Assetco Share Discussion Threads

[alan00] 12/9/2022 08:16

If interested please see AssetCo write-up here: www.upsidedownsidecapital.com/p/assetco-plc-downside-protected-significant

I think it's attractive at this point, with significant potential upside, and the downside quite well protected. The possible Parmenion transaction as reported by Sky (link in write-up) could really help to highlight the value.

[arthur_lame_stocks] 11/9/2022 13:08

This may be of interest to ASTO shareholders.

hxxps://news.sky.com/story/parmenion-owners-prepare-400m-sale-in-fresh-blow-to-abrdn-12692238

[tommygriff] 24/8/2022 13:31

Market cap of £100m cash position of £60m?

[konradpuss] 20/8/2022 12:08

I think the high shareprice in May/June '21 was sizzle, not the sausage.

I too sold out, not on the top mind as I could not rationalise the valuation. My sale looked wrong soon after however it looks good now.

Chris Mills, via one of his funds, has recently bought into Palace Capital. A bit late in my humble opinion.

Peter Gylenhammer got in much cheaper, however there is still possibly a reasonable upside.

[thaiger] 20/8/2022 11:46

https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/numis-initiates-coverage-of-assetco-with-buy-rating/What a different a year made!

[topvest] 29/6/2022 16:29

I must admit to being a bit confused on Christopher Mills re. Assetco. He is a fantastic investor that's for sure. I wasn't sure the valuation is silly and that's why I sold out. Maybe I have missed the skilled lens of the master!

What confused me was mentioning £90m for Parmenion Capital Partners LLP.... seemed a bit odd as they only own 30% purchased for £22m less than a year ago! That would mean the Assetco stake is worth like £30m not £90m. Anyone any thoughts?

[brummy_git] 28/6/2022 14:11

Christopher Mills of Harwood Capital talks about Assetco here (starts 49:00)

www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-hill-a5994116_vox-markets-fund-manager-interview-with-christopher-activity-6947490289783603200-5DnF?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

hxxps://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/articles/vox-markets-fund-manager-interview-with-christopher-mills-3caf5ae

[monet] 22/6/2022 22:53

AssetCo chair Martin Gilbert sees lots of opportunity for asset managers amid SVM deal.

[topvest] 21/6/2022 10:33

An interesting deal today. SVM Asset Management is run by industry veteran Colin McLean. It's well past its glory days, but a nice addition with £568m AUM. Key points:

- £10.7m deal price is c2% AUM but includes a £9m convertible loan note exercisable by either party into shares at twice the current share price (£14.50)!

- Adds SVM UK Emerging Fund plc, a micro investment trust, of which I have a small shareholding in.

- Adds an Edinburgh base.

- SVM Asset Management has been heavily loss making for years, but made a £2m profit in 2021 apparently. This is maybe due to performance fees or investment gains. I wouldn't expect SVM to be very profitable at its current scale.

- Back-office costs to be shared, might improve profitability.

Anyway, looks like this has been a done deal for some time and is probably a retirement exit for Colin McLean medium term.

If they convert the price into shares, then they now get the deal done for c£5m.

Just shows how difficult it is to value Assetco until things settle down.

A high quality team though, so positive on this one!

[topvest] 17/6/2022 07:59

£0.9m reveral of performance fees announced at RIVER AND MERCANTILE UK MICRO CAP INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED today. Not helful.

