News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

14 May 2021 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• US inflation surged from a year earlier as consumer prices jumped 4.2% in the 12 months through to April, up from 2.6% in March and marking the biggest increase since September 2008
• European Central Bank policymakers said growth and inflation in the eurozone are more likely to overshoot expectations

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

James Anderson, the outgoing manager of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, urged successor Tom Slater and deputy manager Lawrence Burns to 'please help Scottish Mortgage become more unreasonable and more distinctive as the pressures of the investment world continue to pull at us.' Declaring his greatest regret while running the fund was being 'insufficiently radical,' Anderson added: 'We need to remain eccentric. In fact, we need to become more so and more prepared to be radical.'

COMPANY NEWS

• AT&T was said to be nearing a deal to combine its content unit Warner Media with rival Discovery
• Diageo said that it now sees full year profit growth to be at least 14% and noted that following strong performance in the first half, it was recommending restarting its capital return programme
• Another victory for large tech as Amazon won its bid to reject a €250m tax bill after EU regulators failed to show that Amazon was given special tax treatment by Luxembourg in violation of state aid rules

 FUNDS

Taylor Maritime announces plans to raise $250m to take advantage of historic low pricing in second-hand geared ships with average yields in excess of 7%

SMALL-CAP NEWS

Seaspiracy is one of the most popular programmes on Netflix at the moment and a benefactor of this topic last week was Agronomics. The cultivated meat specialist raised £62.5m as more investors wanted to add some exposure to the Jim Mellon backed business. This money will go towards backing current investments and they got to work quickly with a further £169k invested into Meatable. The other underlying company to look out for is BlueNalu a company that has a mission statement to be “the global leader in cellular aquaculture”.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1866: London banking house Overand, Gurney, & Co. fails. The bank owed £11m to its clients at the time. Its failure would lead to a severe but brief financial panic, hitting the shipbuilding industry the hardest. It is estimated that 86% of London shipbuilding companies would fail as part of the panic

1965: Warren Buffett is mentioned in the Wall Street Journal for the first time. The article covered the news from the previous day that Berkshire Hathaway president Seabury Stanton has stepped down due to disagreements with an “outside interest” that has gained a controlling stake in Berkshire Hathaway. That interest was Warren Buffett, who began buying up the company’s shares in 1962, but accelerated purchases in 1964 to own 40% of the company

MARKET DATA

 As at 14^th May 2021. Source: Financial Express

 Download the PDF here

This publication has been produced by Vermeer Investment Management Limited (VIM) trading as Vermeer Partners. It is provided for information purposes only. VIM makes no express or implied warranties and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to any data included in this publication. VIM will not treat unauthorised recipients of this publication as its clients. Prices shown are indicative and VIM is not offering to buy or sell or soliciting offers to buy or sell any financial instrument. Without limiting any of the foregoing and to the extent permitted by law, in no event shall VIM, nor any of its officers, directors, partners, or employees, have any liability for (a) any special, punitive, indirect, or consequential damages; or (b) any lost profits, lost revenue, loss of anticipated savings or loss of opportunity or other financial loss, even if notified of the possibility of such damages, arising from any use of this publication or its contents. Other than disclosures relating to VIM, the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources that VIM believes to be reliable, but VIM does not represent or warrant that it is accurate or complete. VIM is not responsible for, and makes no warranties whatsoever as to, the content of any third-party website referred to herein or accessed via a hyperlink in this publication and such information is not incorporated by reference. The views in this publication are those of the author(s) and are subject to change. VIM has no obligation to update its opinions or the information in this publication. This publication does not constitute personal investment advice or take into account the individual financial circumstances or objectives of the client who receives it. Any securities discussed herein may not be suitable for all investors. VIM recommends that investors independently evaluate each issuer, security or instrument discussed herein and consult any independent advisors they believe necessary. The value of and income from any investment may fluctuate from day to day as a result of changes in relevant economic markets (including changes in market liquidity). The information herein is not intended to predict actual results, which may differ substantially from those reflected. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. This material has been issued and approved for distribution in the UK by VIM.

©2021 Vermeer Investment Management Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or redistributed in any manner without the prior written permission of VIM. VIM is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 710280) and is incorporated in England and Wales (company number: 09081916).