Venture

ByteTree Venture focuses on special situations and value in global equities (and occasionally commodities). Venture is far-reaching, and while most trades have been in the UK, simply because that’s where the most value can currently be found, there have been others in Austria, Canada, China, Germany, and Italy.

I saw the UK discount as an opportunity. It came about following issues such as Brexit and the short-lived Liz Truss premiership, which kept international investors away. It wasn’t going to last forever, but it resulted in many world-class companies trading at absurdly low valuations, making it a rich picking ground. I’ve selected opportunities in software, construction, pharmaceuticals, banking, broking, mining, media and airport caterers. To find great value in markets, you need to be flexible.

To me, financial markets are all about data and trends. I spent many years refining my stock selection process, which is both quantitative and qualitative. That means I use data to identify good opportunities and then do detailed research into the company thereafter. I am looking for unusual relationships, such as valuations out of kilter with the past, or a discount to a vibrant sector of the market, or maybe simply “too damn cheap”.

These screens were built for selecting large-cap stocks and are used in the Whisky Portfolio, which is the core equity strategy in The Multi-Asset Investor. One day, I had a eureka moment to apply it to mid- and small-caps, and I got some spectacular results.

Screening is a powerful tool. Rather than study 3,000 companies, which would require a small army of analysts, I use computers and data. They have never selected a stock for me, nor will they. Instead, they are a huge time-saving device that helps me identify potential opportunities. An example might be that oil is strong, or Greece is recovering from a slump. By screening data, attractive potential outliers are identified before the recovery story has even evolved. Rich pickings are not only in the UK but across the world. There’s always value on offer somewhere.

ByteTree Research was founded by Charlie Morris, an experienced fund manager since 1997. At HSBC Global Asset Management in London, where he worked for 17 years, he managed $3 billion of institutional and private wealth. His funds invested in equities and bonds alongside alternative assets such as gold, commodities, real estate, credit, private equity, and hedge funds.

The 21st century has enabled the private investor to become ever more empowered. Today’s investment platforms provide access to a wide range of securities around the world at low cost. ByteTree Venture helps our clients identify profitable opportunities to put their money to work. It is best suited for confident and experienced investors.

Venture is exclusively included in the PRO subscription tier: Subscribe to Pro