Arthur Phillip's pair take many chairs in February 03, 2009...

Arthur Phillip's pair take many chairs in February 03, 2009

PICKING up the odd director's chair gig has proven quite a boon for Arthur Phillip, the little boutique investment house run by Richard Poole and Paul Page.

Between them, the prolific pair has racked up board seats at no fewer than eight publicly listed companies over the past three years, including the sinking ship Strathfield Group, which Poole abandoned last month.

If one puts aside the bundle of effectively worthless Strathfield scrip that Arthur Phillip has been left holding, the firm has done all right out the electronics and mobile phone retailer in recent years, picking up consultancy fees of $30,000 last financial year and a combined $110,000 in 2006 and 2007.

No doubt there are more juicy fees to come, given Poole temporarily stepped aside from his role as Strathfield chairman last year while Arthur Phillip was advising the company on a reverse takeover that delivered 70 per cent of its shares to a Swedish group associated with telco entrepreneur Tony Hakim.

Arthur Phillip also provides its services to Stirling Resources, where both Poole and Page are on the board and its own name appears on the share register.

Stirling -- which used to be known as Alexander Securities but is eyeing off the mining game after the recruitment of former Consolidated Minerals boss Michael Kiernan -- has paid $240,000 in fees to Arthur Phillip since 2006.

In fact, the company's needs have been so great that the trusty adviser has been unable to service them all on its own. Fortunately Brovest, another company run by Poole and Page, was able to step in to provide additional consultancy services, at a cost of $72,000.

Meanwhile, a busy few years over at Australian Power & Gas, where Poole is a non-executive director, has also boosted the Arthur Phillip kitty.

A long-standing advisory agreement between the two companies saw Arthur Phillip pocket $635,000 in 2008, $1.6 million in 2007 and $120,000 the year before.

It can also look forward to a further $144,000 underwriting fee for flogging convertible notes to sophisticated investors in recent months.

Adavale Resources and Real Brand Holdings (RBH) are another two companies with Arthur Phillip in the boardroom, on the payroll and on the share register.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24999308-5018140,00.html