Fund manager interview. UK smallcap investor Judith MacKenzie talks through 15 stocks

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27th Sep '24 by Paul Hill

12 comments 1256 reads

In this masterclass of investing, accomplished UK small/midcap fund manager Judith MacKenzie of Downing walks me through her optimistic view of the markets and latest thoughts on 15 stock, including:

00:00 Her approach to investing & outlook for UK equities

08:45 Eagle Eye Solutions

12:50 1Spatial

15:45 EKF Diagnostics & Argentex

17:20 Tracsis

23:05 Fonix Mobile

27:50 Cohort

30:10 Learning points from 2 past losses

34:00 Avingtrans

39:45 Equals

42:15 hVIVO

48:10 H&T

52:15 What to do when shares drop on good news

53:20 How to identify value traps

55:05 Facilities by ADF

58:40 Flowtech Fluidpower

60:05 Kitwave

62:40 Synectics

65:00 Current share most excited about, recent sales & final key messages

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About the Author

Paul Hill

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12 comments

swift1467

27th Sep '24

What is BR?

Rusty2

27th Sep '24

Paul, l can't get this video to play.

Wolf of Small Street

27th Sep '24

What a really good interview, lots of little gems in there. Judith has a nice relaxed way about her. I like seeing fund managers who aren't afraid to criticise or find fault with some of their holdings, too many are just permabulls. Agree with her on H&T, amateurs. I'm a fan of Synectics too, think there's more upgrades to come.

Paul Hill

28th Sep '24

BR = Business Relief (re IHT)

Paul Hill

28th Sep '24

Many thanks WoSS. Agreed Judith is a class act and has a ton of real-life capital markets experience over her 30+ year career.

Paul Hill

28th Sep '24

Valuation metrics wrt those stocks that were discussed

GloucesterBob

28th Sep '24

Hi Paul, did Volex (LON:VLX) make the list? was listed on Thursday SCVR.

simoan

28th Sep '24

Interesting. I don’t often watch these fund manager videos and it always strikes me that they don’t have a lot more insight than us plebs do on the SCVR. I’ve always thought the best question to ask a fund manager is where they have invested their kids Junior ISA(s)? The answers could be quite illuminating.

GloucesterBob

28th Sep '24

Just listened to it while up to my elbows in fish poo (bi-annual deep pond clean). No Volex (LON:VLX) and all your interviews are good but she is very good. Discussions on 1Spatial (LON:SPA) and Tracsis (LON:TRCS) were very enlightening, thanks for hosting and sharing.

simoan

28th Sep '24

No Volex (LON:VLX) and all your interviews are good but she is very good. Discussions on 1Spatial (LON:SPA) and Tracsis (LON:TRCS) were very enlightening, thanks for hosting and sharing.

I guess it’s awkward discussing shares you are actively selling as a fund manager. Notably no discussion of Centaur Media (LON:CAU) either :-) Personally, I like to see fund managers eating their own cooking and note that Judith only ever purchased around £50k worth of Downing Strategic Micro-Cap Investment Trust (LON:DSM) in it’s entire undistinguished history from 2017. An unmitigated disaster for shareholders from IPO.

I’m sorry, but let’s not beat around the bush…

aflash

28th Sep '24

How does Judith manage clients' money ?

DSM is in run-off and I have done O.K. (bought at a low.)

Downing Unique is run by Rosemary Banyard who has her own ideas. Again I am doing O.K.

There is DORE Downing Renewables and Infrastructure, which is probably outside her particular expertise. I hold at a loss but not noticeably worse than other 'green' investments.

Then there is VT Downing Small & Mid Cap income which holds larger market cap and is run by a Josh. No obvious influence from Judith except some Real Good Food loan notes which, to my mind, was her biggest mistake.

Lastly there is a fund of funds, recently launched, the Fox series.

So it appears her ideas are not on sale to retail clients. Institutions and maybe high net worth individuals probably make placings but, in the latter case there is no indication on the web site of minimums or fees.

I enjoy the way she expresses opinions even when I disagree.

Paul Hill

28th Sep '24

My pleasure Gloucester Bob & many thanks again for the kind words.

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Fund manager interview. UK smallcap investor Judith MacKenzie talks through 15 stocks

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About the Author

Paul Hill

12 comments

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