March 28, 2025

Finding Value in a World of Excess with Vas Piperoglou

Today’s episode is a discussion with a Money of Mine favourite and a true value investor, Vas Piperoglou.


The conversation ranged from the extended valuations in global markets, the implications of heightened Western inflation, the ongoing ramifications of the US’ seizure of Russia assets, the opportunity in gold stocks, the consequences of Australia’s energy policies and much more.


We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.


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(0:00:00)Introduction


(0:02:18)Temperature of broarder market


(0:17:41)Australian opportunities


(0:23:25)Interest rate predictions


(0:26:38)US defecit


(0:33:55)Gold bull market


(0:39:14)When wil the top end?


(0:41:10)Gold M&A review


(0:44:40)Black Cat and Catalyst


(0:47:47)North American gold value


(0:49:00)Energy thematic


(0:55:10)Offshore energy services


(1:02:45)Changing investment philosophies


(1:06:05)Poor governance in Australia


(1:08:11)Podcast, books and newsletter recommendations

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00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,560
Righto Muddy miners, we've got
bloody a repeat guest here, Vas

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Pepper Ogloo.
I think I got that right from

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Colin Collins Street asset
Management mate, the gold the

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00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,000
when we talked to Vas last night
when you talked to him last

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time, JD, they were in
everything early, all these gold

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juniors.
So they're probably bearing some

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00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,600
fruit now.
All those gold juniors, well, we

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00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,160
call them bloody Tim Taylor soon
for ACBE Power Station when they

9
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,000
mature into a producing
operation, they're bloody one

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00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,480
day closer the into.
Turn those hits into into actual

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cold hard cash, mate.
Yeah, it's the.

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It's the logical next step to
take, isn't it, you?

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Need power.
You need power to to produce

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00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:40,520
gold, mate.
Last time I checked, mate, you

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00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:42,440
need independent power.
You need independent power.

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00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,520
Independent power produced by
bloody CBE.

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00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,840
Build, own, operate.
Build own operate what a what an

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innovative solution to fast get
into production and a low cap X.

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Fast IPO these falls.
Oh mate, give Timmy.

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Timmy Taylor's been getting
pulled up at the airport.

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Hi, are you Tim Taylor from CBE?
Twice in one visit I heard.

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00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,000
Give CBEA call.
Right JD mate.

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Quite what a great time they'll
be.

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It would have been a bit cheery
they old vassal Dachan.

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Yeah, I mean, the IT, it was
pretty wild reflecting on the

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discussion I had with him a year
ago.

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Maddie was almost exactly a year
ago and a lot of the things we

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spoke about when I had the chat
earlier this week.

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Were.
Yeah, just how those narratives

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have played out.
So gold, energy, the macro stuff

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like inflation, fighting
deficits and and debt and all

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those sorts of things.
And I listened to the

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conversation that we did earlier
in the morning and then was

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chatting with him before and
obviously throughout the

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discussion about about all these
things.

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And it was yeah.
I mean, full credit to the guys

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at Collin Street and Vast.
It's, it's gone more or less

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kind of how they thought.
But looking forward from where

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we are today, it's, it's very
interesting to, to pick his

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brain apart and understand where
he thinks the opportunities

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still lie.
And yeah, I mean, to be clear

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on, on the gold part, they've,
they've reopened their fund,

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their Special Situations fund as
they set it up as well as a part

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of their flagship fund.
So plenty of opportunities and

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it was great to to pick the the
mind of sort of hardcore value

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investor.
All right, I without further

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ado, let's just get into it.
All right.

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That's I'm super excited to
speak with you again.

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I listened back to our
conversation almost exactly a

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year ago and it is, it's
fascinating to reflect on how

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many of the, the themes have
played out, what the, the

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00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,160
broader macro environment has
done over the past year, whether

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that be inflation, excessive
valuations in, in parts of the

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markets and all these sorts of
things.

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So I thought we'd just start the
conversation by taking taking a

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bit of a temperature on the the
broader market, whether that be

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US, China as well and Australia
and what you're making of the

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the big names across markets.
So I think it's fair to say

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00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,680
whilst there was a, you know, a
little bit of the downturn

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00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,800
recently, I think the Dow fell
10% from peak and it's clawed

61
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,080
back more than half.
You know, some of the larger

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names, let's be honest, across
multiple markets, whether it's

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Australia, the US or anywhere,
to be honest, you know, some of

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the names are still richly
valued.

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And and so, you know, as value
investors, as readers of the

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most recent history and finance,
you know, say the last 50 years,

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you know, some of these numbers
are still pretty elevated.

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And so, you know, one of my,
again, nothing against

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Commonwealth Bank, but I, I, I
usually love to use that as a

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00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:44,400
proxy when Commonwealth PEC is
trading at, I don't know, 2524

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00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,680
times earnings, which I've never
seen that anywhere in history.

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00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,840
Then then it does get to show
that's, you know, the larger

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names in most markets are still
well bid.

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I guess you know, the question
may be why, but but you know,

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the reality is that they're
still pretty well bid.

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00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,440
And then if you go down the
market cap space there, there's

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a huge divergent and I'm finding
that obviously on the ASX, but

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00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,920
also anecdotally in in America
as well.

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So you know, you've got the
small to mids that kind of that

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00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,000
are and you know when they're
out of the indices and you don't

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00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,440
have these Atfs and these
passive funds buying, sometimes

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there is huge asymmetry and
that's just generalizing.

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Obviously we're, we're a pretty
active concentrated value

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investor.
So I am talking my own book.

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But you know, right now at this
point in the cycle, you, you

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know, you would be a brave man
or lady to be passive in my

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00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,800
opinion, in some of the the
larger names that have done

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amazing over the last say 5 to
10 years.

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00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,600
What, what is your view on, on
passive more broadly?

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00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,480
I mean, I'm, I'm so excited
because there's so many

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00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,520
directions we can go with this
conversation.

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00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,320
But passive to what you just
said, there has been such a

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00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:03,080
fundamental driver between of
those valuations, whether that

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00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,560
be NVIDIA Commbank here and you
know, it's, it's a large portion

95
00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,880
of every dollar that's getting
invested these days is, is

96
00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,440
going.
How does that unwind in your

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mind if if it does or where does
it go in 1020 years?

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I mean that's the $1,000,000
question.

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00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:25,280
I guess at the end of the day,
you know, passive can work both

100
00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:27,920
ways, right?
So, so, so yes, in a rising

101
00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,040
market and generally the markets
are rising over the long term,

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it's obviously a benefactory of
the passive flows.

103
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But on the on the flip side,
when you have some

104
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reverberations, it's normally
indiscriminate selling.

105
00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,680
So, so where will it head in the
future?

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I, I actually don't know, but,
but from, from our perspective,

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if you keep it simple, right,
if, if, whether you're talking

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00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,480
pretty much any asset class, you
know, you stick to the margin of

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00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,120
safety, you know, you've got a
valuation and then you have I

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00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,400
guess a threshold of the upside
or the return you want to make

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00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,120
on a specific investment.
And so, you know, the margin of

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safety is just not there in some
of the world bid names.

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You know, Australia is a little
bit unique.

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I'm not sure if we touched it on
the last time, but you know, our

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superannuation sector, you know,
our population is only 2526

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million, yet we have trillions
upon trillions in the Super

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chasing some of these names.
So, you know, I find it as a

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value investor mentally tough,
but but it's something that, you

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know, we're just not going to go
there at this stage in the

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cycle.
But on the flip side, you know,

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things can the pendulum can
swing the other way.

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And, and so, you know, perhaps
the next downturn, if there is a

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00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,400
downturn, if this is the start
of a a market correction that,

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you know, generally happens
every five to 10 years, you

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know, perhaps it's these passive
Atfs or passive investors that

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will cause the opportunity in
some of the larger names.

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But right now today, right now,
it is a wall of money and it

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00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,760
seems to never end.
But it is fascinating.

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00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,760
And you know, in 20 years time,
we'll, we'll look back at

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00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,280
history and say, oh, that was,
that was, that was obvious.

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But yeah, it's, it's one of the
conundrums I believe in modern

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00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,600
day value investing.
To to invert this sort of

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00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,560
question for a moment, you guys
are a boutique money manager

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here and one of almost a, a
dying breed in, in a way in

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00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,760
Australia.
There's been a, a real sort of

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gutting in that way of, of the
market, whether that be moving

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00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,120
to, to passive or pod shops in
in America or all sorts of

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00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,760
various strategies.
Do you think the the money

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00:07:54,760 --> 00:08:00,320
managed in Australia by groups
similar to you is a bigger value

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00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:07,320
in 1020 years or or smaller?
It would be fair to say, I think

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00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,360
look, let's be honest, it's been
pretty difficult for the value

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00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,800
type investors over the last 10
years.

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00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,080
I would like to think it's not
going to be much more than it is

144
00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,520
currently.
I mean one of the hardest parts

145
00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,320
about being a value investor or
successful value investor I

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00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:30,520
should say is, is sometimes it
is a long time between drinks.

147
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,120
And so you know, from our
perspective, look, we're pretty

148
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,280
boutique, we're pretty niche
that we manage probably

149
00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,799
approximately 350 million under
management.

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00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,200
We don't really have much
institutional investors.

151
00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,000
It's just an individual high net
worths.

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00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:49,160
And so we don't have that.
We feel like that rod on our

153
00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,720
back to have, you know, month
in, month out, six monthly

154
00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,160
amazing positive returns is not
there.

155
00:08:55,360 --> 00:09:00,480
And so, you know, I think it
would be hard to do what we did

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00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,440
with an institutional mindset.
And again, I'm just throwing it

157
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,760
out there.
You know, Platinum Asset

158
00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,000
Management used to be known as
one of Australia's most

159
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,360
successful international value
fund managers.

160
00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,680
They've had a pretty tough time
of late.

161
00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,200
And so, you know, there are a
few other large names that have

162
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,280
just struggled from that
institutional type money trying

163
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:29,040
to be value driven, you know,
because of the market and

164
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,120
because of the passive flow.
So, so to answer your question,

165
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:34,800
I don't think it's going to get
easier.

