Stockumentary II

Investing' in the Free World

Chapters:

• 1/10 Argonaut Investment Principles

Behold!

A new Argonaut Stockumentary focusing on our investment principles, formed in over two decades of investing, where what has worked in markets has been subject to change.

• 2/10 The Capital Cycle
Just when a type of investment has recently proven successful and subsequently converted general opinion to its superiority, it suddenly stops working, producing spectacularly poor results. This is the capital cycle trap, which rewards contrarianism

• 3/10 Growth or Value?
It is not terribly difficult to identify good or cheap companies. It requires skill to know when those attributes will be rewarded. We believe not in the inherent superiority of growth or value but that corporate profits move share prices.

• 4/10 Simple, but not easy
Our process is based on simple principles, but identifying future profit trends is not easy Success requires a combination of stock-picker, economist, risk manager All investors are macro investors: but only some of us are conscious of the fact

• 5/10 Double Alpha
Fund buyers have plentiful choices. They can buy market beta through passive funds or traditional long only funds which generally deliver positive returns at the same time as the market. We offer a third choice, which is “double alpha”

• 6/10 Shorting
The fund hedges its market risk through shorting stocks it doesn’t like. We examine the characteristics we look for in shorts: Frauds, Over-priced Growth, Value traps. Short selling also plays a vital role in making the stock market more honest.

• 7/10 Risk
Risk is often always viewed as undesirable. But without risk, active management is condemned to perpetual mediocrity. Good risk management is therefore about assessing what constitutes appropriate risk.

• 8/10 ESG
Are you uncomfortable that ESG has lost perspective and democratic accountability? We don’t believe in imposing political views on companies We are also sceptical that the ESG movement has had any measurable positive impact on corporate governance

• 9/10 Value for money
Lower cost in any product in any industry does not necessarily mean better value for money. All costs are always included in the fund price. The real question for active management is whether the return profile of actively managed funds differs enough from passive funds to justify a premium.

• 10/10 Actual Active Investment
Just selecting "forever" stocks and then being asleep at the wheel when the macro environment changes is a recipe for disaster We are not a theme ETF : we get paid a fee to actively manage the portfolio Our views and our investments will evolve over time