Mello Chiswick June 25

My write up on the event

My name is Charles Ford, sometimes known as Chas. I am retired and investing in shares is my passion and hobby as well as making some money. I have been doing it for some time, and I would like to think I am reasonably skilled and knowledgeable but I am constantly learning. I get some satisfaction in sharing what I know and learning from others. I don’t want to put anything behind a paywall but if you want to show some appreciation a small single donation is always appreciated. This is my June 2025 Mello report. For followers who have not been to Mello you need to know that there are 4 Meeting rooms and the Mello Theatre which is the big meeting room. I mention this because there is a lot more going on than I can visit and report on. There is also a room full of company stands where we can meet circulate at coffee breaks and lunchtime or when we just need a break.

Nothing I write is a recommendation or a tip and may not be 100% accurate even though I try to be accurate. As we always say, DYOR before investing.

Mello – June 2025

As a private investor I love Mello. A bit of History – the first one was in Derby in November 2014. The second, which was my first, was in April 2015 in Peterborough.

I think I have attended everyone since, although I may have missed one.

This one on 3^rd and 4^th of June in Chiswick was another triumph for David Stredder and his team. Actually, David is trying to stand back a bit and is handing over the reigns to his son and daughter, Daniel and Gracia Stredder and as always Georgina is an integral part of the organising team.

The first session I attended at 9am on Tuesday was the Sharescope session by Paul Hall of Sharescope. It was titled See how top investors find top stocks. I discovered that when Sharescope was re designed to be mobile and app friendly it was called Sharepad. The new version is now called Sharescope again, the old version is Sharescope legacy, so Sharepad is a term no longer used. Paul showed us how putting in various criteria which interest you, you can produce a list of shares which match your criteria. With quite robust criteria it produced a list of 5 shares which matched. They were Cairn Homes, CRH plc, Hill & Smith Holdings, Smiths Group plc and TP ICAP plc. He then looked at Contrarian Value criteria, High Yield and Low risk, Momentum and produced lists based on the criteria. I have to say Sharescope has changed significantly since I had a version some years ago. It sems to be extremely versatile.

I am a Stockopedia devotee of many years but being open minded I will explore Sharescope in more detail. There was a Mello offer of 2 weeks FOC on their stand.

My next session was David Stredder in conversation with Georgina Brittain, Managing Director and senior portfolio manager of JP Morgan Asset Management. She looks after small and mid-cap strategies. Georgina has an MA in Classics from Oxford University and earned a Diploma in Law from City University London, she is a qualified Barrister. She was good and interesting, but I took no notes. I remember her saying she has good autonomy and because she is in the small and mid-cap arena, she physically sits close to the analysts in the office. Her cumulative performance (% growth) over 10 years has been 112.1 when a peer group composite has been 79.2. Georgina is speaking at the Quoted Companies Alliance in July and a non-members ticket would cost you £450 plus VAT. I mention this because by attending Mello you only paid the Mello ticket price – good value.

The next session I attended was The Property Franchise Group. (TPFG) As many of you will know Belvoir merged with TPFG and they have become a very significant company. To avoid this resume being too long I suggest you go to the websites of the ones you are interested in for the most up to date data. Revenue up 147% adjusted profit before tax up 100% and still a PEG of only 0.5 they are an attractive proposition.

https://thepropertyfranchisegroup.co.uk

As well as Property Franchising, Financial Services is becoming increasingly important. A company well worth investigating further in my opinion.

My next session was the AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (LON:AJOT) presented by Nicola Takada Wood, who is half Japanese. The objective is to achieve capital growth through investing in a focused portfolio of over capitalised small to mid-cap Japanese equities. The overriding message was that the Japanese stock market is changing dramatically. The Tokyo stock exchange boss has told Japan to embrace activist investors and if they don’t, they could be de listed. The slide included a little ‘Superman’ logo as he is seen as a Superman making dramatic changes and waking up a sleeping giant. I would encourage you to go to www.assetvalueinvestors.com/ajot/#aboutthetrust

I was introduced to an India ETF at the last Chiswick Mello show a year ago and this session has introduced me to the idea of Japan for part of my own portfolio. Regional diversification is becoming increasingly important to me. I think Japanese companies are waking up to the importance of their investors.

Next, for me was Time Finance (LON:TIME) Their Mello presentation can be found at www.investors.timefinance.com/activity-updates/mello-presentation As with most Mello presentations, we are meeting the CEO and CFO of the Company, namely Ed Rimmer and James Roberts. As regular Mello attendees we take this for granted but it is a massive benefit to meet the people who make these companies tick. Look at the presentation yourself but Time Finance is classed by Stockopedia as an Adventurous, small cap, super stock. With cash and no debt, good relative strength data, a PEG of 1.2 and passing the Peter Lynch Growth Screen it has to be worth a look (DYOR as always) The share price is up 40.8% in the last 12 months.

