dignity and respect and dedication which they morally, ethically and sensibly deserve) ......

..... That simple.

Again... if that is... in your view, your honest ....and truly honest-- view ----of your own genuine Senetas investment experience..... then excellent.... all is indeed,..... very good.

Finally ..... the other mentor which Warren Buffett refers to publicly quite often; was of course; Mr Phillip Fisher.

Fisher was famous for the Famous Fisher 15 points -- where there is again; a lot of emphasis on:-- quality and integrity and ability of management.

I re - print:-- Phillip Fisher's excellent 15 points below.....

Again ask YOUSELVES-- , are YOU at ease, and calm and comfortable with Senetas .....against this criteria-- and also-- more importantly--will also, larger Institutional and Superannuation Investors be as well, when they consider ....whether or not ....they like and trust & be Confident with... this firm.......??

Just ask yourself the questions...

Again; I do not state the answers -- you need simply to do that yourselves-- ..... possibly ....consider your honest answer however........to the points below...??

So consider the timeless... Fisher 15 points below....

Phil Fisher’s very excellent:

15 Points, to Look for, in a Common Stock .......

1. Does the company have products or services with sufficient market potential to make possible a sizeable increase in sales for at least several years?

2. Does the management have a determination to continue to develop products or processes that will still further increase total sales potentials when the growth potentials of currently attractive product lines have largely been exploited?

3. How effective are the company's research and development efforts in relation to its size?

4. Does the company have an above-average sales organization?

5. Does the company have a worthwhile profit margin?

6. What is the company doing to maintain or improve profit margins?

7. Does the company have outstanding labor and personnel relations?

8. Does the company have outstanding executive relations?

9. Does the company have depth to its management?

10. How good are the company's cost analysis and accounting controls?

11. Are there other aspects of the business, somewhat peculiar to the industry involved, which will give the investor important clues as to how outstanding the company will be in relation to its competition?

12. Does the company have a short-range or long-range outlook in regard to profits?

13. In the foreseeable future, will the growth of the company require sufficient equity financing so that the larger number of shares then outstanding will largely cancel the existing stockholders' benefit from this anticipated growth?

14. Does the management talk freely to investors about its affairs when things are going well but "clam up" when troubles or disappointments occur?

15. Does the company have a management of unquestionable integrity?
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Interestingly, Buffett often put especial emphasis on Fisher's points numbers...

.....(8), (9) (13), (14) and (15)....

To review these specific excellent points....

8. Does the company have outstanding executive relations?

9. Does the company have depth and talent to its management?

13. In the foreseeable future, will the growth of the company...... require sufficient equity financing .....so that the larger number of shares then outstanding ......will largely cancel the existing stockholders' benefit from this anticipated growth.....?

14. Does the management talk freely to investors about its affairs when things are going well but "clam up" when troubles or disappointments occur?

15. Does the company have a management of unquestionable integrity?
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So Buffett says; that Intelligent Margin of Safety and Intrinsic Safe and "sleep at night"-- Value Investing .... is really quite simple--

You, ....just ask the right questions--and answer truthfully and honestly-- and ... by definition-- say:-- "no thank-you"-- most times-- and when you can honestly rarely find yourself-- saying "yes" -- investing with confidence......for the long term...

... Just some Food for thought...

Kindest Regards,

Robbo.
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