Latest News from the World’s Leading Innovators

Granite Bay Capital

An innovation focussed investment company

Granite Bay Capital is an innovation focussed investment company with a deep focus on the companies at the leading edge of innovation across major themes such as AI, ubiquitous computing, sustainability, automation and longevity.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Headline Developments: We can now modify DNA inside of a human body (in vivo), thanks to some groundbreaking work announced this week by Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) which saw the company’s share price surge 55%.  What this means is that we can now send precision therapeutics (based on CRISPR technology) to “seek and destroy” problematic genes.

Headline Developments: We can now modify DNA inside of a human body (in vivo), thanks to some groundbreaking work announced this week by Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) which saw the company’s share price surge 55%.  What this means is that we can now send precision therapeutics (based on CRISPR technology) to “seek and destroy” problematic genes.

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas, CrossASEAN Research

Henry Soediarko

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

The tech break up is not happening soon but the regulators have been more vocal and active in penalizing the Big Tech companies. In the US, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/facebook-inc-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:665:1" rel="noopener">Facebook Inc A (FB US)</a> was sued over monopoly concern and the EU has issued Digital Services Act that aims to create better chances for smaller developers to compete in the Apple and Google ecosystem. In China, the regulator has also been more stringent on the Big Tech, starting with the cancelation of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ant-financial-services-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24240:1" rel="noopener">Ant Group (6688 HK)</a> IPO and now potentially to ask <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a> to divest some of their investments. 
The smaller tech companies in China also have issues that their revenue growth rate has started to slow down considerably, therefore, reducing the potential to reach break-even unless they do a massive cost-cutting exercise. 
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/178/884/original/image_39996483941608095760408.png?1608095759" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="178884"></figure>
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source: Capital IQ
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If the Big Tech backer such as Tencent and Alibaba are told to reduce their holdings in the above shares, while the investees also do not much cash lying around in the balance sheet and trading at expensive valuation, there are two outcome possible - either a further capital raising that will send the shares multiples down or investors to start rotating into other sectors that also will send share price down. 
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The tech break up is not happening soon but the regulators have been more vocal and active in penalizing the Big Tech companies. In the US, Facebook Inc A (FB US) was sued over monopoly concern and the EU has issued Digital Services Act that aims to create better chances for smaller developers to compete in the Apple and Google ecosystem. In China, the regulator has also been more stringent on the Big Tech, starting with the cancelation of Ant Group (6688 HK) IPO and now potentially to ask Tencent Holdings (700 HK) and Alibaba Group (9988 HK) to divest some of their investments. 
The smaller tech companies in China also have issues that their revenue growth rate has started to slow down considerably, therefore, reducing the potential to reach break-even unless they do a massive cost-cutting exercise. 


source: Capital IQ


If the Big Tech backer such as Tencent and Alibaba are told to reduce their holdings in the above shares, while the investees also do not much cash lying around in the balance sheet and trading at expensive valuation, there are two outcome possible - either a further capital raising that will send the shares multiples down or investors to start rotating into other sectors that also will send share price down. 


Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Performance between US Value funds and Aggressive Growth funds has diverged over the last decade, with 2020 seeing an acceleration of the trend.</li>
<li>The difference in performance is down to their vastly different portfolios, with Value funds heavily reliant on Financials and Health Care stocks and Aggressive Growth funds heavily exposed to Tech and Communication Services. </li>
<li>However, there is some overlap.  There are a number of stocks that appear to offer something for both Value and Growth investors, including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/visa-inc-class-a-shares" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8707:1" rel="noopener">Visa Inc Class A Shares (V US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lowe-s-companies-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4156:1" rel="noopener">Lowe's Companies Inc (LOW US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/schwab-charles-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13610:1" rel="noopener">Schwab (Charles) (SCHW US)</a> </li>
<li>In this analysis, we explore a portfolio that combines stocks that are owned by more than 10% of both the Value funds and Aggressive Growth funds in our analysis.  </li>
</ul>


Performance between US Value funds and Aggressive Growth funds has diverged over the last decade, with 2020 seeing an acceleration of the trend.
The difference in performance is down to their vastly different portfolios, with Value funds heavily reliant on Financials and Health Care stocks and Aggressive Growth funds heavily exposed to Tech and Communication Services. 
However, there is some overlap.  There are a number of stocks that appear to offer something for both Value and Growth investors, including Visa Inc Class A Shares (V US), Lowe's Companies Inc (LOW US) and Schwab (Charles) (SCHW US) 
In this analysis, we explore a portfolio that combines stocks that are owned by more than 10% of both the Value funds and Aggressive Growth funds in our analysis.  


