Technology equities took centre stage at MeDirect Bank’s third investment webinar for 2020, with Stephen Yiu, chief investment officer at Blue Whale Capital and lead manager of the Blue Whale Growth Fund, giving a masterclass on the opportunities that such companies offer in terms of investment returns, as well as an overview of Blue Whale’s approach to stock valuation.

medirectalk is a series of seminars and webinars organised by MeDirect, featuring financial experts and asset managers sharing their views on market and investment opportunities. Organised jointly between MeDirect Bank and Blue Whale Growth Fund, the latest webinar kicked off with an overview of the stock markets in theCOVID-19 crisis and the US elections outcome.

The Blue Whale Growth Fund is a global equity fund focused on large-cap stocks in developed mar­kets. It was launched in September 2017 and is one of the best performing funds in the IA Global sector. The five-member investment team, led by Yiu, uses a high conviction, valuation-driven approach to stock selection. Yiu said his team adopts a pro­cess whereby high-quality businesses with attractive returns are evaluated, and the fund’s portfolio is limited to 25 to 50 stocks. He said the fund consistently outperformed the IA global sector average in the last 12 months.

He added that with COVID-19’s onset the fact that the portfolio retained 10 per cent of cash in terms of underlying assets help­ed the firm to selectively reinvest in the best companies with attractive valuations and, as a result, managed to provide higher returns already by Q2 2020.

Yiu gave examples of companies that form part of the portfolio and others that do not, while explaining the reasons for the firm’s investment decisions. He said Blue Whale’s approach to valuations is based on 100 per cent in-house research, with internal financial modelling and forecasts. Some key factors when deciding whether to invest in technology stocks include the low risk of disruption, the sustainable element and low ESG impact, the capability of the management team, the strong business model, the pricing power and levels of high profitability.

Various participants asked questions during a 30-minute Q&A session with Yiu.

For details on the fund, call MeDirect on 2557 4400 or e-mail info@medirect.com.mt.

To view the medirec­talk session, visit www.medirect.com.mt/invest/medirectalk.

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