Small Caps Live meetup

London, Tuesday 21st January

As some of you will be aware, Mark and I organised a couple of successful in-person events coming out of covid, and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to do another one for a while. Although it’s a bit short notice, I think we have the perfect confluence of events on 21st January with the the Olympia Toy Fair during the day with plenty of time for lunch followed by the Shares Investor Evening with opportunities to research the hospitality sector in the interim. You’re welcome to join me and other Small Caps Live members for some or all of the day, subject only to free registration(s).

Olympia Toy Fair

Trade shows are an underappreciated resource for the serious investor, enabling a kind of insight into an industry that is impossible to obtain by other means. Exhibitors attend not only to make sales but because they enjoy talking to a variety of people that share an interest (or curiosity) for their industry, and in my experience are very happy to talk to engaged private investors outside of busy times and as long as you are up-front about why you there.

The Toy Fair is quite an institution and this year will be the 70th anniversary of its first appearance at the historic Olympia complex which itself opened in 1886. The most direct relevance to UK investors is probably Character Group (CCT, exhibiting as Character Options) who have a very prominent (and perhaps the largest) stand near the Olympia National entrance. Visiting other attendees should provide insight into both Character’s competitive position as well as fundamental questions such as whether physical toys are a dying industry, destined to lose progressively lose the battle for attention to the every-present mobile phone.

Personally I will be arriving for the start, but I have scheduled a second visit the afternoon when some of the Character Group board expect to be in attendance.

Lunch / AGM Report

For those that registered to attend I will provide an informal report of my visit to the Character Group AGM, my findings from the morning show visit and some the pros and cons of Character Group as an investment.

Jamaica Wine House

This Shepherd Neame owned and an managed pub nicknamed The Jampot was (or at least is on the site of) the first coffeehouse in London and was frequented by Samuel Pepys. As we know, coffeehouses became known for their “rich intellectual atmosphere”, as a place for debate, and later as the original venue for many financial markets, including insurance and (of course) share trading.

Of particular contemporary interest, Shepherd Neame (SHEP) is a shareholding of mine due the apparent large discount to tangible assets. And yes, I do have a shareholder discount card!

Shares Investor Evening

Probably the most successful and long running investor events, they hold events approximately every six weeks in London and Edinburgh. Sponsorship by IG Index / Shares Magazine and contributions from companies that attend mean they are able to offer a complimentary buffet and drinks reception. This model does mean they companies aren’t always of the same quality as found at Mello, but I have never attended an evening without learning a lot. On this occasion there are a couple of investment companies that may be trading at an attractive discount and hopefully the opportunity to talk to the managers about the state of the UK fund management industry. Additionally Serica Energy who are probably in the top 1% of investable O&G companies will be there.

I have no association with this event, but I would ask that anybody attending at my suggestion arrives sober and engaged.

After Drinks

We usually polish off the last of the wine at the Shares Investor Evening soon after 9pm and then take the opportunity to carry out further research into the hospitality sector.

Timetable

All elements are optional:

09:00 I start my visit to the Olympia Toy Fair
11:45 Meet at pub (location advised by email)
12:00 Lunch. I will prove a report of the CCT AGM and my morning
13:45 Visit Olympia Toy Fair, CCT management should have arrived
16:00 Meet for coffee in Jamaica Wine House
17:30 Shares Investor Evening, including food and drinks reception
21:00 After drinks

Registration

It is now too late to register to attend the lunch or the Shares Investor Evening, though if you message me on Discord I may be able to squeeze you in to one or both. You’re free to see me at the Toy Fair or Jamaica Wine House.

You must be registered to attend the Toy Fair. When registering you will see a few warnings intended to put off the general public from attending, but I have never experienced an issue attending trade shows as a private investor. FWIW I chose “Visitor (Other)” put "Private Investor" as the company, gave my home address, said I was "Trade - non buyer", and they immediately emailed me a badge.

Discussion / Questions

For an immediate response please use the #in-person-events channel on SCL, but I will also monitor replies to the post reasonably often.