166
00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,880
So I don't think there'll be
much more boutique value guys

167
00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,520
because it is tough.
But you know, at the end of the

168
00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,320
day, eventually when you're
buying reasonable quality

169
00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,160
companies or you pick a right
thematic like gold and you ride,

170
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,440
you ride the various bull
markets.

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00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,600
You know, it does take time and
perseverance.

172
00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,080
The same thing with our uranium
formatic as well.

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00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,320
Yes, we're value investors, but
we're not scared of touching

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00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,080
resources.
You know, when, when we had our

175
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,040
uranium formatic, it was three
years, 3 1/2 years before the

176
00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,680
stocks did anything.
Now, I'm not sure how many

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00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:15,840
institutional type fund managers
are able to hold out for three

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00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:20,280
to 3 1/2 years.
Even had some, some robust

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00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,680
debate with my business partner.
You know, if we got it wrong,

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00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:24,440
what are we doing?
The stocks haven't moved, the

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00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:29,040
spot prices up 35%.
But you know, we, we, we held

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00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,120
through.
So yeah, it's, it's not easy.

183
00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,840
And I suspect, you know, those
that can survive and wait it out

184
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,240
for, for I guess the asymmetry
that they feel is present.

185
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,880
You know the you're well
rewarded, but it is not easy.

186
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:50,800
Yeah.
And perhaps the the opportunity

187
00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,400
lies in the fact that other
institutional managers can't,

188
00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:56,840
can't quite execute on it.
I'm, I'm keen to go back to

189
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,120
broader market dynamics and, and
sort of ask you about

190
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:02,840
excessiveness and sort of
bullishness.

191
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:07,960
It was a massive theme through
21 died sort of momentarily in

192
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:13,000
in the States and here through
2022 and it sort of came back

193
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,640
and came back quite strongly in
particular parts of the market

194
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,680
last year.
Where, Where do you kind of if

195
00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,840
you were to take the temperature
on fear and greed, or however

196
00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,040
you might term it, where do you
think we are?

197
00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:34,280
I think and I'm generalizing, I
think today markets and opinions

198
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:40,080
and the temperature move a lot
quicker, OK, So very bifurcated

199
00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,680
and it can move in and out on on
any given week.

200
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:49,240
And so if we hone in on specific
sectors, I think I could be

201
00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:56,880
wrong, but I think we're we're
over the peak AI from a

202
00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:03,200
valuation perspective.
Again, we never went long AI

203
00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,120
names.
We never went short AI names.

204
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,880
But if I'm, you know, trying to
hone in on different markets, I

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00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,640
think we're at peak AI it.
Didn't really strike me as your

206
00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:16,000
type of investment.
No, but but the irony about AI

207
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,160
is I think it's an amazing
technology and I think, you

208
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,800
know, it will be, you know,
those that can capture it will,

209
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,080
will be years ahead, you know,
2345 years ahead from an

210
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,360
efficiency perspective.
But actually, I, I've yet to see

211
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,000
apart from NVIDIA, I don't know
anyone else that's actually

212
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,320
making money.
So if you can find out, please

213
00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,080
tell me that's directly making
money from AI that I don't think

214
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:38,960
the business models really have
been working out.

215
00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:44,240
So, so that's that market.
On the flip side, if you look at

216
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,440
the energy space, I feel like
it's peak pessimism.

217
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,200
And I, and I am talking mainly
about the, you know, the oil,

218
00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,920
oil and oil services sector.
You know, the fact that oil's

219
00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:01,160
gone from, you know, let's say
$90.00 a barrel to, you know,

220
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,880
high 60s, everyone thinks it's,
it's, it's the end of that

221
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:06,840
sector.
And, and so valuations are

222
00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:08,960
pretty depressed, very
depressed.

223
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,360
And then on the flip side, you
know, you've got precious metals

224
00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:18,120
where you start slowly starting
to see institutional names get

225
00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,400
interested in the sector.
It hasn't yet fully trickled

226
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,880
down to the small caps, but
it's, you know, you're getting a

227
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,800
whiff of green shoots and so
the, the market's very

228
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,880
bifurcated.
So, so I think the markets move

229
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:33,560
a lot quicker than they do
normally.

230
00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,800
I think generally everyone knows
from a historical fundamental

231
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,760
perspective, America, if I look
at the American stock market, I

232
00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,160
think it's 40 or 50% of the
world's market cap, yet

233
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,440
America's not 50% of the world's
profits.

234
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,640
And so everyone knows it that
it's pretty rich that, you know,

235
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,880
in that part of the world.
And then on the flip side, you

236
00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,960
look at some Asian nations,
which include China.

237
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:06,120
I do remember last time we had
an interview at the time, none

238
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,840
of our funds had had the mandate
to invest in China.

239
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:10,920
But personally, I was pretty
heavy.

240
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,440
And I find it fascinating how
again, this is another example

241
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,680
the market's opinion can change
in such a short time frame.

242
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,920
So I remember personally buying
jd.com, which is like the Amazon

243
00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,640
of China.
You know, it was less than 12

244
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,320
months ago at at price to
earnings of five times.

245
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,720
And now, you know, people are
saying, oh, it's still a

246
00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,240
bargain, but it's it's up, you
know, nearly 100%.

247
00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,680
And yeah, sure, it's still
cheap, but you know, the market

248
00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,600
does move very quickly to the
flow of funds.

249
00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,280
So now that people think the
flow of funds maybe might be

250
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,840
starting back in China and Asia,
you know, there's kind of a bit

251
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,440
of a, there's been a bit of fun
flow.

252
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,880
I I feel anecdotally to the
cheaper part of the markets.

253
00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,680
And then on the flip side, sorry
to go on, but Europe, no one

254
00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:05,360
wanted to know Europe and then
what probably within the last

255
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,880
four to six weeks, Europe now
because people think Germany is

256
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:15,360
actually going to start spending
is kind of potentially the next

257
00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,280
growth market.
So look, it's fascinating.

258
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,080
Markets move very quick.
I think everyone tries to think

259
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,280
they're smarter than they are
and they try to front load where

260
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,440
they think the flows will be
coming or going to.

261
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,560
I should say from our
perspective, it's it's all about

262
00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,160
valuations.
And so, you know, Blind Freddie

263
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,560
could have told you China was
cheap 12 months ago.

264
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,280
Europe as well.
I've been saying for a while, I

265
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,160
think Europe's, you know, yes,
that they've got a lot of

266
00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,600
problems in the EU, but from a
valuation perspective, pretty

267
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,320
asymmetric, even though it's
done OK over the recent.

268
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,480
On the flip side, America is
pretty expensive, but then you

269
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:59,240
got Australia.
You know, I'm still trying to

270
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,200
work at our market.
You know, I feel like you've got

271
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,040
you've got the top 50 and then
you've got everyone else.

272
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,440
Huge bifurcation.
That just a factor of the the

273
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,080
Super funds you referenced
before.

274
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,600
I think so.
I think it's a mixture of super

275
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:20,760
funds both and also our franking
credit system.

276
00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,280
So generally speaking, the
larger companies are the ones

277
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,320
that that usually pay the nicer
yields and the nicer franking

278
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,880
credits.
And so, yeah, because of our

279
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,520
demographics and people chasing
yield and franking credits, you

280
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,800
know, it generally dictates, you
know, kind of the larger type

281
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:39,880
companies.
So I think between those two

282
00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,920
things, yeah, I think I think
there's a huge divergent.

283
00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,560
And so it doesn't mean you can't
do well again buying the top 50

284
00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,160
stocks because, you know, you
would have done amazingly over

285
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,440
the last 10 years.
But you know, main reversion

286
00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:00,840
does work over a long term.
And so again, sorry to pick CBA

287
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,720
because I, I do personally bank
with CBA.

288
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,720
So I love CBA, but but you know,
I'm not sure what your IRR is

289
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,520
going to be over 10 years,
including dividends, you know,

290
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:16,200
paying 25 or 26 times earnings.
And so yeah, it's, it's a weird

291
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,880
market, very bifurcated, very
industry and stock specific on

292
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,359
whether the market loves it or
hates it and, and also regional.

293
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,480
So it's, to be honest, all over
the shop.

294
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,680
Bass, what do you think of CRE
insurance mate?

295
00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,560
Bass, Bass, you there?
Where's he?

296
00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:37,240
He's off.
He's offline.

297
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,840
Bloody good question, JDI.
Let's just assume the answer is

298
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,200
friggin awesome.
I think, I think with these guys

299
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,000
with CRE insurance, it is the
logical assumption.

300
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,600
Bass is a value investor.
Talk about bloody.

301
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,680
Talk about insurance.
Broking value.

302
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,480
Like if if if he was if they
granted an insurance investing

303
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:00,520
fund I think CRE would be the
top holding.

304
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,080
Mate, Bass bass is the secret to
you know, his his way of

305
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,840
investing is protect your
downside and expose yourself to

306
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:09,320
to a lot of upside.
Well, guess what mate, insurance

307
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:10,920
is literally gonna help you.
It's like.

308
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,520
A double whammy.
Took the words out of my mouth.

309
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,360
Trap.
Protect your downside.

310
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,840
Call CRE insurance.
It's the you know it it.

311
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:20,120
They should be in your speed
dial.

312
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,360
I reckon they should be.
That's if you've opened,

313
00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:26,160
reopened up that Gulf fund mate,
just CRE are into all sorts of

314
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,120
hybrid things outside of the
mining and energy industry, so

315
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,000
could be worth a call.
Construction infrastructure but

316
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,800
mining inexactively fund
insurance.

317
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,600
Also, if you're starting to mine
you should also call CRE

318
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,560
insurance that that's.
Just to be clear, that's mainly

319
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:47,200
what they do right now.
Let's get back to it with that.

320
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,360
Maybe sort of focusing
specifically on Australia for a

321
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,720
moment, given that's the the
mandate I believe.