Tristel (TSTL) presentation by CEO Matt Sassone and Julija Shabanova Director Business Development. Tristel is a company which I have never held but one that interests me. I feel it should have done better than it has. Matt is the new CEO who understands the US market very well so maybe he can inject some ‘fizz’ into the performance. Go to www.investors.tristel.com/investor-hub and in presentations& webinars you will find the Mello slides. I will continue to watch and hope the newish CEO Matt can get them motoring.

The next I saw was a presentation from Personal Group (LON:PGH) Market Cap £87.58m

Paula Constant CEO and Sarah Mace CFO. Go to www.personalgroup.com for the important stuff. If you look at their performance the share price has increased by 60% in the last year and 35% in the last 3 months. Stockopedia describe them as Adventurous, small cap, super stock. With a peg of 0.9 and Relative strength metrics very good, holding cash and no debt, they have to be worth a second look. I will be delving further myself. (Nothing I write or do should be regarded as a recommendation. I do not recommend or tip any share; you must always DYOR – I get plenty wrong)

Aurrigo (LON:AURR) I had never heard of them but the presentation by David Keene CEO was fascinating and interesting. David has 39 years experience in the automotive industry, is a Board member of the UK Automotive Council, visiting Professor in Autonomous vehicles at Coventry University and a Fellow of the institute of Engineering and Technology. Aurrigo has only been public since Sep 2022 but after a declining share price since November 2023 it is beginning to move rapidly north with 78.2% growth in 6 months and 89.5% in the last 3 months. They tell a compelling story about autonomous vehicles for airport baggage handling. I will be looking in more detail. Visit www.aurrigo.com

Lord John Lee was then the presenter in the main Mello Theatre.

Famous as the first ISA Millionaire, John is always great value. Totally unflappable by any events, he titled his talk “It’s not Armageddon” so fill your boots.” It’s always good to have a very experienced and seasoned investor with a lot of credibility to calm us all down and make us feel better. He always commands a good audience at Mello events.

He does not profess to do loads of in-depth technical analysis but looks for sound companies with a good track record of producing regular profit and cash surpluses paying a reasonable dividend. He also like to see plenty of ownership with the Directors having plenty of skin in the game. Lord Lee is very generous by telling us what he is invested in. I will list some of them on my Google sheet which I am hoping to give you access to, but not sure how to do it yet. If you are not a Mello regular, I urge you to become one to learn a lot but also to get to know others who do what we do. In my experience investors are a friendly lot who are happy to share their ideas, successes and inevitable failures.

This brings me to the last session of the day where we all gather in the Mello Theatre, perhaps with a beer. This is the Mello Bash (Buy, Avoid, Sell or Hold) To the un initiated 3 people are previously chosen to present on a stock they rate and then we vote whether we would Buy, Avoid, Sell or Hold. I love the Bash because it gives ideas, and the presenter has to show why they chose the stock. You get ideas but also some education on how some of the better investors choose their stocks and what criteria they look for, very enlightening. I have chosen a number from watching previous bashes.

First up was Damian Cannon with F W Thorpe (TFW) Very much a family business, conservative with a lot of cash. Difficult to get excited about this one but I can see why Damian might feel it is a buy. A bit below people’s radar, it has a price of c 307p but Fair Value is c384p. On Stockopedia it passes 6 long screens and has an F Score of 8. My vote was Avoid but you probably wouldn’t lose money.

Next was Mark Simpson with JD Sports Fashion. (JD.) He regards it as a bit of a cash machine. 25% of sales are online they also own Go Outdoors and organic sales are up.

I have had it and would consider going in again when my graphics set up looks right and it doesn’t at the moment. It is just rising slightly off support. I didn’t record how I voted.

Finally Lord Lee pitched P Z Cussons (PZC) again. He has a ‘bit of a thing’ about this share. He knows its history very well and feels there is a good future, he can’t see much downside and he is rebuilding a position in it. It doesn’t fulfil any of my criteria so I would be an avoid, but what do I know!!!

All good fun, then we make for the bar to chew the fat well into the evening in the company of some really good investors and some really good company. What’s not to like.

Day two came around very quickly. At 08.15 Graham Neary was in the Mello Theatre to talk about his daily stock market report on Stockopedia. I was a little late so didn’t get it all. Graham has a team who report on RNS’s daily and they grade some companies. If it is a ‘Green’ then I am likely to do further research for my own portfolio or to trade.

I then went to a smaller meeting room to see and hear The Mortgage Advice Bureau presentation by Ben Thompson the Deputy CEO. They are one of the leading consumer intermediary brands and specialist networks for mortgage advisers. The group consists of nearly 200 Appointed Representative firms (AR’s) and approximately 2,000 advisers. They listed in 2014. 89% of mortgages go through intermediaries and they do about 27-30 billion pounds of lending. The plans for the next 5 years are ambitious and 35-40% of revenue is repeat business. Probably worth further research, DYOR.