[watling17] 15/6/2022 23:14

The RIV acquisition and time it has taken to complete can be viewed as entirely positive as it has allowed flakey customers and shareholders to exit - a good thing. The equities business now has c£3bn AUM and can grow from this point. The fact that it currently looses money was expected and clearly the new owners will be far more resolute than RIV in slashing costs [that is people and duplicated head office expense - out they all go]. Parmenion may not pay a cash dividend yet but is in great shape as their report and accounts attest; let us say Rize is worth what was paid for it; the equities business, predicated on AUM, has value and there is the cash

All asset managers have wilted of late - including PMI - so whether they are happy or unhappy at not owning RIV, who cares

What is there to sort out one wonders over and above the matters already before the board - the clients who exited are gone but new mandates will be won and no doubt such churn would have been expected

In any event for many RIV shareholders who bought before the bid at sub-220p, the return of capital will repay their investment and leave the ASTO shares as a free ride so again, who cares what the share price does in the short term

[topvest] 15/6/2022 13:19

The 1% dividend was already in the forecast, not that its covered by any profit.

I think they are talking rubbish quite frankly "uninhibited by legacy issues" - they have just bought a plc with a large central cost!

Hopefully Christopher Mills, being the adult in the board room, will sort them out!

[monet] 15/6/2022 12:44

This should help the shares price, and plans to pay a dividend

We intend to write to shareholders shortly with proposals to instigate a sub-division of the Company's ordinary shares of 10p each ("Ordinary Shares") on a basis to be determined. Such a sub-division would increase the number of Ordinary Shares in issue and the Board believes this would reduce the Company's share price to a level where smaller sized dealings in Ordinary Shares would be more efficient. It should also improve the liquidity, spread and marketability of the Ordinary Shares to a wider group of investors.

The Board recognises the importance some investors attach to receiving a regular income from their shareholdings. It is, therefore, expected that the Company declares a 13.0p interim dividend in Q4 2022. Thereafter, the Company intends to adopt a progressive dividend policy.

"Campbell Fleming, Chief Executive Officer of AssetCo plc, commented:

"We have made good progress in developing AssetCo's listed equity platform, private markets capability and thematic ETF business. At the same time, Parmenion, which provides investment solutions to advisers and their clients, has expanded. The current market environment, alongside the structural shifts taking place within the asset and wealth management sector, supports a strategy of building an agile asset and wealth manager, uninhibited by legacy issues, to meet the needs of investors."

"There is still much to do, but we have the people, products and the financial strength to deliver for clients and shareholders alike. We will continue to invest in our existing businesses, assess strategic opportunities that will add value to our capabilities, and focus on generating organic growth."

[topvest] 15/6/2022 12:04

Hmm - interim results are pretty dire. £12.2bn AUM quoted is misleading as the majority is only 30% owned. Indeed the best business is only 30% owned.

R&M down to £2.7bn AUM and loss making. R&M has unfortunately been subject to self-harm since Gilbert appeared on the scene. Clients and Managers have left. The business is left with a stranded cost base in a deteriorating market. The uncertainty has roughly halved RIVs value and, as we know, all the star management are now working for Schroders which was the main reason for holding RIV in the first place.

c£45m of cash is less than I had worked out, but the only redeeming point. This is several years away from profitability in my view. I will keep on the watch list, but its not looking well placed for the rest of this year.

[topvest] 08/6/2022 20:35

Yes, see our posts on the RIV thread. I have exited RIV so won't be taking the ASTO shares.

[microscope] 08/6/2022 17:33

This has halved in a couple of weeks or so, not holding, but anyone following?

[topvest] 19/2/2022 19:53

Exciting prospects indeed. The superb results are clearly down to the GT case win. The underlying business was loss making, but hopefully that will change when the R&M acquisition completes.

[jurgenklopp] 18/2/2022 08:49

These appear to be a superb set of results.

The Company still appears to be well under the radar of the masses.

[speedsgh] 17/2/2022 17:13

Just bringing us up-to-date...

RECOMMENDED ALL-SHARE ACQUISITION of RIVER AND MERCANTILE GROUP PLC (25/1/22) -

Under the terms of the Acquisition, holders of RMG Shares will be entitled to receive 0.07392 New AssetCo Shares in exchange for each RMG Share.

Following completion of the Acquisition, RMG Shareholders will own approximately 41.6% of the Combined Group.