322
00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,360
The value Fund.
Yeah, the value fund, do you, do

323
00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,200
you think bearing in mind the,
the strong performance we've

324
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,360
seen there's, there's sort of
more opportunities now or

325
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,120
reverses one year ago when we
spoke?

326
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:10,280
So I think again, generally I,
I, we don't see much of the

327
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,000
opportunity in the larger end of
town.

328
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:18,080
Now in the smaller end, yes, the
question is, and it's always the

329
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,440
$1,000,000 question, what's
going to be the catalyst, OK.

330
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:27,080
And so with precious metals,
obviously we've seen a, a, a

331
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,720
reasonable uplift in, in the
gold price.

332
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:34,600
And so usually stocks in
specific resource sectors, a

333
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,520
levered play on the underlying
commodity.

334
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,680
So yes, gold's up whatever 40%
in a couple of years, yet some

335
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,680
of these better run, you know,
pre production plays, you know,

336
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,760
are only up 20% or 30%.
So so you could argue the

337
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,920
asymmetry has gotten larger,
even though they've done OK, the

338
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:54,920
asymmetry has gotten larger on
some of that.

339
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,640
And so I still think there's
huge opportunity in the small to

340
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:03,440
mid in the precious metal space.
On the flip side, we own a few

341
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,480
industrial companies.
I mean happy to mention names if

342
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,960
you want to, but but but you
know some of these names have

343
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,840
had three, I think one of them
had has had for profit upgrades.

344
00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:19,040
In the last 18 months, yet the
shares, because there's not

345
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,880
really much institutional
ownership and brokers don't

346
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,760
really follow it.
The shares are lower than they

347
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,760
are now than they were 12 to 18
months ago.

348
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,200
So I think the company's trading
at 55 and 1/2 times earnings

349
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:33,960
number one in Australia for its
sector.

350
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,440
Yes, it's a small cap, but after
three or four profit upgrades,

351
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,680
you know, so there is
opportunity if you are willing

352
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:47,400
to to look under rocks.
Obviously the only downside even

353
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,840
if you get it right on a on a
small cap, the downside is

354
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,520
obviously the liquidity.
It it is harder to buy a

355
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,200
meaningful position on the way
in and obviously it's harder to

356
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,440
get out.
But but I do believe if you're

357
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,520
willing to play in the slightly
less liquid space, there is a

358
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,200
lot of opportunity.
I know you and Michael are sort

359
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:10,840
of big fans of of manga and
Buffett.

360
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,480
Are you, are you guided by
their, the, the thinking that in

361
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,920
the long term the the stock will
follow the earnings?

362
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,000
Does that kind of ring in the
back of your mind?

363
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,800
Yes.
And historically, obviously

364
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,000
collar St's been around for
close to 10 years and

365
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,280
historically that has usually
been the precedent.

366
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,760
You know, stocks usually follow
earnings.

367
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,600
I will say though, this is the
first time I've witnessed for

368
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,280
such a long hiatus.
Like for example, I've never, I

369
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,800
think I bought my first share
when I was 12.

370
00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,240
It was CSR, had the sugar and
the building division.

371
00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:51,600
Go figure.
But you know, I've never seen a

372
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,400
company have 4 upgrades and the
shares be lower than they were

373
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,040
before the start of the upgrade
cycle.

374
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,560
So, so this is pretty extreme.
It's pretty unique.

375
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,680
I don't know what the catalyst
will be specifically to change

376
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,080
the market's perception of some
of the smaller industrial

377
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,080
companies, but the pendulum will
swing eventually.

378
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,000
But it is pretty extreme.
And so again, if you're willing

379
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,240
to play in that smaller end of
town, there is huge opportunity.

380
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,000
On the flip side, I think a lot
of the easy money has been made

381
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,280
on on the large, larger end
being passive.

382
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,320
Obviously there are always
outliers.

383
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,360
And so yeah, it's, it's this
weird market and, and I, you

384
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:37,360
know, obviously we, we read, was
it the other week that

385
00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,000
Buffett's, you know, further
increased his cash position?

386
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,760
Again, I am talking my own book,
but I'd like to think if Buffett

387
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,280
was an Australian, an Australian
investor and he only had a

388
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,280
couple of 100 million instead of
billions, I have no doubt he

389
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,960
will probably be playing on the
on the smaller end of town where

390
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,480
there's huge value.
And I think originally when he

391
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,600
started his investment
partnerships, he was buying, you

392
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,960
know, small caps that were
trading at 345 times earnings,

393
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:07,560
having net cash, good
management.

394
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,360
And so, yeah, right now that's
where I believe, if we're

395
00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:14,800
talking Australian specific,
where the opportunity lies.

396
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,160
Driving a return when you've got
$350 billion can be a whole a

397
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,920
whole different sort of
challenge that I'm not quite

398
00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:23,320
familiar with.
Yeah.

399
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,960
But before we dive in, I want to
tease out the the company's

400
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,840
specifics a bit longer to get
your thoughts on interest rates.

401
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:35,520
Obviously a fundamental driver
and there's always, you know, a

402
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,160
couple different views in the
markets now.

403
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,320
There's no sort of different.
I think you said last time we

404
00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,640
spoke that you're in the camp
that interest rates would

405
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,160
maintain a sort of higher
average than the the previous

406
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,360
sort of 1020 years.
Are you still in that camp?

407
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:55,840
I am, yeah.
So I think structurally I think

408
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,720
we are in a high for longer camp
now.

409
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,400
It doesn't mean rates weren't
reduced.

410
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,760
I mean, we already had our first
interest rate reduction.

411
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:09,360
But you know, I think naturally
if you believe, if you believe

412
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:11,760
inflation, I get it.
It's all kind of linked to

413
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,120
inflation.
If you think inflation will be

414
00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:17,400
structurally higher for longer
and we ain't going back to the

415
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:23,040
0% world, then then you have to
assume that the inverse will be

416
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,240
to keep that in check, that the
interest rates do need to be

417
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,080
higher for longer.
And, and so, you know, we, we've

418
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,000
got to separate Australia from
the, the rest of the world.

419
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,600
I mean, globally, if you think
about it, there's a lot of debt

420
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,440
out there, right?
And at the end of the day that

421
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,280
needs to attract capital and,
you know, there is a bit of a

422
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,920
flight.
And so you could argue that

423
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,800
again, just like commodity
cycles, just like stock market

424
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,120
cycles, you know, there are
interest rate or bond cycles.

425
00:24:54,120 --> 00:25:00,480
And, and I just, I can't fathom
a world where rates go back to,

426
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,800
you know, 0 or 1% or 2%.
I think, I think that will be

427
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,680
higher for longer.
But we got to, you got to define

428
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,600
what does that mean?
It means higher for longer than

429
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,480
the last 10 years.
But if you look over the last 50

430
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,960
years, right, it's still
probably less than the average.

431
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:26,000
I, I remember maybe 10-15 years
ago before rates, you know,

432
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,160
basically got to 0, you know,
the average Australian interest

433
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,280
rate over the last 20-30 years,
like 7% was kind of the right

434
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,840
figure.
Obviously, I'm not talking about

435
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:39,840
the early 90s where they were
double digits.

436
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:44,400
And so, you know, if, if, if
interest rates are 4%, again,

437
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,000
historically over a long period,
it's not that high.

438
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,920
But yeah, sure, it's, it's
certainly higher than the last

439
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,680
10 years.
And so I think I think

440
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,240
consumers, investors need to get
used to it.

441
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,960
And selfishly, it's actually a
good thing because it means

442
00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:04,640
people actually need to look at
valuations and and really look

443
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,120
at cash flows and and look at
your Irrs.

444
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,160
And it kind of a little bit of a
level playing field.

445
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,200
As much as I am bagging the
current disconnect in the market

446
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:20,120
and how expensive it is, it it
there is opportunity now as

447
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,720
opposed to when rates were zero,
it was it was pretty difficult.

448
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:30,000
Fundamentals actually matter.
Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't hold my

449
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,640
breath.
But no, it does seem very much

450
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,520
like we're we're heading more to
that world and the, the

451
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,640
opportunity set is, is much more
interesting.

452
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,200
Some of the the bigger headlines
we've seen lately, maybe not

453
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:42,440
quite tariffs.
I don't think we need to go

454
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,640
there because everyone else has
kind of spoken about it at

455
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,400
nauseam.
But I am interested to to hear

456
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,760
your thoughts on the US deficit
and how that relates to debt.

457
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,880
And then I think we can sort of
make our way into to gold

458
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,840
because I think that with the
the phrasing of the Russian

459
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,040
assets are obviously the key
catalysts.

460
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,200
Sure.
So, so I think everyone agrees,

461
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,880
doesn't matter which side of
politics you are, that that

462
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,520
America's trajectory is
unsustainable.

463
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:17,920
You can't have a deficit of 6 or
7% of JDP during a non

464
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,720
recessionary environment.
Like it's pretty crazy.

465
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,600
Like like, Can you imagine any
other country in the world

466
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,120
having those numbers?
You know, you would, you would

467
00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,160
point your finger and say that's
the next Zimbabwe.

468
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,680
So, so everyone knows it's
unsustainable.

469
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,280
The question is what are they
doing about it and, and, and how

470
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:39,360
effective will they be?
So, so I think conceptually on a

471
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,360
term basis, on a high level, and
this is my opinion, just as a

472
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,600
bit of an economist, I think
what they're trying to do, and

473
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,240
when I say they, I'm saying
Trump and his lieutenants, I

474
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,440
think what they're trying to do
structurally is the right thing

475
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,520
in so much as reduce
expenditure, try to reduce the

476
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:03,400
deficit, try to try to bring
back some manufacturing and not

477
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:08,400
be so reliant on other nations.
I think the issue they're going

478
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,360
to be facing is.
There's never.

479
00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:13,800
Such thing as a free lunch,
right?

480
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,680
So if you're going to achieve
some structural reform over the

481
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,360
medium to long term, that there
has to be some short term pain.

482
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,480
And so I feel like the issue
they're going to face is some of

483
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,160
the the impediments and the
lobbying over the short term

484
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,920
because it is in conflict with
Wall Street.

