An active investment managers lockdown tool kit

by John Middleton, Portfolio Manager at Mint Asset Management

Yes, we have all discovered that it is vital to be aware of when your microphone is muted and your camera is on in video conferences, but we also added a few more tools to the tool kit that are likely to improve outcomes going forward.

As a New Zealand-based fund manager running trans-Tasman portfolios, Covid did create a number of challenges initially. Leaving aside market volatility and liquidity, the lack of direct contact with companies, management, and the investment team itself forced us to go about the job very differently. For a people and relationship-based industry, being no longer able to stare into the whites of people’s eyes, watch mannerisms as closely, or kick tyres while walking around facilities, was a major disadvantage, so we needed to adapt.

I believe that the New Zealand investment community was a net beneficiary from the early stages of the pandemic. Before Covid, we all listened to results calls with companies, and a few even used webcasts, but after the initial public presentation and discussion of results, it could be hard to follow up on areas of interest in a time-sensitive manner; as companies embarked on marketing campaigns which left them out of contact for a month post results. Furthermore, a lot of the post-results meetings were face-to-face and small group meetings at various brokers’ offices which could be hard to attend- especially when held in Australia.