In January, we asked chairman of fund management group Wilson Asset Management, Geoff Wilson, to write about three great stocks you’d never head of [1].
We gave him leeway to mention a company he’s involved in because it had a philanthropic bent but either way, just five months on, these companies have certainly delivered the goods.
IPH Limited (IPH)
This is a patent and trademark attorney group, better known as Spruson & Ferguson, and is one of the leading intellectual property services firms in the Asia-Pacific region.
In January, Geoff said; “The industry fundamentals are strong. IPH is one of the first patent attorneys to list, providing the potential to act as a consolidator of the sector going forward. The industry is characterised by good cash flow, recurring revenues and high quality clients, particularly so at IPH.”
It was trading at around $3.65 when he first mentioned it and is now at $4.70, an increase of 29%.
[2]Source: Yahoo!7 Finance, 21 May 2015
Mantra (MTR)
Geoff’s second company was hotel group Mantra, which listed in June last year. Geoff explained that in the last decade, Australia has experienced an undersupply of new hotel rooms being built to meet the increasing demand from overseas and domestic travellers.
“As a consequence, hotels are experiencing very high occupancy rates and seeing increases in RevPAR, or revenue per available room (a common performance metric in the hotel industry) across Australia,” he said.
And what about its share price? Well it was about $2.75 when Geoff mentioned it and is $3.90 now. That’s a rise of 42%!
[3]Source: Yahoo!7 Finance, 21 May 2015
Future Generation Company (FGX)
Geoff’s third pick was the listed investment company, the Future Generation Company, of which he is a director. Wilson Asset Management is one of the 14 participating fund managers investing FGX’s capital, which have offered their management services to the LIC for free. That pro bono support will enable it to donate 1% of its assets to children’s charities each year.
It hasn’t had as big a jump up as our other two dynamos but it has still risen around 8% since January.
[4]Source: Yahoo!7 Finance, 21 May 2015
Important: This content has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. It does not constitute formal advice. Consider the appropriateness of the information in regards to your circumstances.