485
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:37,000
And so I have noticed a lot of
companies and I can give you 2

486
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,320
examples, Nike and FedEx.
So they came out and reported

487
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,720
reasonable quarterly results.
But when it came to their

488
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:51,440
commentary on the current month
or current quarter, they painted

489
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,320
a pretty dire picture.
So from what I've gathered in

490
00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:59,600
March, the consumer in March,
and again, we haven't finished

491
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,840
March in, in the US is basically
frozen.

492
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,560
And I think it's just because of
the uncertainty.

493
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,040
So, so at the end of the day,
what they're trying to do I

494
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,280
think is the right thing.
But the issue is I don't know if

495
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,560
it could be done over four
years, which is what is it five

496
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,240
years, the presidential term 4.
So, you know, I don't think it

497
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,240
can be done over four years.
You know, something like this,

498
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,440
you need a decade.
And then on the flip side, can

499
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,000
they wear the short term pay by
Wall Street, by the companies,

500
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,240
by the CEOs?
So that's a bit of A to be

501
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,640
determined.
On the flip side, you have to

502
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,080
understand that.
If America.

503
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,280
If over the last 40-50 years, if
one of America's largest

504
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,040
exports.
Not many people talk.

505
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,760
About it.
But I mean, you, you know, you

506
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,680
read about it and you're aware
of it has been the US

507
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,880
Treasuries.
And so if the US dollar has been

508
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,080
the world's reserve currency and
it still is, but if it's losing

509
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,920
its market share, right?
And then both friends and foes

510
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,920
of of, you know, trading
partners to the US think, OK,

511
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,760
well, now what are we going to
do with our U.S. dollars?

512
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:19,920
Are we going to recycle it back
into Treasuries and US assets or

513
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,360
are we going to maybe reduce
slightly how many treasuries or

514
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,360
US denominated assets, which may
include US shares?

515
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,800
By the way, I don't know why
people don't talk about it's not

516
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,480
just treasuries that foreigners
own to recycle U.S. dollars.

517
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,480
I think another beneficiary has
actually been Wall Street and

518
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,000
the NASDAQ.
And so, you know, there's a lot

519
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,920
of foreign capital in the stock
market as well and, and if they

520
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,000
want to reduce.
Some of their holdings.

521
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:51,200
In both treasuries or or US
denominated assets then one of

522
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,360
the beneficiaries, I'm not
saying the only beneficiary is

523
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,280
gold.
And I think with we're seeing

524
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,760
that.
I think it started as you said

525
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,200
it started when US and Europe
froze Russian assets.

526
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,000
It continued.
It even continued, let's be

527
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,320
honest, when rates went from
zero to whatever 5%.

528
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,280
You know, historically that
would have been the very bearish

529
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,600
precious metals.
The fact that gold didn't

530
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:26,000
collapse just shows you the
physical real demand out there.

531
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,480
And yeah, sure, we didn't pick
that Trump would be in office

532
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,480
and start all these trade wars.
But again, he's just continuing

533
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,840
something that, to be honest,
was started with Biden.

534
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,960
And so clearly there is a
bifurcated world.

535
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,120
Clearly there is geopolitics
between the cyanosphere and the

536
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,920
US sphere.
And so naturally, again, I don't

537
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,000
know what the outcome's going to
be of, of the US efforts to

538
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,840
reduce the deficits.
I mean, we're talking about, you

539
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,760
got to remember, we're not
talking about America going from

540
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,400
a deficit to a surplus.
We're talking about America

541
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,440
reducing the deficits.
And so it's still not that good.

542
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,960
But I guess if they can succeed
in reducing the deficits, it's

543
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,960
not as bad as the status quo.
And so, you know, I think

544
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,760
naturally, I think precious
metals have a big part in, in

545
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,440
diversifying away from USD
assets.

546
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,960
And then on the flip side, as a
value investor, you know, at the

547
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,280
end of the day, you, you can
still have a market that you

548
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,280
know is growing, but if their
asset prices are crazy, like all

549
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,840
the AI crap, you know, you're
not going to make much money.

550
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,120
On the flip side, precious
metals now, whether they're

551
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,360
producers, developers or
explorers, they're still pretty

552
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,720
cheap.
And so you kind of got both

553
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,120
tailwinds.
You've got the geopolitical

554
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,880
tailwinds, you've got the
commodities going up and you've

555
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:49,400
got the asset prices still
cheap.

556
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,920
It's kind of almost too good to
be true.

557
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,120
Yeah, there's a lot of.
Privileges with having the the

558
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,800
world's global reserve currency.
It's a very fine balance.

559
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,320
They need to to trade over the
next few years, correct.

560
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,880
It's it's.
A bit of a conundrum, right?

561
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,480
Because right now they still
need foreign capital, they still

562
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,640
need to be somewhat attractive.
But on the flip side, they're

563
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,080
kind of saying, well, you can't
rely on us and, you know, don't

564
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,640
expect all these privileges.
So it is a fine balance.

565
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,440
It's certainly a change that the
world hasn't seen in a long

566
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:26,720
time, probably since World War
2.

567
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:33,480
And I think the market hasn't
fully grasped the. 2nd and. 3rd

568
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,320
tier effects, I mean, it's, it's
obvious what the first tier

569
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,800
effects is, but I, I don't think
the markets fully grasp the 2nd

570
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:46,440
and 3rd tier effects.
And you know, you would be silly

571
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:51,240
to not think about how that may
play in some of your asset

572
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,800
allocation decisions.
So the gold setup is.

573
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,320
Just fascinating.
It's almost endlessly

574
00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,520
fascinating right now for for a
variety of reasons.

575
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:04,440
So you guys set up to sort of
explain to the listeners that

576
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,880
aren't aware the Special
Situations fund 2:00-ish years

577
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:09,440
ago.
Yeah, it was just over.

578
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,480
Two years ago and.
That encompassed explorers,

579
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,440
developers, producers.
You had a mandate to go

580
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,679
international as well as I
understand it purely for this

581
00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:20,199
opportunity.
And like you said, this is

582
00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:22,920
before the the gold price ran up
40%.

583
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,960
I'm curious just to quickly get
your thoughts on the other funds

584
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,040
entering this space.
We've sort of seen in in recent

585
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,440
times a number of, you know, in
your case reopened, but other

586
00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:34,800
generalists opening gold
specific funds.

587
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,520
And there was a comment you made
when we spoke a year ago that

588
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,920
really sort of stood in my mind
that when things get popular, we

589
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,760
tend to run away.
How do you marry up those those

590
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,600
two data points?
Yeah, generally, I say.

591
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:50,480
When the money men come, we
we're out.

592
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,440
So yeah.
So you're you're referring to

593
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,440
obviously other funds?
Like L1?

594
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,680
Capital, I think the Smorgan
group and ourselves obviously

595
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,280
reopening just for this month.
It's just a one off reopening.

596
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,440
We're not keeping it open
forever.

597
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,680
Look.
Yeah, so my.

598
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,120
Contrarian streak in me.
You know, there's a bit of a red

599
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:17,880
alert.
Well, Oh my God, if people are

600
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,960
opening funds, does that mean
it's it's the end of the

601
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,360
opportunity?
I don't think so.

602
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:29,840
And, and, and so if I look at a
lot of our positions and even

603
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:34,280
positions we don't own, they
still yet haven't really

604
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:39,960
trickled down to the small end.
And so you know, you just Google

605
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,920
Collin Street Asset Management
and gold and you'll, you know,

606
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:47,520
you'll see the dozen or so small
cap stocks, gold, gold stocks

607
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,000
where we are substantial
shareholders.

608
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,480
So it's in the public domain,
but we're kind of the only

609
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,360
institution.
Now I'll get worried when I say

610
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:59,160
Paradise substantial in all
these names and, and you know,

611
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,800
L1 and all these other, you
know, I guess fund managers.

612
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,040
But you know, for the time
being, those fund managers you

613
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:09,160
mentioned are really at the
larger end of town.

614
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:12,640
So it hasn't really trickled
down yet.

615
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,520
And on the surface, obviously we
are fund managers, but we do

616
00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:20,440
speak to our clients and we have
I think we have over 1000 high

617
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,120
net worth clients and you know,
they're not really, I don't

618
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,040
believe all there yet in the
sector.

619
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:30,880
So, so I think, you know, if I
had to think of where we are in,

620
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,800
in, in, in the cycle.
I think we're.

621
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,760
Probably halfway through this
bull market.

622
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,600
Do you have a timeline?
On because I know it's a special

623
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,960
situation, this one and you've
previously had a timeline yeah

624
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,000
how do you think about that
Yeah, so the.

625
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,600
Funds the mandate was 3 + 1, so
effectively 4 years.

626
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,680
We're just over two years and so
I'm not saying I think we're

627
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,480
halfway just because we're
halfway in our fund.

628
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,560
There is a bit of a method to my
madness.

629
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:07,200
And so and so I kind of reverse
engineer the historical bull

630
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:12,440
markets and and the the last
three gold bull markets.

631
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,840
Then again, I'm just rounding
numbers from the gold price

632
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:22,120
through to peak.
The average, sorry, the lowest

633
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:27,320
return was 5X.
So I believe from through to

634
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,840
peak over the last three gold
bull markets, which spanned over

635
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:35,000
the last 50 years, the average
gold price increase from through

636
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:41,080
to peak was five times.
Now in this cycle, the low was

637
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,040
about 1000 an ounce, OK.
And.

638
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:49,160
So five times is 5000 US.
Now, again, that was the lowest

639
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,400
of the last three.
The last three didn't have the

640
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,160
geopolitics that we're
witnessing now.

641
00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:57,840
The last three didn't have
global trade wars.

642
00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,840
The last three didn't have US as
the superpower that is slowly

643
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,760
losing its dominance.
And so you could argue this

644
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,480
should be the greater of the
three.

645
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:08,880
I'm just being conservative.
I'm picking the lowest.

646
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:15,360
And so, you know, if gold is
3000 and I think we're halfway,

647
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,400
we'll probably a bit more than
halfway there.

