Monday
Monday tends to mean a quieter morning on the corporate news front, allowing me to catch up on some conference calls from the current results season. One reason I still value listening directly to management teams is that you often pick up nuances which aren’t always evident from bare transcripts, including those generated by AI.
A good example is Chubb Insurance, held in our Thoughtful World Equity fund. While sell-side analysts have focused on excess capacity in the high-end US property insurance market, management emphasised how Chubb’s diversification limits the impact. They also made pertinent comments on AI token usage, noting how this is centred around hyperscalers and large financial institutions, rather than insurers like Chubb, where according to the CEO, they are “a minor fraction of the efficiencies gained measured in hard dollars”.
Away from the screens, we get some long-awaited progress on my children’s applications for Irish passports. My son’s has been granted, a few days after his 21st birthday as a belated present, whilst I’m in my daughter’s bad books for signing in the wrong place, necessitating a further round of passport photos and a trip to our local vicarage for certification.
Tuesday
I catch 6.46am out of Euston to Manchester, where most of our team are based and I’ll work the rest of the week.
Results season gathers pace with Unilever’s update, delivering a solid set of results. Q2 underlying sales growth comes in ahead of expectations, and confident commentary on the full-year outlook is well received by the market. I write up a short commentary to help our advisers respond to client queries on Unilever, as investors are genuinely interested in understanding how these businesses continue to grow. Elsewhere, the sharp sell-off in semiconductor-related names continues and, whilst we have some exposure in our fund through long-term holdings like ASML and Nvidia, our balanced approach to portfolio construction is leaving us relatively well positioned in the eye of the storm.
After leaving home before 6am, a quiet night is in order with a visit to the gym and grocery store about the height of my ambitions.
Wednesday
Our morning team meeting begins with a discussion of Visa’s latest results. Judging by their reported 20% increase in card spending in certain host cities during the FIFA World Cup, there were clearly a lot of thirsty football fans. No doubt the English and Scottish were well represented! My focus then shifts from going through results announcements to reviewing a video our marketing team have put together ahead of the one-year anniversary of the launch of our Thoughtful World Equity fund in August.
Thursday
One of those manic results-season days, with several of our holdings reporting before the European market opens or after the previous evening’s New York close. Much of the day is taken up going through the results and sharing some thoughts and key takeaways with colleagues. Pleased to see Microsoft, which we’ve been adding to on recent weakness, report a stellar performance from their Azure cloud division. This should go some way towards dispelling what we view as overly negative sentiment towards a company which has been a great store of shareholder value over the long term.
Take some time out at lunchtime to stroll past the new Number 10 North building on Albert Square, immediately noticeable from the visible armed police presence. I have dinner at another Manchester outpost of a famous London institution, Indian restaurant Dishoom, with my wife, who’s also up in Manchester for a few days, enjoying the temperature several degrees lower than London.
Friday
A quieter day for results, although Apple reports Q3 numbers overnight. A meaningful downgrade to Q4 sales guidance, blamed on supply chain constraints, particularly around memory chips, overshadows solid results, driven by a 22% increase in iPhone sales. We’re happy to sit tight on the name, though a 60% share price appreciation over the past 12 months means near-term upside may be limited.
The 14.34 from Manchester Piccadilly is on time, not always the case, and I am back home by 6pm. Continuing the Apple theme, I watch their streaming TV series, Widow’s Bay, which outgoing CEO Tim Cook lauded during the conference call.
Weekend I enjoy the beautiful weather when visiting a water sports centre near Heathrow for my regular Saturday morning slalom waterski set and go back on Sunday afternoon with the family to watch them wakeboard. No wetsuits.
