Aurora Uk Alpha Share Discussion Threads

[wirralowl] 21/3/2016 10:42

More insight into Aurora's new philosophy in a detailed 2 page article with Aurora director Tristan Chapple, in Shares Magazine this week.

Some points from the article:

* New IM took over the fund in January 16 and cleared out all the small illiquid stocks and has already replaced them with a portfolio of stocks more representative of their value investing style,‘Aurora’s portfolio today is a Phoenix portfolio.’

* ARR scan the market for quality companies trading at what they consider to be half their 'intrinsic value'. Can take many years for firms to reach this target valuation, consequently ARR has a concentrated portfolio of just 15 stocks at present.

* ARR would be quite happy with a market wobble caused by Brexit or other event ' Crisis is opportunity for us' says Chapple.

* Biggest holding currently is LLOY @ 13%, followed by Tesco (11.8%) and BDEV @ 9.2%

[wirralowl] 10/3/2016 10:38

I took a small long-term position in my SIPP yesterday @ c.167p, partly to ensure that I should be able to take part in any forthcoming rights issue, which has already been flagged by the new management team, to bring the market cap up to circa £50m.

For me, its the perfect SIPP stock, that I can hopefully just leave for the Manager (and time!) to do its thing...

[wirralowl] 10/3/2016 10:02

Felt a new beginning deserved a new thread...

Aurora Investment Trust plc is a listed investment company formed on 13 March 1997 and domiciled in the United Kingdom. With effect from 28 January 2016, the Trust is managed by Phoenix Asset Management Partners Limited ("PAMP").

Gary Channon, Manager of the Phoenix UK Fund since 1998, will run ARR. His Phoenix UK fund, is an Institution-only fund, that has increased its NAV by 416% since launch, with an investment return of 706% (12.5% annualised). He will take charge of Aurora and plans to replicate, as closely as possible, its offshore, existing Phoenix fund.

The Manager's Investment Approach is 'long-term, value-based and focussed' and is inspired by Warren Buffett and Phil Fisher. ARR will be a concentrated portfolio of high conviction stocks, held for the long-term:

Dividend Policy: It is a requirement of HMRC that an investment trust distribute at least 85% of its net income and we intend to comply with that minimum. Therefore the dividend will be a function of the dividends paid by the companies we own and the Trust cost base. We will make no attempt to smooth or flatter the dividend

Cost structure: The manager will not charge any admin or basic management fee of any kind. Instead there will be a performance fee (1/3rd of the out-performance (over the FTSE) paid in shares to the Managers), but with a 3 year clawback period if any of that performance is given back. In other words the Manager will only make money if he does well on a rolling, long-term basis; so interests very much aligned with shareholders...

At 166p, the current market Cap of ARR is £20.1m, which the Manager admits is too small, so there will be a rights issue / open offer of sorts in the near future, to raise the market cap of the company to c.£50m.

More details from the Company website:
A short introduction to the 'new' Aurora:
A table of the Phoenix Fund's impressive track record:

Excellent MoneyWeek video interview with Gary Channon, March 2016:

[rupe1958] 11/7/2014 15:16

The rise in GCM today must have added about 1.5% to NAV

2m shares, +17p = +£340k approx

[trustman] 31/1/2012 16:58

Interesting stock with internal gearing.........NAV discount was c 20%, waiting for NAV update, last 17th Jan.
This is a"risk on" market stock that has been volatile but looks interesting again IMHO......no ramp intended.

[lucky_punter] 22/11/2011 13:48

Ariana Resources (LON:AAR) said surface sampling of the Karakaya vein on the Kepez project in Western Turkey has identified higher than previously anticipated concentrations of silver.
Rock chip and float sampling revealed the average grade was 65 grams per tonne of the precious metal to a maximum of 277 grams per tonne.

[sellandrepent] 17/9/2010 20:59

Why five years MOTW? I may be wrong but many investors nowadays buy and sell when they make a resonable profit. This might be in weeks or months. I think the days of buying shares with the view of keeping them for five years are long gone.

Personally i bought these within the past six month and am looking at a 20% return on my investment. I think James Barstow and his team are doing a great job and we appear to be in good hands. Personally, I am considering selling my shares but feel a price target of 250p is achieveable first.

Best wishes to all holders.

[motw] 16/9/2010 09:18

Its the five year figures that matter... u are better off buying capital gearing trust in my view...

[rampmeister] 15/9/2010 22:46

In September issue of Money Observer this IT is ranked top of UK Growth sector for one, six and 12 months. James Barstow must be doing something right. No position yet but minded to make small purchase.

RM

[motw] 15/9/2010 07:50

I guess you are right if the review leads to a buy back to close the discount. Yes I hold some.

[sellandrepent] 14/9/2010 15:09

MOTW, The share price keeps going up (today anyway). Even if Richard Martin is not independent, surely it is a good thing that they have review. The market seems to think it's a good appointment.

Do you hold shares in Aurora IT?

[motw] 14/9/2010 13:25

I would agree with you BUT Martin is clearly not independent. He is mates with Alex Hammond Chambers - they are both on the Board of MTE.L and they are even meant to be members of the same Edinburgh gents club...smacks of a whitewash appointment to me... more gravy for the boys, paid for by shareholders. Take a look at the discount chart for ARR.L on Trustnet...its wide and its widening further... and will the Board care...I doubt it.

It's quite interesting to see what people say on this website

[sellandrepent] 13/9/2010 19:03

I welcome the appointement of an independent strategic review and the appointment of Richard Martin who I am sure will be a valuable addition to the board. I think its always a good thing to have independent assessments which can ultimately lead to a risk assessment of the portfolio and a higher return to shareholders.

I believe the current board and fund manager are well placed to give shareholders an excellent return on their investment. We should see a chart break out soon.

Not sure if anyone else will actually read or comment on here.

Would be nice to get some more views from people who have been following this company.

[motw] 07/7/2010 11:30

The Chairman's Statement for 2010 says he won't "march to the top of the hill and march back down again".

After a fairly good period of outperformance it sadly looks like he's now doing the reverse and we're on the way back down the hill to underperforming...

[trustman] 17/3/2010 23:45

nOTJUST THECHART.....LOOK AT THE DECLARABLE HOLDERS.....AND THE SURGING ASSET VALUE!

[tom89] 24/10/2009 06:17

Terminal decline?
Look at the chart.

[bigwadds] 23/10/2008 12:14

This company seems to be in a terminal decline. I believe they heavily invested into commodoties stocks which are collapsing daily.

I know most stocks are falling rapidly but these have halved in the past month!!

Does anyone else have any opionions on ARR.