648
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:21,640
And so we, we will inverse the
problem if if gold hits above

649
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:28,720
say 5 to 6000 US, we'll probably
very imminently decide to start

650
00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:30,120
liquidating and closing the
funds.

651
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:34,240
Or on the flip side, if some of
the stocks the DCFS.

652
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,440
So this is kind of what we did
with uranium.

653
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:41,600
If the DCFS on some of the, the,
the listed companies we own, you

654
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:45,080
know who, whose mines aren't
built on the smaller end.

655
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,360
If the DCFS predicts and they go
through the roof and the stocks

656
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:53,760
are trading at massive premiums
to the, you know, the NPV's of

657
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,360
the mines, then we'll probably
start to reduce.

658
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,560
And so, you know, at the end of
the day, it's two years into the

659
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,240
funds.
I think we're, we're up slightly

660
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:07,160
over 50%.
It's OK, but that it should be

661
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:11,520
up a lot more if you believe the
equities are a leverage play on

662
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:14,240
the commodity.
And commodity prices.

663
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:16,600
Aside and the valuations you
just mentioned, what are the

664
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,760
other kind of signs you you look
out for for the top 2IN?

665
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:26,440
So historically silver.
So I've got a little note that I

666
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:31,040
read every month.
Silver historically usually goes

667
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:32,920
crazy towards the end of the
bull market.

668
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:35,080
The poorer.
Cousin.

669
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,680
And so that's that's another
sign I'll be looking at.

670
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,280
Obviously, as you said earlier,
you know, when you start to see

671
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:45,600
substantial shareholders in
multiple fund managers and even

672
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:48,960
in the small end of town or you
start reading about it in

673
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,600
newspapers every day, or it or I
don't know, it makes the front

674
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,440
cover of Time magazine, You
know, maybe I'll get a bit

675
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:59,280
nervous, but it, you know, we're
not there yet, obviously there

676
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,640
will be a time.
I think.

677
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:06,440
From our perspective, we're
usually early in and we're

678
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:09,480
usually early out.
So just because Collin Street's

679
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,000
selling at some stage in the
future doesn't mean it's the

680
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,080
end.
It's just it's kind of how we

681
00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:17,360
how we roll.
I remember uranium, we made I

682
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,600
think 4 1/2, a bit over four
times our money.

683
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,960
And then we left 100% on the
table.

684
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,040
But then I looked at some of the
stocks now and it's pretty much

685
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,320
where we sold.
I think a lot of the uranium

686
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:30,840
names have fallen, have hold
that massively.

687
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:31,840
Yeah.
Massively and.

688
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:37,200
And so we just try to use simple
maths, you know, we use DCFSMPVS

689
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,240
and you know, when the stocks
are trading at premiums to an

690
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:45,000
unbuilt mine based on an MPV of
the, you know, the feasibility

691
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:46,800
studies and a mine hasn't been
built.

692
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,840
So you're not even taking into
consideration dilution, equity

693
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,640
risk, funding.
You know, usually, usually it,

694
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:55,960
it makes sense to to take some
profits.

695
00:40:55,960 --> 00:41:01,200
So yeah, I could be wrong and
obviously past performance is,

696
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:05,240
is is not a reliable indicator,
but I'd like to think we're, you

697
00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,960
know, we've still got quite a
bit to go in this thematic.

698
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,360
How about M&A?
So I think in the last six

699
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,560
months alone, Equinox, Remelius,
Northern Star, Goldfields

700
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:20,000
yesterday had a stab.
That's all sort of par for.

701
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:24,720
The course it is, it is.
So, so to understand why, I

702
00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:28,080
mean, conceptually so, so you
know, one of the reasons what

703
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:30,880
got us interested in the
thematic in the first instance

704
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:34,120
was the decade or so of under
exploration.

705
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,960
And so you know, that's from a
supply side perspective.

706
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:41,280
And so at the end of the day,
there has been an under

707
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:46,480
exploration for over a decade in
in drilling and replacing

708
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:52,440
answers in the ground.
And so I think because equity

709
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,280
prices, and this is my opinion,
but because equity prices are

710
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,080
still pretty cheap and
reasonable, it is.

711
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,920
Cheaper and more.
Effective for a a large pier,

712
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,640
instead of wasting time and
money drilling is to make a

713
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:10,160
play, an M and a play.
And so, yeah, I think we'll

714
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:15,920
continue to see this, obviously.
You know, most of it's.

715
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,880
Script based, sometimes it is
cash, but most of it is script

716
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:21,600
based.
And so yeah, I think, I think it

717
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:25,560
will continue while the prices
remain still pretty reasonable

718
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:31,400
as in the equity prices.
And and so yeah, it's, it's,

719
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,560
it's definitely a healthy sign
that M&A is, is ramping up.

720
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:39,760
You're you're coming on.
Supply there is really

721
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:43,000
interesting because gold, I
haven't traditionally thought of

722
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,160
supply and demand being more a
financial asset.

723
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,480
Do you, do you think of it that
way or do you think more of

724
00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,360
companies maintaining their
production profile and just

725
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,560
topping up so they don't have
the sort of supply to fill that

726
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,280
gap?
Yeah, so, so when?

727
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:57,720
When?
I say, you know, under

728
00:42:57,720 --> 00:43:01,320
exploration, it really is to
replace what they're producing.

729
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:03,960
It's, it's, it's nothing more
complicated.

730
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,840
It's not kind of on a high level
the, the world's, you know,

731
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:11,200
demand and supply factor.
It's, it's literally looking at,

732
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,920
I mean, I remember 20 years ago
when I was looking at gold

733
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:18,480
stocks as a novice, not knowing
what I'm doing, like, you know,

734
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:20,360
you'd look at some of these
miner reserves and they'll be

735
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:26,480
like 1020 years and now they're
like 2368 thinking Wolf, fuck,

736
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:29,400
what have they been doing?
They just haven't literally been

737
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:30,920
replacing what they've been
producing.

738
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:34,600
And you could say why?
Because effectively up until

739
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:40,360
now, they haven't had, you know,
the markets haven't given them

740
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:46,160
much fundamental value for, for
extending reserves.

741
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:50,440
Like maybe the markets were more
interested in loss making IT

742
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,760
companies and, and, and it's,
it's, you know, it's similar to

743
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,680
the oil and gas base, right?
It's like, you know, why why are

744
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:01,040
American shale producers, for
example, you know, concentrating

745
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:05,360
more on paying out dividends and
buybacks as opposed to extending

746
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,400
the reserves on their assets,
which they play very quickly.

747
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:12,560
It's because the market doesn't
give them the benefit and, and

748
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,960
apply it an applicable multiple
to growing their asset base.

749
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,840
And so gold's kind of been in
that obviously it's starting to

750
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:25,560
change now, but because they
weren't getting the benefit of,

751
00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:29,240
you know, replacing extending
asset lives, they just haven't.

752
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:34,000
And so, yeah, it's it's
literally replacing answers in

753
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,040
the ground on gold they've
produced.

754
00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,320
Incentives just driving.
Outcomes again, yeah, some of

755
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:43,760
the specific names I noticed
you're you're holding or held at

756
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,440
least at 31 December I think
were in Australia.

757
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:50,240
Black Cat and Catalyst, are they
ones you're still sort of

758
00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:51,400
holding?
I haven't touched on Catalyst

759
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:52,240
just before.
Yeah.

760
00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:55,400
So we, we.
Do still own quite a bit of

761
00:44:55,400 --> 00:45:00,120
Catalysts Black.
I mean, the the ones that have

762
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,720
done amazingly, obviously the
ones I'm happy to talk about

763
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:08,280
naturally the the three ones
that have done very well and

764
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:11,480
we've ridden them pretty well
and we're still, you know,

765
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,960
reasonable shareholders is yeah,
Catalysts, Black Cat and Maker,

766
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:21,600
no coincidence.
All of them are either in

767
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:24,760
production or about to be in
production.

768
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:30,280
And so the market obviously is
getting excited about seeing,

769
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:34,880
you know, cash flows.
It hasn't yet trickled down

770
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:39,600
really to the explorers.
And so, yeah, so they're kind of

771
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:43,360
the larger small names, if you
want to call it that, the the

772
00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:47,440
largest small caps that we we
own and have still done well.

773
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:50,840
And then if we trickle down
again, we've still done OK.

774
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,120
But they, you know, they haven't
gone up as much as some of those

775
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,960
other names.
Bright Star, we own a bit of

776
00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:01,040
Bright Star.
It's well run and it is a bit of

777
00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:04,720
an M and a play in the sandstone
region.

778
00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:09,440
Bart and gold.
We are substantial in in Bart

779
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:14,880
and gold.
We own Araman AUN, just a

780
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:21,840
another sandstone play.
And you know, some of the

781
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:24,240
international names are usually
a little bit larger.

782
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:32,320
So Aris, Aris mining ARARIS is
the code Equinox.

783
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,560
We do have a silver play
discovery silver.

784
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:41,880
I think they recently signed to
acquire a project Canadian

785
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:44,800
silver project.
They also have a Canadian,

786
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,320
sorry, a Mexican project, not
sure how that's going to go with

787
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:52,640
the tariffs.
And so yeah, we we're, we're we

788
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:55,280
haven't really turned our
portfolio over a lot.

789
00:46:56,160 --> 00:47:01,400
I mean, we set up to find the
better quality small to mids.

790
00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:05,440
On the small end, we tried to
really reduce the risk by honing

791
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:09,400
in on management that have
hopefully been there and done it

792
00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:11,960
before.
So they've been through a

793
00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:15,560
previous gold cycle.
They know how to bring mines

794
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,160
into production.
And so most of our pre

795
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:22,200
production plays, we actually
generally feel they will get

796
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:27,280
into production in this cycle.
And so, yeah, we, we again, we

797
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,640
haven't really turned over the
portfolio much.

798
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:32,280
Obviously we've been adding
along the way.

