The Investment Thoughts of the Hamilton Financial Panel
Introduction
We have been extremely fortunate in assembling a group of "Wise Men" with substantial investment experience and impressive records. We have just held the first meeting of the Hamilton Financial Investment Panel and here follows some of the deliberations and conclusions.
On the inaugural occasion, Friday 6th November 2009, the Sages consisted of:
- Alex Hammond-Chambers (Chairman) - Former Chairman of Ivory and Sime, director of a number of investment companies.
- Angus Tulloch Joint Managing Partner, Asia Pacific/GEM Equities, First State Investments
- Max Ward - Former partner of Baillie Gifford and current manager of The Independent Investment Trust plc
- Michael Pearson - Private investor, previously an Investment Director with the Bank of Scotland
- Robert Hunter - Investment Manager at Gillespie MacAndrew
The membership of this Panel may vary slightly between the six monthly brain-storming sessions and we aim to embrace this senior collective wisdom on your behalf. We are immensely grateful to our Wise Men for sharing their expertise with us.
The Debate
AH-C: As an introduction, may I lay out a format for the meeting which involves considering, in the first place, the question – “has the financial world changed, and if so how?” and secondly how we would choose to invest money on behalf of two clients – one with a desire for capital gains and the other with a need for income? The situation in which we find ourselves today is in the aftermath of yet another financial crisis, born of living beyond our means and paying for it by incurring ever greater amounts of debt. In previous crises, the solution had been to inject liquidity and promote spending, giving rise to an ever rising mountain of debt. The same has been applied this time, but can it create yet another economic and stock market boom?
So the first question to consider is – “What have we learned from history that can help us in these troubled times?"
MP: The main lesson of history is that, however long it takes, we do eventually come out of the crises that we undergo. So keep being positive! It is not so much a question of “if” as “when” and it could take some time. However we are past the worst, as some recent company results (which have actually been quite good) have shown.