I then went back to the Mello Theatre to hear Christopher Mills of Harwood Capital. A man who always gets a big audience at Mello and is highly respected for his opinions and views on the markets. He is normally upbeat and positive. Well, he was not upbeat and positive that morning. I can only say his opinions were deeply pessimistic and negative. He said debt is at record levels and he is sceptical that the 2% inflation target will be met. He said, “we can’t go on as we are” and the government is talking up the market. He voiced 2 problems; pension fund trustees are liable and therefore risk averse and that the FCA puts all clients into risk categories, so they go for global equities. As far as the UK market is concerned, he feels liquidity is difficult, it is a very difficult market at the moment. Takeovers deal with redemptions to some extent, but they then shrink the market. He mentioned a few companies that interest him including Spire Healthcare, NCC, Ensco, Pay Point, Gooch & Housego, Flowtech and Pebble. He was asked about the funds he is running and answered that they had a very good May, and one big success was Pinewood, a spin out from Dragon.

I then went to listen to Richard Staveley of Rockwood Strategic (RKW) which is an investment trust. It has 23 holdings and is run from Harwood Capital and it is his only job. He considers himself a Value Investor and looks for 100% upside. His average is 15% pa and currently has 23 holdings. He works out his exit thesis when he buys.

His last 4 purchases have been Kooth, Vanquis Banking, Mercia Asset Management and Capita. Others held include RM plc, Trifast, M&C Saatchi, James Fisher and Sons, Restore, and Funding Circle.

Brave Bison (BBSN) was the next I attended. This is an interesting company run by two charismatic brothers, Oliver and Theodore Green. It is a digital, marketing and technology company. It is a Micro-Cap. I think the best thing for me to say is DYOR. That is not a negative from me, I am sure they have great potential.

Smiths News (SNWS) I can’t quite work this one out. Its main USP seems to be that they can do drop offs and pick ups very early. It has passed 4 long screens on Stockopedia and has vey high Quality and Value scores of 94 and 99 respectively. It doesn’t excite me personally but that is not to say they are not a good investment. I had better stress DYOR and see what you think.

I then had a very convivial lunch with a good friend I have met through Mello and another investing friend who came to Mello for the first time. Our snack lunch ran through the first after lunch session. I only mention this to highlight what I think is one of the great things about the live Mello meetings. You are with a group of sociable and like minded people who understand and practice the joy of stock investing.

It was then off to see a presentation by The Law Debenture Corporation (LWDP) which is another UK based investment Trust. I have to be honest and say I didn’t take a lot of notes on this one. That reflects on me and not them. Their chart on Stockopedia looks very healthy since a big drop as a result of Trumps freedom day. April 7^th would have been a very good day to buy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

There was then a presentation by Alyx Wood of Kernow Asset management on Shorting secrets – which companies to avoid. It was such a popular session that there was no room to get in. Alyx Wood is another charismatic character who is well worth listening to and is an occasional presenter on Mello online events. I suggest you look at their website www.kernowam.com They manage investment capital on behalf of a range of investors, including institutional investors, family offices, private wealth groups and high net worth private investors.

I then spent some time on the Sharescope Stand to hear what they have to offer these days.

Next it was Ed Croft in the Mello Theatre with the title ‘How three simple rules beat every UK fund manager for a decade. Ed, of course, is the founder and CEO of Stockopedia.

I have been a user and supporter of Stockopedia for a very long time. The scores in terms of Quality, Value and Momentum that Stockopedia give every stock is a great visual guide which can save a lot of time when researching stocks and the results for high scoring stocks has stood the test of time.

We finish live Mello with The Mello Bash, bash standing for Buy, Avoid, Sell or Hold.

I love the bashes, live or online, because it gives us 3 stocks presented by 3 presenters who tend to know what they are talking about. This is a great source of information for Private Investors always looking for something new to research themselves.

Leon Boros possibly the second ISA Millionaire brought us Treatt (TET). I think he said he had tried using Chat GBT but I can’t swear to it. It is currently undervalued and is an attractive proposition for a takeover.

Grahan Neary presented Hostelworld (HSW) I think Graham also mentioned Chat GPT. It is an early stage story. The Balance sheet is modest but fine. It is very much based on social networking and is recovering after the pandemic, an interesting one.

Finally we had Paul Scott with 4 Imprint (FOUR) which he has mystery shopped recently for his own bright orange pens with his Substack logo, which is paulypilot.substack.com They had a bit of a profit warning a while ago, but Paul thinks they will do well. Most of their business is State side but I have seen adverts in the UK recently.

It was then time to say our goodbyes and wend our way home after a terrific 2 days.

You can probably judge that I love live Mello and I also attend online Mello when I can.

David Stredder, the founder, is a great guy and we are all hoping that his Son and Daughter, Daniel and Gracia will run with it for the future. Where else can you find such quality presenters and attendees, meet interesting companies, and enjoy the company of people who do what we do. Investing for the private investor is a minority and lonely sport, and this is our sanity check.

Nothing I have written constitutes advice. What is suitable for me may not be suitable for you, to quote the great late David Paul, who was also a regular at Mello.

I may have miswritten and remembered facts incorrectly so nothing I have written should be relied on as fact, but I have done my best. Most investors I meet are thoroughly nice and good people who wouldn’t dream of suing me for any mistakes I may have made, and we all go by the caveat DYOR.

It is my intention to publish more frequently on Substack.