799
00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:38,840
But yeah, it's, I mean, from
from the A6 perspective, you

800
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:43,920
know, there's probably 14 or 15
names on our list out of the

801
00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,600
whole gambit and yet.
You referenced a few North

802
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,320
American names there.
Huge trend for those guys to

803
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:51,720
come and list here.
Not just in the gold's face,

804
00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:56,200
copper and the like as well.
If you look at them sort of on

805
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:59,560
on the balance right now, do you
see more value in North America

806
00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:01,880
still?
I know that was a a big

807
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:03,720
narrative a year ago, two years
ago.

808
00:48:03,720 --> 00:48:09,200
How's that sort of playing now?
I think.

809
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:13,960
The mid, the mid caps in North
America have actually caught a

810
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,080
bid.
So they're not as, they're not

811
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:21,800
that asymmetric as they were 12
to 24 months ago.

812
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,440
On the smaller end, I think the
answer's yes, but there's a,

813
00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:29,720
there's a caveat.
If you are going down the

814
00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:33,920
smaller cap space, you know,
you've got to be very careful

815
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:37,480
about management, very careful
about, you know, the status of

816
00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:40,640
the project, the, the local
jurisdiction, the permitting,

817
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:46,320
obviously.
And so because we're not on the

818
00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,360
ground in North America, we've
tried to avoid the real small

819
00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:54,280
caps, but I can see a lot of
them haven't really moved or

820
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:57,840
haven't done that much.
And so naturally, I think that

821
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:00,120
there probably is asymmetry in
the smaller end of North

822
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:04,560
America.
On on energy.

823
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:10,280
Now energy is fascinating.
Obviously it's it's integral to

824
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,560
our lives.
And as we spoke about last time,

825
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:17,400
the dynamics with ESG and
everything shifting that's I

826
00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:20,040
think that's sort of can trend.
The trend has continued in the

827
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:22,680
in the manner it was going when
we spoke last year.

828
00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:27,840
But here in, in Victoria,
there's pretty imminent kind of

829
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:31,760
concerns about energy prices and
that runs up the sort of Eastern

830
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,160
seaboard here.
And you know that the one name

831
00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:37,880
you hold that sort of plays in
with this is is beach.

832
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,760
You've also got AWA play we can
talk about in a second.

833
00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:44,280
To start with other kind of.
Like policy, we don't have to be

834
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:47,920
political, but it ties in
directly with the the narrative

835
00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:50,280
of why you hold the the company.
I'm quite sure what What do you

836
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:52,720
make of the situation here in
Australia?

837
00:49:54,520 --> 00:50:00,240
Fascinating.
I think, I think a very short

838
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:08,200
sighted and at the end of the
day, you know, if, if I think

839
00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:13,360
what we're witnessing is finally
some common sense in so much as

840
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:17,160
everyone, at the end of the day,
if you live in a democratic

841
00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:22,080
Western country, you want to
have affordable living and

842
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:25,280
energy is part of living, right.
And so if you can't even do that

843
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:31,120
basic having affordable energy
for day-to-day living, then then

844
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:37,160
you are at a disadvantage.
And so, you know, I do feel, I

845
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:42,080
do feel the narratives changing
a bit because it's hitting.

846
00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:46,920
People and businesses.
Hit pocket and obviously people

847
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:49,760
vote.
And so yeah, I think the

848
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:53,800
narrative's changing.
I do think we need to move

849
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:57,240
quicker.
And so without getting into the

850
00:50:57,240 --> 00:51:06,040
politics, you know, I think.
I think we need to move.

851
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:10,480
Quicker and, and, and but I'm
I'm I'm getting the feeling that

852
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:15,440
they understand the politicians
understand that if they don't do

853
00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:18,280
something to fix it, it's going
to cost them votes.

854
00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,600
And so, you know, the end of the
day, I think gas, if we're

855
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:27,640
talking about gas specifically,
clearly that is a energy source

856
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:31,560
that is less.
You know it's still a.

857
00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:34,920
Pollutant, but it's it's
obviously less than other means.

858
00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:39,560
And so, you know, if you don't,
if you want to ban coal, right,

859
00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:44,560
you know, you do need other
alternate base load sources.

860
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:46,880
And I think gas is clearly one
of them.

861
00:51:47,600 --> 00:51:51,840
I think I think it's very short
sighted that this country, to be

862
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:55,320
honest, hasn't really had the
proper debate.

863
00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:59,520
Like I know Dutton said he's for
nuclear, but you know, I think,

864
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:03,880
I mean, I hope he means it.
I don't, I don't, I don't fully

865
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:06,440
have confidence that he does.
He's just saying it to be

866
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:09,160
different.
But but you know, there hasn't

867
00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:13,520
been a proper debate on the long
term benefits of nuclear power

868
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:16,080
in this country.
You know, we dig up the dirt and

869
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:20,480
we just ship it overseas.
Obviously it gets enriched

870
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:24,040
overseas.
You know, why can't Australia

871
00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:31,280
have nuclear as a small part of
its energy mix and especially,

872
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:34,600
you know, in 10 or 20 years if,
if these small, small modular

873
00:52:34,600 --> 00:52:37,680
reactors come in?
I mean, to me it makes sense.

874
00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:42,960
So yeah, I think, I think the
politicians are, they're aware

875
00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:45,240
of it now.
They know it's going to be a big

876
00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:47,800
issue for them.
The question is, are they going

877
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:50,120
to move quick enough to actually
make a difference, whereas

878
00:52:50,120 --> 00:52:52,240
previously they weren't really
aware of it.

879
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:56,480
So yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a,
it's a.

880
00:52:56,480 --> 00:53:00,680
Super complex 1 to to tie it
back to beach and and not just

881
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:02,720
beach really all all the ASX
names.

882
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:05,720
I'm, I'm sure you're, you're
more than aware of how things

883
00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:10,200
played out with the, the coal
names in Queensland and the

884
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:14,560
yeah, the changing of the goal
posts after the after the fact

885
00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:17,280
and yeah.
The royalties and all that.

886
00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:19,880
Yeah, exactly the.
Royalties after the investment

887
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:23,680
has been made, which is
obviously not what any mining

888
00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:26,400
company wants.
And you know, you can sort of

889
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:29,120
say the same for an energy type
company.

890
00:53:30,120 --> 00:53:34,560
Do you have concerns about that?
Should there be profits given

891
00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:38,080
what has happened that those
profits might not fall to the

892
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:40,000
bottom line?
Yeah.

893
00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:43,920
Yeah, I think generally you
would be silly to not have

894
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:47,160
concerns about government
anywhere in the world, whether

895
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:54,400
it's America or Australia, you
know, changing legislation after

896
00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:56,840
the fact.
Because at the end of the day.

897
00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:59,520
All investments are made based
on certainty.

898
00:53:59,720 --> 00:54:04,600
I said to someone in the office
today, you know, it's not that

899
00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:08,480
the negative outcome, you know?
If there's a negative.

900
00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:12,640
Outcome a negative tax
consequence or something, right?

901
00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:16,720
At at least that can be factored
in in your original decision,

902
00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:18,160
right?
And everything can be worked

903
00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:21,320
backwards.
But but you know, making new

904
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:25,280
rules after the fact I do
believe is a risk.

905
00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:30,080
It's it's a risk here.
It's a risk in America it but it

906
00:54:30,080 --> 00:54:34,200
does seem to be increasing.
And so, you know, Australia has

907
00:54:34,200 --> 00:54:38,040
to be very careful that, you
know, the world is very

908
00:54:38,040 --> 00:54:40,280
competitive and is very
globalized.

909
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:43,280
We need to be very careful with
some of the decisions we make.

910
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:47,480
And if we are a trading nation,
right and we want to keep to

911
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:53,400
attract foreign capital, you
know, we shouldn't be, we

912
00:54:53,400 --> 00:54:57,720
shouldn't be doing things that
such as that, you know what they

913
00:54:57,720 --> 00:55:02,040
did with coal to dissuade
foreign capital from coming in.

914
00:55:02,040 --> 00:55:06,960
So yes, it's on my mind.
Can I directly do anything about

915
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,520
it?
No, but but you need to be aware

916
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:15,240
that things can change rapidly,
another part of the energy.

917
00:55:15,240 --> 00:55:18,480
Market that might be even more
interesting than just

918
00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:22,680
traditional oil and gas and and
coal is the offshore services

919
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:25,000
play.
And as we touched on before this

920
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:30,280
is one of the Special Situations
funds that you set up the the

921
00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:36,160
investment went to plan 2324.
You guys returned some money and

922
00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,840
then a lot of these names, often
US listed names given MMA

923
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:45,120
offshore got gobbled up here,
Belarus or Noble Tidewater, all

924
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:47,800
these sorts of guys have really
peeled back.

925
00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:51,120
And I think there's a part of
this discussion that relates to

926
00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:55,120
the the pod shops and the
current way of the market that

927
00:55:55,320 --> 00:55:59,040
is super, super present here.
We're talking about 1015% plus

928
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:01,480
short interest.
Do you think about reopening

929
00:56:01,480 --> 00:56:06,840
this fund so.
Look, never say never.

930
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:09,960
It's not, it's not on the, the
top of our agenda.

931
00:56:09,960 --> 00:56:14,280
And so we, the life cycle of the
fund is so it's, it's been over

932
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:18,440
three years, we've returned most
of the capital to investors.

933
00:56:20,040 --> 00:56:25,200
So the top of my head, I think
the IRRS unlevered we're about

934
00:56:25,200 --> 00:56:29,600
27% annualised for the fund.
We've returned pretty much most

935
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:33,160
capital to investors there.
Was some.

936
00:56:33,160 --> 00:56:36,680
Investors where they they
actually said don't give us the

937
00:56:36,680 --> 00:56:40,400
money back, we want to stay in.
So we have extended for 12

938
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:46,560
months but but the fund is it's
kind of like I think 80 plus

939
00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:50,800
percent less because it's just a
handful of investors that stayed

940
00:56:50,800 --> 00:56:53,680
in the more than 100% of the.
Capital was actually so it was

941
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:55,600
100.
And 25% of the capital

942
00:56:55,680 --> 00:56:58,160
approximately was returned in,
in cash.

