Despite saying he does not like miners because of their historically appalling capital allocation, which is often deployed in ill-thought out acquisitions or exploration projects, he has recently bought holdings in Rio Tinto after thinking “long and hard about it”.
Trading at 3372p, the stock is 500p off its 52-week high, but also some way off its 52-week low of 2648p hit in September 2012.
This move by Stick is just one example of recent trades that have seen him dip his toe into sectors he has previously steered clear of.
He said he is bearish on the oil and gas sector, for example, but owns Royal Dutch Shell for cash flow recovery and has been buying BG Group on price weakness because it has shown visible growth in a difficult industry.
Meanwhile, in aerospace and defence – another industry that has faced its share of headwinds, with concerns over reductions in defence spending globally – he has been purchasing shares in Ultra Electronics, which he said was punished by the market following fellow defence firm Cobham’s profit warning.
Since picking up the shares when sentiment towards the sector was negative, Stick said the firm had bounced back and so he is not buying any more at the moment.
BAE Group is another defence name that looks good value after suffering a dint in its reputation last year due to the failed merger with EADS. Stick said 4% of his fund is in BAE Group, which had £2bn free cash flow last year and is in a position to buy back £1bn of stock “and buy it back cheap”.
