Sharing my questions i sent to wilsons for this weeks Q&A session
Question 1.
Is it possible for Wilson Funds to provide more regular estimated updates onthe NTA, the current monthly with a 2 week lag to report in my view is makingpeople panic and sell. i spend time each week modeling the approx. nta by usingup to 6 week old top 20.
Question 2.
During the weekly update from the portfolio managers which is great givingweekly movement in benchmarks, but it would be extra useful if in brackets theMTD movement of those benchmarks is also provided weekly so that there is agood reference to the previous monthly nta valuation.
Question 3. (for WGB)
On 18th March i received an excellent email update (extract below) from MGG ,for which i have a small holding. It was very informative and concise on whatactions had been taken by the portfolio manager across the whole portfolio. Iknow Catriona covered examples of the themes at the recent Investor update andsome travel related positions she had sold out of or reduced, but it would begood to see what her current themes and positions are and what changes tothemes have occurred in the last 2 weeks since corona virus became a biggerevent than expected, even some of the not so favourable decisions i understandall of the investments are not favorable.
I calculated the WGB NTA at approx.$2.15 on 29th March, if it is below this number it would be good to indicatewhich areas of the portfolio are weighing the unit price down.
" EXample from Magellan:
We believe the Global Equityportfolio is well positioned to weather this situation.
Our portfolio has numerousadvantages. These include:
• Cash at approximately 15% (held in US dollars).
• Meaningful investments in businesses that are likely to prove resilientin this environment such as the three US utilities (Eversource Energy, XcelEnergy and WEC Energy), the US-based telecom-infrastructure company CrownCastle International, three consumer staples (Nestlé, RB and PepsiCo) and theSwiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis International.
• Most of our major technology investments are likely to be resilient inthis environment (including Microsoft, SAP of Germany, and China’s Alibaba andTencent).
• Our technology investments with more cyclical exposure (Alphabet, Appleand Facebook) are very well positioned to weather any downturn due to theirfinancial strength and are likely to participate strongly in any recovery. Visaand Mastercard are similarly positioned.
• Our luxury holdings (LVMH of France and Estée Lauder of the US) own someof the world’s strongest brands, have solid balance sheets and benefit fromsourcing about one third of sales from Chinese consumers. We think China is oneof the best-placed economies to recover from this situation, which will alsobenefit Alibaba and Tencent.
• Our three restaurant companies (McDonalds, Starbucks and Yum! Brands)face a challenging demand situation over the next two to six months as theworld shuts down. Post this slump in demand, however, these businesses shouldrecover strongly and prove defensive in the face of an economic downturn.Needless to say, we are monitoring these investments closely given the unusualnature of this situation, which will severely impact their businesses over thenext two to six months. We remain of the view that these are some of the bestbusinesses in the world and they are likely to rebound when the virus passes.We note that each of them has a strong drive-through business that is likely toremain open.
• Our portfolio holds few or no investments across industries that are themost vulnerable to this crisis. The portfolio does not hold any banks, energycompanies, airlines, travel-related companies or property trusts. The portfoliohas no direct exposure to emerging markets, other than China. Our indirectexposure to other emerging countries is modest.
This is a complex, fast-moving andunprecedented situation and we will continue to manage the portfolio to protectthe capital of investors. We believe the portfolio is well positioned to dothis.
We will keep you informed as thesituation evolves. "
Question 4. (for WLE)
At the recent investor update Mathew seemed to be not as comfortable as heusually is, probably because of the major downturn on share prices, usually hegives a very good update on his current themes but didnt cover this at therecent update with much confidence(he must have clear themes @ 88% invested) soit would be good if he could cover his themes also similar to WGB.
Question 5
Can you give the current Cash weighting and estimated nta for wgb and wle.
(20min delay)