943
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:02,400
And then some got a little bit
more and then some decided to

944
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:05,960
stay in.
Look, the offshore oil services

945
00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:12,440
sector, it's, it's bizarre
because some of the stocks have

946
00:57:12,960 --> 00:57:17,920
nearly halved, the oil price
hasn't halved.

947
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:22,680
So I've got Michael to look at a
chart over the last 12 months.

948
00:57:22,680 --> 00:57:25,840
So I think.
I think we.

949
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:31,840
Looked at A at a levered, so a
three times leverage oil, so

950
00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:37,480
Brent ETF in America, so three
times leverage and that

951
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:40,680
basically mimicked the moves in
the offshore oil name.

952
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:45,400
So, so they're obviously a
levered play on the oil price.

953
00:57:46,080 --> 00:57:50,480
Even though, even though their
earnings pretty much year on

954
00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:54,840
year for all of the names have
gone up, I think consensus is

955
00:57:54,840 --> 00:57:57,520
for earnings to continue to be
going up next year in the year

956
00:57:57,520 --> 00:58:00,480
after.
I think what happened was the

957
00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:04,000
old consensus from 12 months
ago, it's just been pushed

958
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:10,320
forward a year.
So the old 25 numbers, right is

959
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:14,440
now the 26 numbers and it's from
what I gathered, it's just

960
00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:16,800
slight delays in various
projects.

961
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:20,480
Or on the flip side, even if the
projects wanted to go ahead,

962
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:24,000
there's been delays in
engineering or, or other

963
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:28,520
auxiliary services that relate
to the drilling because offshore

964
00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:33,120
oil is still one of the cheapest
sources of oil globally.

965
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:41,000
And I think most pundits expect
oil to be with us for many

966
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:43,320
decades.
So it's so it's, you know, it's

967
00:58:43,320 --> 00:58:48,080
not a question of will oil not
be needed in five years?

968
00:58:48,360 --> 00:58:52,520
I think it's just the fact that
the oil price fell from you know

969
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:58,280
say $90.00 to high 60s.
Obviously that that didn't help

970
00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:01,920
the sentiment some of the
deferrals in the sector.

971
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:05,920
But if you look at the the
earnings they're trading at

972
00:59:06,760 --> 00:59:09,080
it's.
Again, they're pretty.

973
00:59:09,080 --> 00:59:11,520
Cheap.
So would.

974
00:59:11,520 --> 00:59:12,760
We.
Reopen it.

975
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:15,640
It's not high on the agenda, but
you have given me a good idea.

976
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,480
How do you think about?
A catalyst to send it that like

977
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:23,440
is it purely oil as you said
that seems.

978
00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:26,640
A bit a bit short.
Sided given the.

979
00:59:28,040 --> 00:59:30,400
Moat if you like.
That these businesses have with

980
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:35,000
the sunk money, sunk capital
into the the bits of kit, the

981
00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:38,400
the ships, you know they are
billion dollar at times plus

982
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:42,080
bits of kit I think.
I think the two catalysts will

983
00:59:42,200 --> 00:59:46,960
either be time.
I mean, you could argue as long

984
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:50,160
as the oil price stays where it
is, even if it drops a little

985
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:53,160
bit, as long as it, you know, it
doesn't go much below say 50 or

986
00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:56,160
$60.00 for a, for a long period
time.

987
00:59:56,600 --> 01:00:00,320
Because with time, because
there's no supply of these drill

988
01:00:00,320 --> 01:00:03,320
ships.
And at the end of the day, you

989
01:00:03,320 --> 01:00:06,320
know, these oil companies need
to replace their depleting

990
01:00:06,320 --> 01:00:10,240
reserves or, you know, you could
argue need to replace a lot of

991
01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:13,160
the depleting reserves,
especially, you know, knowing

992
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:16,400
their shale.
Wells depleted at 70 or 80% per

993
01:00:16,400 --> 01:00:19,040
annum.
So the global depletion rate is

994
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:21,000
higher now than it ever has
been.

995
01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:27,560
So, so time, I think time will
fix that because as time goes on

996
01:00:27,560 --> 01:00:31,400
and there's not much supply of
these rigs, naturally, I feel

997
01:00:31,400 --> 01:00:34,240
their day rates will just
continue to trickle up.

998
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:37,680
I mean, I believe their day
rates will surpass the previous

999
01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:43,160
high in the previous market,
especially, especially now that

1000
01:00:43,160 --> 01:00:48,920
you know, inflation isn't 0 and
customers I wouldn't say are

1001
01:00:48,920 --> 01:00:51,760
happy, but they're willing to
accept increase in prices.

1002
01:00:52,120 --> 01:00:55,960
So time time helps also in the
industry that's consolidating.

1003
01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:58,200
I still think there'll be more
consolidation.

1004
01:00:58,200 --> 01:01:01,000
I mean, there's already been
consolidation, but I still think

1005
01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:03,920
there'll be more consolidation.
I think again, I don't know how

1006
01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,600
true or not it is.
There's there's rumors that see

1007
01:01:06,600 --> 01:01:09,920
Drill someone's going to make an
acquisition of see Drill,

1008
01:01:10,680 --> 01:01:13,720
whether that's Valeris, whether
that's noble, I don't know.

1009
01:01:15,200 --> 01:01:18,480
So I think time and then on the
flip side, so you know it will

1010
01:01:18,480 --> 01:01:21,240
sort itself out in a couple of
years anyway, even if the price

1011
01:01:21,240 --> 01:01:24,640
stays where it is.
On the flip side, if, if the oil

1012
01:01:24,640 --> 01:01:29,480
price starts to go back up, as I
said, their earnings went up

1013
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:36,360
year on year, but because oil
fell from $90.00 to high 60s,

1014
01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:41,320
you know, there's been a pretty
big move in the stock prices.

1015
01:01:41,320 --> 01:01:45,520
But granted, as you said, there
are, I have read about a lot of

1016
01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:48,960
pod shops as well shorting so
that the shorting is pretty

1017
01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:54,040
high.
I mean, I, it doesn't worry me.

1018
01:01:54,120 --> 01:01:57,520
I've, I've made plenty of money
in plenty of industry sectors,

1019
01:01:57,520 --> 01:02:00,120
companies where the short
interest is, is high.

1020
01:02:01,600 --> 01:02:05,600
But yeah, it's, it's
fascinating, it's fascinating

1021
01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:11,480
the, the markets love affair
towards sectors and then you

1022
01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:13,880
know, within 6 to 12 months
it's, it's the diametric

1023
01:02:13,880 --> 01:02:16,560
opposite.
But that's the opportunity I.

1024
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:18,360
Guess.
Yeah, absolutely.

1025
01:02:18,600 --> 01:02:21,040
Time for for your investment
style is not not really a

1026
01:02:21,040 --> 01:02:25,360
problem in M&A consolidation,
free cash flow, I mean one of

1027
01:02:25,360 --> 01:02:28,160
our.
Advantages is arbitraging time.

1028
01:02:29,120 --> 01:02:31,640
Simple as that.
I mean, I don't know how long

1029
01:02:31,720 --> 01:02:34,640
certain things will take, but
you know, if you can think a

1030
01:02:34,640 --> 01:02:39,520
little bit longer than the
average TikTok punter, you can

1031
01:02:39,520 --> 01:02:42,200
do OK.
Absolutely I.

1032
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:45,240
Had a couple sort of general
investing type questions to ask

1033
01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:49,040
you this before we wrap up.
And the, the first one I've been

1034
01:02:49,040 --> 01:02:52,840
curious about since we last
spoke is your, your investment

1035
01:02:52,840 --> 01:02:55,560
philosophy and how it changes
over time.

1036
01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:58,680
I know you're a a massive sort
of Buffett and and manga fan and

1037
01:02:59,320 --> 01:03:02,240
have learnt a lot in that sort
of school of thought, that value

1038
01:03:02,240 --> 01:03:04,960
investing style.
And obviously there's a a key

1039
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:07,400
moment that they speak about in
their sort of evolution of

1040
01:03:07,400 --> 01:03:12,120
really going for quality names
over cigar butts in in general

1041
01:03:12,120 --> 01:03:15,160
terms.
How do you think about that in

1042
01:03:15,160 --> 01:03:18,280
in your in your perspective?
I know it's something I'm sure

1043
01:03:18,280 --> 01:03:19,480
it's something you would have
thought about.

1044
01:03:19,880 --> 01:03:20,800
Yeah, sure.
Look.

1045
01:03:22,160 --> 01:03:25,800
Again, I think you have to take
a a view on on which markets

1046
01:03:25,800 --> 01:03:29,320
we're talking about.
So, so if we, if you talk

1047
01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:33,280
globally, I feel generally
globally, if you're agnostic to

1048
01:03:33,280 --> 01:03:37,200
the geography and you can hone
in on unloved geographies such

1049
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:42,160
as China was 12 months ago, you
know, you can really look at

1050
01:03:42,560 --> 01:03:45,960
some of the amazing, if you
wanted to call Buffett type A1

1051
01:03:45,960 --> 01:03:48,840
quality companies, you know,
long term compounders.

1052
01:03:48,840 --> 01:03:51,800
I mean, who wouldn't want to buy
the Amazon of China at five

1053
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:54,040
times earnings?
You know, it's kind of a no

1054
01:03:54,040 --> 01:03:58,280
brainer, but on the flip side,
the ASX is a bit of a different

1055
01:03:58,280 --> 01:04:01,320
beast.
You know, it's not often, it's

1056
01:04:01,320 --> 01:04:06,840
not often you get to buy high
quality, durable long term

1057
01:04:06,840 --> 01:04:09,840
compounders at reasonable
prices.

1058
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:13,520
Now you could say, is that
because of the weight of money

1059
01:04:13,520 --> 01:04:17,520
in the Super fund?
Is that just, you know, very,

1060
01:04:17,520 --> 01:04:21,760
very top heavy taste market?
I'm not sure.

1061
01:04:21,760 --> 01:04:26,640
And so we've, we've had to adapt
along the way.

