Each member of our team brings a unique blend of expertise, passion, and perspective to our investment strategies. Get to know the people who make us a leader in stock picking and independent, in-depth research.
“When I was in my 20s my father introduced me to a small copper and gold developer based in Mexico named Bolnisi Gold. It then traded between 7 and 10 cents for a long time and then it exploded. We ended up converting $70,000 into over $1.5 million when Bolnisi got taken over for over $3 a share.
People hadn’t heard of Bolnisi in its early stages, which underlines why Under the Radar exists: there is a lack of information in small caps.
I have been an analyst for about 20 years ago and very early on became attracted to small listed companies, or small caps, because people simply don’t know about them.
I looked at beverage companies and most analysts could tell you the volumes and operating margins of all the major wine companies, which were then trading on big earnings multiples. But if it had existed back then, they wouldn’t have known about the organic baby formula producer Bellamy’s until it hit them in the face.
In order to find the next Bolnisi or for that matter Bellamy’s, our team looks for stocks using a process, which involves screening, talking to management, and knowing which types of companies have that kind of potential.
Over the past few years, we have had some big successes with subscribers with stocks which have increased by multiples in very short time frames. I’m talking about biotechs such as Afterpay, Sirtex Medical, Pilbara Minerals, Capilano Honey, and even a shipbuilder like Austal.”
Richard is an experienced equities analyst, stockbroker, and financial editor, having worked for over 30 years in finance.
Caroline has a BA in Literature, an MA in history and a Graduate Certificate in Finance. Her focus is on helpin Australian investors to grow their investment portfolio into a true asset they can rely on. She founded Under the Radar with Richard in 2011.
She worked for the Securities Institute of Australia, the Sydney Symphony and National Gallery in London.
Her focus is on helping investors to grow their wealth through by following Under the Radar Report’s investing paths.
” We know it’s real people with real money following our advice and take care and pride in our stock picking and analysis.”
Caroline is also a stock market investor. If you are new to investing, find out first hand how Caroline started investing and built up a share portfolio from scratch. She told her story from on the podcast Shares For Beginners.
Our enigmatic Small Cap Portfolio Manager has invested in smaller individual stocks for four decades. In his extensive career he has held roles with fund managers in the UK and US, which include Fidelity Investments, and at Australian equities organisations including Morningstar. He is a senior executive and was the CEO of an ASX listed company.
Sectors where he has had particularly successful outcomes for himself, for funds he advises, and for UTRR subscribers, include TMT, Telecoms, Media, and Technology. He has identified, recommended, and bought for himself and for funds stocks in all three sectors which have returned many times the original investment.
In Australian telecoms, multiple winners include TPG & Tuas (TUA) that are still listed, as well as many other companies taken over in ongoing consolidation. In media, UTRR subscribers got the benefit of our great BUY recommendation for Seven West Media (SWM) at below 10c in the middle of Covid, which traded less than a year later at over 60c, as well as the takeover of Prime Media (PRT) by SWM. In technology, developments are often beyond his scientific comprehension, but he sometimes knows the right questions to ask.
For UTRR, he covers many retail companies, including online, industrials, financials, and runs towards special situations, where many other investors can’t run away fast enough!
Gold
First tipped 14 February 2016 @1.06
Original Thesis: Smaller West Australian Gold miner.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. Growing production from a diversified asset base assisted by merger and takeovers. Also benefiting from low cost of production and a rising gold price.
Contractor
First tipped 30 December 2020 @$0.365
Original Thesis: A quality contractor operating in the mining space; always had a great niche. Not just anyone can handle big electrical projects. Exposure to growth in the mining sector, but what impressed was the advance into the industrial customer base. The stock was also very cheap.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. Two words: data centres. Market credibility and key relationships in a critical niche. Has an impressive niche and is now one of the few Australia wide operators that can handle very big, very complex projects.
Information Technology
First tipped 21 November 2018 @$0.965
Original Thesis: Founder led IT company, switching into data centres. Solid balance sheet. Founders with long-term vision and getting traction with government contracts.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. Backing founders who kept reinvesting and not raising equity. Secured big recurring revenue contracts with government and corporate clients. Expanding data centre footprint plus generating more value from consulting.
Contractor
First tipped 20 March 2019 @$3.01
Original Thesis: This stock frustrated for a while, with the share price going down and sidewards. The business of designing and constructing mineral processing plants is complicated. But we liked the IP, as the author of feasibility studies, which then leads to engineering procurement and construction (EPC) work. The stock was also very cheap and we liked one of the founders Joe Ricciardo, who was also executive chair.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. The group has grown its work in hand and has delivered great earnings appreciation because of its low capital requirements, boosting return on equity, which has compounded over time.
Information Technology
First Tipped 21 November 2018 @0.965
Original Thesis: Quality IT stock with a broad product offering. Reputable business with a corporate client base. Very cheap.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. A substantial component of DTL’s business is relatively low margin software sales, but 69% of revenue comes from recurring contracted payments. We think DTL is a keeper, and we welcome opportunities to buy it cheaper. You just have to see how quickly the stock bounced back this year after the software apocalypse led selling.
Gold Mining
First tipped 13 July 2016 at $0.66
Original Thesis:
A young CEO with extensive experience as a contractor in Barminco, developing a mine near Kalgoorlie that kept delivering better than expected production. Bill Beament left Northern Star with a world-class gold mine and the company has gone on from there.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. Building a portfolio of world class gold mines both in Australia and abroad, in Alaska. The Kalgoorlie Super Pit, KGSM has proven to be a particularly good move.
Gold Mining
First tipped 18 March 2015 @$0.72
Original Thesis: A young CEO named Jake Klein, who had left Macquarie Bank and was a gifted deal maker. Quickly used his deal making skills to purchase a portfolio of domestic mining assets.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. The mine portfolio grew and grew, funded mainly by debt and impressive exploration. The gold price also helped.
Retail
First tipped 14 June 2012 @0.83
Original Thesis: A founder led business that had a very strong balance sheet, with lots of cash, a good brand name and was very cheap.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. Innovative business model where furniture isn’t made until the order comes in from the show-room. Returns are much higher than average because working capital is so low. They had a very good supply chain and they have scale to out-compete on price. They invest in the brand.
Lithium Miner
First tipped 16 December 2021 @0.86
Original Thesis: Lithium was a growth resource essential to the future green economy. There were a number of operators that were developing hard rock resources in Australia, as well as lithium brine developing in South America. Pilbara Minerals, as it was called then, was one of the leaders on the ASX.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. The group turned from developer to producer at scale faster than other operators and with less hiccups. PLS has also merged successfully with other operations and has lower costs of production, which enabled it to survive a big fall in commodity prices.
Industrial
First tipped 19 May 2022 @0.40
Original Thesis: Manufacturer of world class naval ships in the littoral class. Had gone through a painful transformation involving a dilutive equity raising. Balance sheet was strong and stock was very cheap, trading at a discount to net tangible assets.
What drove the return: Earnings and multiple expansion. The US business was grew very quickly when the company won preferred supplier to the US Navy. The company benefited from the focus towards Asia and from success in building programs.
These stocks have surpassed their price targets, and our analysts expect continued bullish performance.