As a result of its size, the Acquisition constitutes a Reverse Takeover for AssetCo for the purposes of the AIM Rules. Accordingly, AssetCo will be required to undertake a re-admission process and to publish a re-admission document and to seek the approval of AssetCo Shareholders for the Acquisition at the AssetCo General Meeting. The Acquisition will also be conditional on the approval of AssetCo Shareholders to the granting of authorities necessary for the issuance of the New AssetCo Shares, such authorities to be put to the AssetCo Shareholders at the AssetCo General Meeting.

It is intended that the Scheme Document, containing further information about the Acquisition and notices of the Court Meeting and the RMG General Meeting, together with the associated forms of proxy, will be posted to Scheme Shareholders within 28 days of this announcement (or such later time as RMG, AssetCo and the Panel agree) and the RMG Meetings are expected to be held shortly thereafter.

[2realist] 18/11/2021 11:27

This has already happened as the case against Grant Thornton was won and the company distributed something around £30m to shareholders at the end of 2020.

[bigfootadelaide] 06/10/2021 00:31

Grant litigation update.Any news on how they are compensating original shareholders?

[tomps2] 24/9/2021 08:19

Christopher Mills mentions AssetCo (ASTO) at 20:07 in the latest Interview with PIWORLD

Watch the video here:

Or listen to the podcast here:

[tole] 01/9/2021 11:50

https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/numis-initiates-coverage-of-assetco-with-buy-rating/Numis initiates coverage of AssetCo with buy ratingBy David Campbell 31 Aug, 2021Numis initiates coverage of AssetCo with buy ratingBroker Numis has forecast almost 20% upside as it initiated coverage on Aberdeen Asset Management founder Martin Gilbert's consolidation vehicle, AssetCo (ASTO). with a buy recommendation on the strength of its top-calibre management teamThe analysts named the stock a buy recommendation with a £20.60 price target, up from £16.90, where it currently trades having slipped from a May high of £23.Numis pointed to Gilbert's dealmaking history, where he oversaw a 41% return on capital invested in Aberdeen pre-listing, and a compound annual return of 17% as it matured as a publicly traded company.In addition to Gilbert's long history of overseeing corporate acquisitions, the team of Numis analysts led by David McCann noted the experience of chief executive and deputy chair Peter McKellar, who formerly headed global private markets at Aberdeen Standard, as a critical factor behind their rating.'An investment today is as much about taking a view on management's ability to deliver their strategy, as it is the investments made so far,' Numis said.'We see significant opportunities to build shareholder value and we think this could deliver material upside for shareholders.'While both the business and some of its investments to date remain early-stage and by nature speculative, they said that the likelihood of further dilutive share issues, as the company potentially raises further capital, in addition to key staff risks, are the greatest danger to its outlook.AssetCo has wasted little time since Gilbert led a team of investors who injected new cash into the defunct former fire and rescue business at the start of the year.The company has already taken a major stake in River & Mercantile (RIV) and purchased outright spoecialist exchange traded fund (ETF) provider Rize, value specialists Saracen and financial adviser platform business Parmenion.'We note that the most recent equity raise (£25m gross raised in July 2021, principally to fund the acquisition of Rize ETF), was carried out at approximately a 29% discount to the undisturbed share price at the time, for example (£14.50 vs £20.50),' Numis added.'We would hope and expect the company will be able to continually narrow the discount on any future capital raised, as the company's strategy and portfolio become better understood by the market (of which this research may hopefully play a small part) and as the shareholder base becomes more diversified and institutional.'

[brummy_git] 29/6/2021 05:23

Just in case you missed it yesterday.

Marvellous insights from Christopher Mills of Harwood Capital - a world class investor - talking about top quality stocks, such as AssetCo.

Heaven personified

www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-hill-a5994116_vox-markets-fund-manager-interview-with-chris-activity-6815288599295123456-BgJJ

[qs99] 28/5/2021 16:20

Again bubbling up....let's hope more new news next week...GLA