Augmentum Fintech Share Discussion Threads

[skyship] 29/11/2024 14:08

I said above: "perhaps no reason for a sudden change in sentiment."

Well, the 20% rise last June was perhaps as a result of their Capital Markets Day.

Do it again!

[peterrr3] 29/11/2024 13:39

Thanks for the feedback Skyship. All input appreciated. I think a problem with Grover is that people who have used it for years have an issue with either now being barred from buying at the end of term because Grover want to now re lease most items or the price offered is seen as unreasonable and so will not use the service again. Also the chatbots fail to answer questions - I had a go, hopeless, and the remaining back office is too pressed to respond. And with many claiming bills continue after cancelling they have systemic problems. I am not sure have turned the ship around yet, not to mention buy now pay in tranches later almost universally offered on tech. I would rather they not fund the last round and take the hit.

[skyship] 29/11/2024 12:08

Good IM Presentation post Interims. Interrupted, so Didn't hear it all; but no reason to believe Grover should be written down further.

Nothing new of course; just reaffirmation of great value. But other than a successful sale of one of the top three, perhaps no reason for a sudden change in sentiment.

[riverman77] 28/11/2024 09:48

You could be right on that and probably best to prudently treat it as a write off (about 7% of NAV, having been over 15% at one point so quite a drag).

[rimau1] 27/11/2024 18:43

Agree with that which is probably why we are where we are price wise

[peterrr3] 27/11/2024 18:23

I think they didn't want to take a complete bath on Grover, but will tranche it out. I think it is terminal.

[riverman77] 26/11/2024 14:15

To be fair Grover is still valued at roughly double its cost, so even after the write down it's still been a moderately successful investment (assuming no further write downs of course)

[rimau1] 26/11/2024 13:55

Nice that we got the confirmation that we took part in Tide's March share sale to add to our holding. I am of the view that Tide will be a trade sale rather than an IPO as it is a very attractive relatively small bolt-on, probably not to a Neo Bank but either a larger payment processing company or a traditional bank wanting the Fintech. As with any IT patience needed and add under a quid. Every portfolio has a dog and we have Grover, I always think of Musicmagpie when i see Grover.

[peterrr3] 26/11/2024 12:41

True Riverman and I hold but they have their own skeleton with Wefox which I would want well out of the closet before taking up any equity offer.

[riverman77] 26/11/2024 09:51

The other possibility is for CHRY to buy us out - would make a good fit and they should have some cash coming in when Klarna IPOs.

[peterrr3] 26/11/2024 07:34

I think Tide to IPO in a couple of years if they grow India at the same rate and Germany. The payroll integration is a very good selling point and maybe they will bolt some other modules on.

[riverman77] 26/11/2024 07:27

No real surprises here - write down in Grover offsetting progress elsewhere. Feels like we'll need a profitable exit on one of the bigger holdings to drive any meaningful rerating - happy to keep holding to wait for that.

[peterrr3] 26/11/2024 07:11

Not bad with my estimations. Overpriced Zopa but nailed Grover's demise. Sorry to the others I bagged but don't look too bad. Overall happy to keep holding.

[peterrr3] 24/11/2024 15:10

Thanks for digging that up 74tom. Good to put things in a different context.

[74tom] 24/11/2024 13:33

Peterrr3, here is the last performance report;



6% return over the last 5 years is atrocious, no doubt the fees have a material impact with those measly returns.

Also note on page 6 it says

"We continued to reduce our overweight position to listed equity funds. We sold £20m from UK equities and 70m from Overseas Developed equities."

So that would be the apparent reason for selling AUGM, as expected with that many holdings they will buy / sell on thematics, not individual performance.

[craigso] 23/11/2024 18:26

re. Bullionvault

I understand that the price of gold is most heavily influenced by Asian central bank purchases and jewelry demand, but that Western world purchases of actual bullion, coins, etc. have reduced substantially due to the higher prices.

Which isn't to say that it's a bad business by any means. But higher gold price = higher value for Bullionvault isn't correct.


I keep seeing AUGM market cap and wondering what CHRY would do with proceeds from a Klarna IPO. I know it will never happen, but I suspect that the pros like the assets held within AUGM.

[peterrr3] 23/11/2024 12:25

The fees are very low because they have been regulated down much to the annoyance of the fund managers.

[bitgold] 22/11/2024 18:24

Wow. I am fortunate enough to not be in one of these local government funds that seem to be next on the government pensions hitlist, but their portfolio is amazing. I can only guess what the underlying fees are on some of those funds.

[74tom] 22/11/2024 16:37

"They have taken a loss I think which is hardly a vote of confidence."

If you want an example of why the UK stock market sub FTSE 250 is where it is, then the South Yorkshire Pension fund is a good case study.

This is a pension fund with nearly £11b of AUM. See here for all of their myriad holdings;

From the March 2018 sheet you can see that they invested at IPO, which was £1 a share. Funnily enough, that is also where they are selling...

They had £10.9b of AUM at March 2024, so the £7m that was invested in AUGM was a grand total of 0.06% of their portfolio. A rounding error. It is now down to 0.036%...

This is a fund that has £736m in the Border to Coast emerging markets equity fund, yet sees fit to invest a pittance in the odd fund IPO and then sell just when the fintech market is turning, at a 40% discount to NAV.

Someone is quite happy to take their shares, unsurprisingly...

[peterrr3] 22/11/2024 11:27

A divestment algo/bot is still working so I imagine they will keep going with precious little demand to mop it up. They need to put out their good news stories a bit more often or this will keep heading south.

[peterrr3] 22/11/2024 11:22

Doesn't stop them selling they just don't need to report it now. They have taken a loss I think which is hardly a vote of confidence.

[bitgold] 22/11/2024 10:20

Bullionvault should certainly be performing OK. New all-time high in GBP for Gold today.

[peterrr3] 22/11/2024 05:14

My predictions for the next report:Tide plus 10mZopa plus 5mVolt plus 2mBullion vault plus 1mIwoca plus 1mIntellis flatGemini minus 2m should star but poorly runAnyfin minus 1m hard to see a Scandì with poorer reviewsGrover minus 15mI think the 2023 strategy change for Grover is failing, the AI back office isn't fit for purpose and the last funding round was to recapitalise to cover losses and AUGM only stayed in to bring in the Japanese.

[rimau1] 15/11/2024 07:55

Post #330 was well timed, Klarna earlier in the week and yesterday Bolt confirmed it will be ready to IPO in 2025. I am calling the bottom of the fintech cycle people!! No investment advice as always.

[peterrr3] 13/11/2024 15:54

The Pemo investment looks sound. On a strong growth trajectory in a rich market needing better spend tracking and accountability as well as corporate tax filings soon.