Tom Millner is a director and portfolio manager at Contact Asset Management and the former CEO of BKI Investment Company. Tom Millner recently joined Owen Rask in Sydney, as part of the Australian Investors Podcast — Australia’s top podcast for professional investing.
Podcast talking points with Tom Millner
Ice breakers (quick questions for Tom):
- Which company do you think you have learned the most from?
- What’s one thing you have learned from the Soul Patts team over the past 12 months?
- What’s the name of one company that has a fantastic product/service, but is a terrible investment?
Since Covid has hit. Interest rates have risen, and inflation is back in vogue. Has this environment changed the way you think about investing?
Circling back to 2022. Have you been surprised by the run-up in coal stocks like Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC), New Hope Corp (ASX: NHC) or Yancoal Ltd (ASX: YAL)?
- What do you think about the outlook for coal and energy broadly? Do you ever try to forecast commodity prices when you’re researching these businesses?
- What do you think about the potential for the major coal miners, such as New Hope, Whitehaven, Yancoal, etc. to expand?
- (Question from Twitter, from Aleck) With the lack of funding in the coal sector, is New Hope going to leave more cash on the balance sheet to try and buy up these assets?
In the past 6 months, where have you found the most opportunity to deploy capital? Which sectors and themes have caught your attention?
When it comes to researching a business, how important is it for you to get boots on the ground? For example, Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS) or Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX: HVN) or Ampol Ltd (ASX: AMP) are in the Contact portfolio (as at October). Do you go and visit their stores?
Company profiles. Can you bring to the table say 2 companies that you bought over the past year (you don’t need to own them now) and tell us a little about each?
- Tom chose to speak about companies like Harvey Norman Holdings, Metcash, ARB Corp (ASX: ARB) and energy companies.
If you were setting up a funds management business today, what would you do differently?
About Tom Millner
Tom Millner has 19 years’ experience in investment markets. Prior to the establishment of Contact Asset Management, Tom was Chief Executive Officer of BKI Investment Company from 2008 to 2016 – a period in which total assets grew from $440 million to almost $1 billion.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from the University of Newcastle, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Current directorships include Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company Limited (AS:X SOL) (since 2011) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) (since 2015).
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