Wentworth Williamson Equity Fund
The Fund's objective is to earn long term returns superior to that of our competitors with less-than-average risk of loss. (For Wholesale Investors Only)
Investment Objective
To earn long term returns superior to that of our competitors with less-than-average risk of loss.
Investments
The Fund will seek out investment opportunities in Australian and New Zealand listed securities. These securities are selected by Wentworth Williamson (WW) through a disciplined, research-intensive approach.
- The core portfolio can consist of up to 25 Australian and/or New Zealand securities at any given time. The Fund has the ability to invest in dual-listed securities on an exchange outside Australia and New Zealand.
- The Fund has the ability to seek opportunities in any Australian or New Zealand listed securities. However, the bulk of the portfolio is likely to be dominated by mid-capitalisation companies, whose senior management is accessible to WW staff.
- The Fund has the ability to invest in exchangeable securities such as warrants and convertible notes in listed Australian and New Zealand entities.
- WW will aim to limit its exposure in any one security. To achieve this, it is intended that as a general principle, any given security will not typically represent more than 10% of the Fund portfolio. However, should significant opportunities arise, WW may deviate from this principle.
- Given WW’s medium to long-term investment time horizon and philosophies, there should be low turnover in investments. However, if a significant opportunity to trade at an acceptable level of profit arises, WW will not prevent the Fund from taking advantage of such opportunities. Similarly, if WW loses confidence in a particular investment, it will trade the Fund out of its position in the best possible way.
- While investigating potential opportunities or selling investments, WW may allow cash levels to build up. Cash will not be invested in securities purely for the sake of investing in the securities markets. Cash held pending suitable investment opportunities will be invested with an APRA Authorised Deposit-taking Institution.
- Under the Fund’s Constitution, WW has the power to borrow as a Trustee on behalf of the Fund. WW may decide to borrow to execute on an, in our opinion, exceptional short-term opportunity in the market. It is not the intention of WW to borrow for an extended period of time.
Contrarian
We do not believe that investment success can be achieved by ‘following the pack’. In fact, we resist crowd psychologies, regularly finding fertile ground for new investments in unpopular sectors and unloved companies, which we believe offer good value in view of the business’s potential over the long term.
Concentrated Portfolio and Long-Term Focus
We believe that a carefully constructed core portfolio of up to 25 well-understood investments trading below their intrinsic value gives the Fund the greatest chance of outperforming the Benchmark over the long- term. Furthermore, this level of concentration allows each investment to have a meaningful impact on the Fund’s performance once the market recognises its true value. In any case, we believe the majority of the benefits of diversification are achieved by holding a core portfolio of between 20 and 25 investments.
Investment Flexibility
The Fund’s team is able to pursue any investment idea regardless of sector or market capitalisation. By maximising our investment opportunity set, we can select the best prospects (from the entire market) for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio.
A Portfolio that is ‘Benchmark Unaware’
While indices may be useful in comparing investment returns, we do not use benchmark equity indices as a tool for active portfolio construction. Securities are selected on their individual merits, not simply because they represent a certain weighting in a particular index.
Wentworth Williamson is an independent, boutique investment manager, owned and managed by staff.
We invest on behalf of ourselves, high-net-worth individuals, family offices and charitable foundations who have a long-term investment horizon.
Our focus is on delivering unique investment strategies that deliver long-term, risk-adjusted returns to our investors, with a focus on risk mitigation.
Geoff has significant experience in law, banking and investing, and is regarded as an expert in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and general corporate commercial law.
Geoff is Chairman of WW and Monash Advisory, and was CEO and then Executive Chairman of Investec Bank (Australia) Limited from 2001 – 2008, where he retired and became the non-executive Deputy Chairman until March 2014.
Geoff previously held a number of non-executive directorships of ASX listed companies including Cromwell Property Group Limited, Specialty Fashion Group Limited, Mirvac Limited, Channel Ten,
Rebel Sports Limited, Freedom Furniture Limited, Hoyts Limited and STW Limited.
Prior to Investec Bank, Geoff was a principal of Wentworth Associates, a boutique investment and advisory firm acquired by Investec Bank in 2001 and was formerly a partner of Freehills Holingdale and Page (now known as Herbert Smith Freehills, Law Firm).
Geoff has previously held positions in State and Federal Government organisations including being the initial Deputy Chairman of the Australian Sport Anti-Doping authority (ASADA), Chairman of Film Finance Corporation Australia Limited, Chairman of the NSW Government Property Asset Utilisation Taskforce, Chair of the selection panel for the Australian Film Licenced Investment Company Scheme and Chair of the NSW Attorney Review into the Public Purpose Fund, amongst others.
Geoff was appointed by the Australian Olympic Committee to be the Attaché to the South African Olympic Team at the 2000 Olympic Games. He has also been involved in several Not for Profit and Philanthropic organisations. Geoff was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005 for his significant contribution to Sports, the Arts and Philanthropy.
He holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Commerce from the
University of Witwatersrand, a diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia.
James is currently Executive Director, Chief Investment Officer of WW and portfolio manager of the Wentworth Williamson Fund Between 2008 and 2012, James was Portfolio Manager of the Investec Australian Equity Fund and a member of the fund’s investment committee alongside Geoff Levy.
Over this period the fund increased by 26.1%, compared with the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index (fund’s benchmark), which declined by 7.2%. Whilst at Investec Bank (Australia) Limited and prior to inception of the Investec Australian Equity Fund, James and Geoff developed a highly successful investment process generating outstanding returns in listed equities in the direct Investments division of Investec Bank (Australia) Limited.
Prior to the inception of the Wentworth Williamson Fund, James worked from April 2012 until August 2013 for Allan Gray Australia Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest value fund managers. Prior to joining Investec Bank (Australia) Limited, James headed a sector research team at Société Générale London. He was recognised as a leading independently rated Pan European equity research analyst, including one of the few analysts to be rated in the top 10 in a major Pan European sector in the first year of full coverage.
Prior to this, James headed a sector research team at Société Générale based in Johannesburg.
Overall, James has over two decades experience in financial markets. James has a Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Diploma of the Securities Institute of Australia and is a Senior Associate of FINSIA.
Martin joined WW in 2016 as an Investment Analyst. Prior to this he worked in Switzerland and London at Stonehage Fleming, the largest global independent family office, where he reviewed the investments of high net worth clients and also researched global stocks at the equity fund.
Martin has had a passion for investing from an early age, coming from a family with a long history of value investing. Martin graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Commerce and Applied Finance, majoring in Accounting.
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