Fund managers diary
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Mark Pignatelli is the manager of the Smith & Williamson European Growth Trust. His diary runs from January 11-17.
Monday My week starts on Sunday night reading the business pages of the weekend press. This Sunday is no exception but I find myself putting in extra work ahead of Monday’s 11am with the chief financial officer of one of Portugal’s biggest transport companies. Portugal looks as though it is inflation and GDP resilient, but try telling investors not to worry in the face of rising sovereign risk.
After that I have a haircut. Angela has been cutting my hair for more than 15 years and it is always an entertaining half hour, given her colourful past and her lack of inhibitions about who knows it. Later, I have a conference call with the chief executive officer [CEO] of a Spanish telecoms company who has managed to turn the company around. I expect both customer and capex [capital expenditure] estimates will be revised upwards sharply when company numbers are announced next month.
Tuesday My day starts at my desk at 8.20am—not particularly early but I have never been good in the morning—followed by a 9am meeting with an excellent German utilities and transport analyst. After work I go to the covered tennis courts in Chiswick, where I play at least twice a week and at the weekend. I also have a no alcohol rule for two out of four working nights from Monday to Thursday. After that I could not care less what the doctors say. (article continues below)
Wednesday I am off to the annual Helvea Swiss equities conference held in the remote resort of Bad Ragaz. Following a morning researching the companies I will be meeting, I head to Heathrow for a BA flight to Zurich. The plane is cancelled owing to a bit of snowfall, and more irksome is a text about how to check in as I watch the cancellation notice appear in departures. The silver lining is going home and taking my girlfriend to dinner at Caraffini’s.
”Geberit, the Bang & Olufsen of the toilet world”
Thursday A 5am start for the first flight to Zurich, finally allowing me to see most of the companies I had arranged to meet. Switzerland’s population is only 7.6m, yet it is home to some of the best franchises in the world. There is Geberit, the Bang & Olufsen of the toilet world, Sonova, the hearing aid company, Barry Callebaut, the biggest global chocolate manufacturer, SGS, the biggest company in trade inspection, and Richemont, the second-biggest luxury goods company globally. I have owned all of these companies in the past but none of them today, as I have some even more interesting Swiss investments in the fund. Helvea always hosts a gala dinner at the Quellenhof Hotel, which is a magnificent affair and this year does not disappoint.
Friday I am particularly excited about two meetings today with CEOs of companies in which the fund is invested. One is a particularly good example of how I generate new ideas. ‘Good growth’ in my case relates to good earnings per share revisions, as high growth rates usually end up disappointing with too much ‘hope’ already factored into the share price.
Saturday Shopping with my girlfriend and two damaging credit card encounters: the first for something that can only be described as a gold ‘ensemble’ and then a local shop for a wrap-around cashmere number. Fortunately the latter is discounted by 50%. It is surprising to see the extent of sales on the usually resilient Bahnhofstrasse.
Sunday Off to play tennis in the morning with a rather good lunch afterwards. I would prefer to play golf but as British Airways so shrewdly noticed, snow has put an end to play.
