Baker Young Equity Advisor, Steven Weinmann
How did you get into the share market?
Growing up in country South Australia (Mypolonga) my father taught me the basics of owning shares, explaining the concepts of dividends and compounding returns. My Dad invested small amounts of money I made working summer jobs on the local orchards. With a taste for finance and investing I eventually moved to Adelaide where I studied Commerce and Economics.
Where did that lead?
I didn’t start out in stockbroking after completing my studies. My first job out of university was as an accountant with Grant Thornton where I completed the Chartered Accountant course. Following this, I had two accounting roles in private and public companies. All up, I spent over 10 years as an accountant, seeing a lot of different businesses and business models (both good and bad).
How did you get into stockbroking?
Following a challenging and rewarding role as a finance manager for 18 months, watching a business double in size in that time, I needed a change. Rather than step into a similar role, I decided to make the change into finance and was fortunate to be offered a position at Baker Young.
How has your accounting background helped you and your clients?
My accounting has been of great help, both in identifying buying opportunities and equally important in identifying stocks to avoid. As an example, in 2014 when a number of Aged Care providers listed out of Private Equity hands, I was able to identify the extreme financial engineering that had taken place and steer clients away from the sector. I had dozens of calls from clients who were eager to get into the sector due to the marketing pitch around an “ageing population”. I am happy to say that I was able to save my clients hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What is your take on the current market?
We are in strange times with this current market, where established businesses with long track records (i.e. banks, utilities) are priced as though their business models are permanently broken and they will never come close to historical levels of profitability. At the same time, we have businesses that have very short track records with little or no profitability, and whose business model is to undercut established businesses, being valued as though they will be some of the most spectacularly profitable businesses to ever exist. Tread with caution!
What do you do outside of Baker Young?
I like getting involved with my children’s sports, football and soccer in the winter, and cricket in the summer. When time permits, I like to get out on the golf course and look for my golf ball… in all the wrong places!
To contact Steve:
sweinmann@bakeryoung.com.au
+61 (8) 8236 8863