1062
01:04:26,640 --> 01:04:30,560
And, and so I guess from our
perspective, whether something

1063
01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:34,120
is a cyclical, whether it's a
turn around that you have green

1064
01:04:34,120 --> 01:04:36,800
shoots, so you're not predicting
a turn around, you're seeing a

1065
01:04:36,800 --> 01:04:41,960
turn around, whether it's an
asset play, whether it is, you

1066
01:04:41,960 --> 01:04:46,200
know, sometimes we, we, we do
takeover plays, you know, we

1067
01:04:46,200 --> 01:04:49,480
consider low risk takeovers.
You know, you could argue

1068
01:04:49,840 --> 01:04:54,840
there's only 4% on, on that
particular trade, but the IRS

1069
01:04:54,840 --> 01:04:56,840
could still be pretty
substantial.

1070
01:04:56,840 --> 01:05:03,920
And so we've kind of had to have
a few ways that we can find

1071
01:05:03,920 --> 01:05:07,080
asymmetry.
Obviously the, you know, if you

1072
01:05:07,080 --> 01:05:12,320
had to pick the ultimate type of
investment, then then sure.

1073
01:05:12,320 --> 01:05:17,080
It's, it's, it's those amazing
quality businesses or brands

1074
01:05:17,360 --> 01:05:21,840
where they have one off issues
for some particular reason and

1075
01:05:21,840 --> 01:05:24,760
you go in hard.
I find on, on the ASX.

1076
01:05:24,760 --> 01:05:29,480
Generally those opportunities
come on a wholesale level when

1077
01:05:29,480 --> 01:05:33,440
there's global uncertainty.
So you know, the two that come

1078
01:05:33,440 --> 01:05:38,680
to mind where again, Collin
Street wasn't around then, but

1079
01:05:38,760 --> 01:05:45,720
where I profited from was JFC,
clearly you could buy quality

1080
01:05:45,720 --> 01:05:47,720
Australian companies at
discounted prices.

1081
01:05:47,920 --> 01:05:52,000
And on the flip side, for Collin
Street Value Fund, we did do

1082
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:55,520
that during COVID.
So when there's global macro

1083
01:05:55,520 --> 01:05:58,360
shocks, there's usually
opportunities in the larger end

1084
01:05:58,360 --> 01:06:02,440
in Australia.
Other than that, it is a

1085
01:06:02,480 --> 01:06:07,120
difficult place to navigate.
Last question is.

1086
01:06:07,120 --> 01:06:11,480
On governance in Australia,
we've seen some fantastic

1087
01:06:11,880 --> 01:06:14,960
collapses in, in sort of
governance or maybe the, the

1088
01:06:14,960 --> 01:06:18,120
revealings of poor governance
standards in Australia.

1089
01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:21,760
And obviously they catch a lot
more headlines than the, you

1090
01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:25,360
know, phenomenal standards that
other companies have set over

1091
01:06:25,760 --> 01:06:27,960
just doing what they do day in
day out.

1092
01:06:27,960 --> 01:06:31,600
But what, what do you make of
governance standards across

1093
01:06:31,600 --> 01:06:36,080
Australia at the moment?
And I know you, you prioritize

1094
01:06:36,160 --> 01:06:39,440
high quality management above a
lot of other things, you know,

1095
01:06:39,440 --> 01:06:41,560
tied in with, with valuation and
these sorts of things.

1096
01:06:41,560 --> 01:06:45,680
But where do you think we sort
of stand in Australia against US

1097
01:06:45,680 --> 01:06:48,280
and other sort of similar
markets in in the West in our

1098
01:06:48,320 --> 01:06:52,520
governance standards?
I think, look, to be honest, I

1099
01:06:52,520 --> 01:06:58,880
think we're kind of on par.
I suspect America and Europe,

1100
01:06:58,880 --> 01:07:04,000
they have their own headline
events, they have their own wise

1101
01:07:04,000 --> 01:07:07,320
texts of this world.
We just probably don't know

1102
01:07:07,320 --> 01:07:10,920
about it.
It does.

1103
01:07:10,920 --> 01:07:13,680
It does.
Look, I think, look, I think at

1104
01:07:13,680 --> 01:07:17,440
the end of the day, you know, I
think obviously it sells

1105
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:19,160
headlines.
It's good for the media.

1106
01:07:19,880 --> 01:07:23,800
I wouldn't say our governance is
any worse than any other, you

1107
01:07:23,800 --> 01:07:31,320
know, major Western world.
I do think, I do think it is

1108
01:07:31,320 --> 01:07:34,480
harder to stay out of the
limelight these days.

1109
01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:39,560
Whereas, you know, maybe, maybe
things, you know, 10 or 20 years

1110
01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:41,880
ago wouldn't have made the
headlines, but now they do.

1111
01:07:41,880 --> 01:07:46,400
And I think, I think there's
multiple reasons, multiple

1112
01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:48,240
reasons, but you got to be very
careful.

1113
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:52,520
And so, you know, look, I, I
think, I think Australia's OK.

1114
01:07:52,680 --> 01:07:56,040
I wouldn't say we're the global
best standards, but are we that

1115
01:07:56,040 --> 01:08:00,360
much worse than other nations?
Probably not.

1116
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:03,840
But that's, that's not based on
any hard stats or statistics.

1117
01:08:03,840 --> 01:08:07,320
That's just kind of my gut feel
from what I read and and kind of

1118
01:08:07,320 --> 01:08:10,600
hear around the traps.
One quick last.

1119
01:08:10,600 --> 01:08:14,440
One, I know you are consume a
lot of books and various sort of

1120
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:17,680
media sources out there.
Are there any sort of podcasts

1121
01:08:17,680 --> 01:08:20,000
or books or newsletters or
whatever they might be that

1122
01:08:20,439 --> 01:08:24,160
scream at as being sort of
fundamental, you know, with

1123
01:08:24,160 --> 01:08:27,439
insight or entertainment in
recent times, you're saying

1124
01:08:27,439 --> 01:08:28,640
apart from money?
Of mine.

1125
01:08:30,840 --> 01:08:31,800
Very flattering.
Yeah.

1126
01:08:33,479 --> 01:08:36,760
Look, I, I mean, I just briefly
tell you what I do.

1127
01:08:36,760 --> 01:08:40,880
So everyday obviously read all
the newspapers, the AFR, the

1128
01:08:40,880 --> 01:08:43,120
Australian, the age, the West
Australian.

1129
01:08:44,200 --> 01:08:50,800
I, I try to listen to most of
your podcasts and I look, I

1130
01:08:50,800 --> 01:08:54,279
don't want to name specifics,
but I, I like to read quality

1131
01:08:54,279 --> 01:08:57,319
fund manager reports.
So quarterly, quarterly reports,

1132
01:08:58,080 --> 01:09:03,760
mainly US based.
And yeah, I mean, I've read

1133
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:07,040
pretty much all the Buffet books
I could ever read of, you know,

1134
01:09:07,040 --> 01:09:10,880
we've got poor Charlie's Almanac
here, a beauty.

1135
01:09:10,880 --> 01:09:12,680
I've read that probably five
times.

1136
01:09:13,399 --> 01:09:16,160
I did pick up an old Buffett
book that I've read 10 times.

1137
01:09:16,160 --> 01:09:21,200
I'm rereading it again.
But yeah, I, I wish I could be

1138
01:09:21,200 --> 01:09:25,399
more specific, but yeah, these
days I like to read fund manager

1139
01:09:25,399 --> 01:09:29,000
reports, fund managers and, and,
and they can be relatively new

1140
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:31,240
fund managers too, by the way.
They, they don't have to be the

1141
01:09:31,240 --> 01:09:34,200
doyens of the industry just to
keep abreast.

1142
01:09:34,200 --> 01:09:37,359
The hard part is working out
whether it's crap or not.

1143
01:09:37,359 --> 01:09:39,760
Like, are they a good manager or
not a good manager because you

1144
01:09:39,760 --> 01:09:43,200
don't want to waste your time.
So, so in today's day and age

1145
01:09:43,200 --> 01:09:46,880
where we all have, you know,
minds like goldfish, you've got

1146
01:09:46,880 --> 01:09:48,640
to be very efficient with your
rating.

1147
01:09:49,760 --> 01:09:50,680
Perfect.
Thanks a lot for.

1148
01:09:50,680 --> 01:09:52,000
Your time versus Congrats to
chat.

1149
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:56,480
Great stuff.
JD Buddy, a good long one level,

1150
01:09:56,480 --> 01:09:59,360
a good long one.
Yeah, the credits all.

1151
01:09:59,360 --> 01:10:02,960
All to vast I you know, I love
hearing how these guys think and

1152
01:10:03,280 --> 01:10:05,840
hopefully the money miners got
just as much value from that one

1153
01:10:05,840 --> 01:10:07,800
as I did man.
So you get a value 100.

1154
01:10:07,800 --> 01:10:10,920
Bucks off your ozone meme
Underground operators tickets

1155
01:10:10,920 --> 01:10:14,720
are 190 or 160 off your GRX
conference tickets.

1156
01:10:15,000 --> 01:10:17,800
That is value mate.
Plenty of value in all these

1157
01:10:17,800 --> 01:10:19,840
companies as well.
Mineral mining services,

1158
01:10:19,840 --> 01:10:23,880
grounded sambic ground support,
CRE insurance, K drill, WA water

1159
01:10:23,880 --> 01:10:27,320
balls, swig, gatro project
engineering and cross boundary

1160
01:10:27,320 --> 01:10:30,400
energy.
Sorry, information contained in

1161
01:10:30,400 --> 01:10:33,240
this episode of Money of Mine is
of general nature only and does

1162
01:10:33,240 --> 01:10:36,000
not take into account the
objectives, financial situation

1163
01:10:36,080 --> 01:10:38,080
or needs of any particular
person.

1164
01:10:38,360 --> 01:10:41,400
Before making any investment
decision, you should consult

1165
01:10:41,400 --> 01:10:44,480
with your financial advisor and
consider how appropriate the

1166
01:10:44,480 --> 01:10:48,160
advice is to your objectives,
financial situation and needs.