Agree on all counts. And thanks for the info on HUBconnect and MyProsperity.
Just to clarify, most of the points I made (corporate costs, accounting flat, advice practices etc) were flagged at the AGM. I wasn't coming up with anything original, just making sure you were aware of what was presented. Presso here:
https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20211118/pdf/4533tjkvmln2qs.pdfI probably came across too negative on the capital allocation. Kevin is a thoughtful capital allocator and having him as chairman and a significant shareholder gives me a lot of confidence.
I'm pretty sure they are thinking about investing directly into advice practices. My memory of the AGM was that this was mentioned. And there is a bullet point on page12:
I guess there's an opportunity to buy up a lot of earnings in a highly fragmented market at very low multiples.
I just personally much prefer the training and licensee businesses.
For me the smartest deployment of free cash flow would be:
1/ keep growing the businesses we have organically;
2/ find bolt-on licensee acquisitions to build scale (similar to Paragem); and
3/ buy back shares by tender offer (giving Greg and other large holders liquidity and an exit)
I understand that this is super boring and doesn't make a lot of sense for a listed company as it would worsen the liquidity.
I get that they want to grow the market cap and liquidity. And (as per my previous post) I really like most of the plans for building scale.
Bottom line is I think we have:
* some great businesses
* promising opportunities for organic growth and aquisitions;
* price of less than 10xNPATA
Best opportunity I can see on the ASX.
Thanks your thoughtful posts, you've given me the impetus to have another look at Australian Family Law.
