Why Temple Bar backs cheap shares like M&S, BP and Royal Mail: INVESTING SHOW
When the value-minded managers of Temple Bar bought into Marks & Spencer shares, some questioned their sanity.
With M&S shares having almost trebled from 90p to 250p over the past 16 months, that’s not the case anymore.
‘The market has gone from hating Marks & Spencer two years ago – people used to say you’re absolutely crazy to own that – to actually quite liking it,’ Temple Bar’s co-manager Ian Lance told This is Money's Investing Show.
But Lance adds that those big gains come from a low baseline level and the Temple Bar team believe Marks & Spencer is still closer to the start of its recovery journey than the end - with more shareholder returns to come.
On the first episode of a new series of the Investing Show, Ian Lance joins Simon Lambert to explain the investment philosophy that has seen Temple Bar return 80 per cent since he and Nick Purves took over as managers at the end of October 2020.
Lance believes this investment strategy has plenty more to come, stating that the UK market is as undervalued as it was in 2008.
He admits that the duo benefitted from lucky timing in taking over the trust just before the Covid vaccine rally kicked in. Yet, he stresses that their value investing style doesn’t involve just buying the market but cherry-picking individual undervalued companies
Temple Bar looks for the ‘cheapest stocks, with the best prospects’ and Lance outlines why the tight portfolio of about 25 companies includes M&S, BP and Royal Mail-owner IDS.
He also explains Temple Bar’s contrarian backing of car maker Stellantis – and why he would rather hold the conglomerate that owns Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat and Alfa than Tesla stock.
But that’s not to say that value investors can’t stray into the tech world, according to Lance.
He details how he once held Microsoft stock because it fitted into the value investing philosophy and discusses whether Facebook parent Meta managed to make that bracket when its share price nosedived in 2022.
Temple Bar investment trust
AIC Sector: UK Equity Income
Managers: Ian Lance and Nick Purves (since end October 2020)
Ongoing charges: 0.54%
One-year total return: 0.8% vs -0.6% AIC sector average
Three-year total return: 43.3% vs 23.2% AIC sector average
Dividend yield: 4.02%
Share price discount to NAV: -5.55%
Figures from AIC / Morningstar to 29 January 2024
Related articles
Sweden beats France, Britain relegated after losing to Norway at hockey worlds
PRAGUE (AP) — Sweden beat France 3-1 to preserve a perfect record at the ice hockey world championsh2024-05-21China's 5G phone shipments top 167 mln in 2020: report
Consumers experience 5G mobile phones at a business hall of China Mobile Beijing Branch in Beijing,2024-05-21Economy on stable footing, experts say
China's economy has started 2024 on a stable footing, indicating a sustained trajectory of robust re2024-05-21China's courier delivering volume hits 132 billion parcels in 2023
China's courier delivering volume totaled 132 billion parcels in 2023, ranking first in the world fo2024-05-21Verona confirms Serie A status for another year after beating Salernitana
SALERNO, Italy (AP) — Verona secured a place in next year’s Serie A after beating Salernitana 2-1 on2024-05-21Beverage grading system launched in Shanghai
Shanghai recently introduced China's first grading system that evaluates the nutritional value of be2024-05-21
atest comment