US Value Vs Growth:  The Goldilocks Portfolio

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Our base case continues to be for near-term consolidation while the market determines the implications of states’ reopening (i.e., the “wait-and-see” phase). Until this consolidation period resolves below support or above resistance we are maintaining a relatively neutral stance considering the wide range of outcomes. Many major indexes are testing logical resistance and until we see breakouts it is hard to get too bullish. In this report we highlight attractive stocks from a RS perspective.

Our base case continues to be for near-term consolidation while the market determines the implications of states’ reopening (i.e., the “wait-and-see” phase). Until this consolidation period resolves below support or above resistance we are maintaining a relatively neutral stance considering the wide range of outcomes. Many major indexes are testing logical resistance and until we see breakouts it is hard to get too bullish. In this report we highlight attractive stocks from a RS perspective.

U.S. Equity Strategy: Round Trip Back To Resistance

Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

* All That Glitters Isn’t Gold: Structurally, the Megabank American franchises are well-capitalized, have strong credit metrics, and are reliant on capital markets businesses. However, as a sector, these subsidiaries are NIM-challenged, wholesale funded, and have bloated cost structures (like their parent companies) - all of which challenge operating returns; * COVID-19 Challenges At US Franchises: Our “burn down” results for MUFGA were a surprise. We calculate that MUFG Americas’ (8306.JP) [MUFGA] 4Q19 CET1/Tier 1 capital ratios would decline from 14.1% to 3.9% - implying a regulatory capital shortfall, while the same analysis suggests COVID-19 will be a multi-year earnings event for both SMBC Americas (8316.JP) [SMBCA] and Mizuho Americas (8411.JP); and* Exhaustive Megbank Challenges: Japanese Megabanks were struggling to meet their FY (March) 2020 and 2021 business plans. Chronic weak returns, weak/negative growth in Japan, increased reliance of volatile capital markets revenues, impairments charges on previous acquisitions, EPS deal dilution, Softbank Group (9984.JP) exposures, and growth in Asia (Ex-Japan) risk just as the USD significantly strengthened all continue to hamper Megabank returns – even before the impact of COVID-19.

* All That Glitters Isn’t Gold: Structurally, the Megabank American franchises are well-capitalized, have strong credit metrics, and are reliant on capital markets businesses. However, as a sector, these subsidiaries are NIM-challenged, wholesale funded, and have bloated cost structures (like their parent companies) - all of which challenge operating returns; * COVID-19 Challenges At US Franchises: Our “burn down” results for MUFGA were a surprise. We calculate that MUFG Americas’ (8306.JP) [MUFGA] 4Q19 CET1/Tier 1 capital ratios would decline from 14.1% to 3.9% - implying a regulatory capital shortfall, while the same analysis suggests COVID-19 will be a multi-year earnings event for both SMBC Americas (8316.JP) [SMBCA] and Mizuho Americas (8411.JP); and* Exhaustive Megbank Challenges: Japanese Megabanks were struggling to meet their FY (March) 2020 and 2021 business plans. Chronic weak returns, weak/negative growth in Japan, increased reliance of volatile capital markets revenues, impairments charges on previous acquisitions, EPS deal dilution, Softbank Group (9984.JP) exposures, and growth in Asia (Ex-Japan) risk just as the USD significantly strengthened all continue to hamper Megabank returns – even before the impact of COVID-19.  

Japan Mega Banks – Avenue of the Americas

United States

Visa Inc. operates a retail electronic payments network and manages global financial services.  The Company also offers global commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses and government entities.

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Visa (V US)

Weekly Innovation Review (WIRE) #38

Headline Developments: We can now modify DNA inside of a human body (in vivo), thanks to some groundbreaking work announced this week

Granite Bay Capital

Tech Sell-Off - Progress

Although the US and China are at so to say war, it is not too impossible that the Chinese and the US regulator will work together in order to curb...

Henry Soediarko

US Value Vs Growth: The Goldilocks Portfolio

Performance between US Value funds andtwo groups has diverged over the last decade, with 2020 seeing an acceleration of the trend.

Steven Holden

U.S. Equity Strategy: Round Trip Back To Resistance

Our base case continues to be for near-term consolidation while the market determines the implications of states’ reopening (i.e., the...

Vermilion Research

Japan Mega Banks – Avenue of the Americas

* All That Glitters Isn’t Gold: Structurally, the Megabank American franchises are well-capitalized, have strong credit metrics, and are reliant on...

Thomas J. Monaco

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