Waverton Investment Management Limited representatives visited Malta, upon the invitation of BOV Asset Management Limited.
The representatives from Waverton delivered several presentations to financial services practitioners, many of whom are deployed across Bank of Valletta's Investment Centres, along with others from local stockbroking firms, BOV Asset Management and BOV Wealth Management.
Waverton Investment Management Limited is the sub-investment manager for the Vilhena Global Themed Fund, Vilhena Global Balanced Multi-Manager, Vilhena Far East Opportunities Fund and the Vilhena European Multi-Manager Fund.
Waverton is an independently-owned managed investment house manages €5.6bn in assets for institutions, private clients and charities. Their investment methodology is based on a high conviction approach to active investment, having more than 100 permanent employees, 39 of whom are investment professionals across regional and asset class specialists, with an average investment experience of 20 years.
The visit started off with a breakfast meeting that was addressed by Jonno Ross, Business Development Executive at Waverton. He gave an overview of the company's setup, its history and the investment methodology applied.
Katrina Norris, Fund Manager for the Vilhena Global Themed Fund, is the Head Equities at Waverton. She has more than 24 years' experience in this field and has been awarded the Fund Manager of the Year at the Women in Investment Awards in 2017. Ms Norris explained in detail the idea generation approach at Waverton, saying that, "when investing in a particular equity, we look for sustainable competitive advantage, opportunities to grow future cashflow, a value enhancing management strategy by the company and an attractive valuation in relation to opportunity and risk." Katrina also noted that Waverton holds more than 1,000 company meetings on an annual basis.
The third speaker was William Hanbury, Fund Manager for the Vilhena Far East Opportunities Fund, who spoke about the potential of Asian markets in general. In his introduction, he explained why Asia is so important in today's markets. He stated that "GDP in Asian countries is catching up with the West, and the region continuous to offer advantageous demographics, while becoming a less cyclical market than before." Mr Hanbury continued saying, "when looking for equity positions within the region we look for quality and value while controlling risk in the portfolio."
Mr Hanbury went on to outline the four risks within any equity investment that they focus on. The first is multiple risk where they compare the company's valuation with its long-term history. Earning risk entails the understanding of the quality of a business, whilst credit risk refers to the risk of defaulting given adverse moves or changes. Finally, there is the corporate governance risk, where the director's dealing is monitored.
Mark Agius, Executive Head BOV Asset Management, closed the meeting by thanking Waverton for their support and emphasising on the importance for local investors to diversify their investments from the traditional bond holdings to growth-oriented assets within their portfolios.