6 August 2024

Onward Opportunities: Active investing at dawn and dusk 

Onward Opportunities Limited (LON:ONWD) was launched in March 2023 and just over one year later the investment company was crowned IPO of the Year at the 2024 Small Cap Awards. 

Lead Fund Manager Laurence Hulse can only speculate why his company won the accolade. “We did what we said we would do. We raised some money. We invested it well and we’ve grown as a business and created value.” 

Onward’s purpose, says Hulse, is to aggregate a portfolio of investments, an eclectic mix of ideas and opportunities that could generate a lot of value. Indeed over the past twelve months the net asset value of the portfolio has increased by some 20%.

“The return we generated last year was in quite a severe bear market for AIM. This year things are looking a little bit more helpful and robust and reducing political uncertainty, I suspect, again, is helpful. There’s a very, very healthy pipeline of opportunities to go for in H2. We’ve delivered 9% so far in the first six months of calendar year ‘24. Our aim is to try and do the same again in H2.”

Hulse talks about the ‘dawn and dusk’ ethos of the company’s investment strategy giving portfolio constituent the housebuilder Springfield Properties as an example. After trading at “a deep discount to book value after a tough couple of years for house building, now we think that  sort of journey is over”, says Hulse. “Perhaps the shares are overlooked and offer value. So far that’s been the case. The shares are up about 30% from where we bought them and still trade at a pretty clear discount to book value.”

19 June 2024

Master Investor Sector Focus: Oil & Gas

The sources and costs of our energy are occupying legislators, businesses and investors like never before. As governments across the western world seek security of supply at prices which won’t bankrupt their economies, the value of picking good oil and gas companies in which to invest has rarely been clearer. In this webinar Master Investor hears from experts on the oil and gas sector and a range of companies with exciting prospects.

5 June 2024

Small Cap Awards Nominees: Meet the Leading Lights of Aquis Stock Exchange

The Aquis Stock Exchange makes a point of championing entrepreneurship, investment and growth, and this is very much reflected in a particularly strong set of nominees for this year’s Small Cap Awards. This webinar will provide an overview of AQSE and give investors and advisors the chance to hear from and interact with the senior management of the nominees for the Aquis Award.