A new CEO at Infomedia
Like many readers, we have been keen to see the installation of a new CEO, and resumed focus on business growth, at Infomedia. We saw some progress on this front last week, with the announcement that Jonathan Rubinsztein will assume the role from 14 March, 2016.
Jonathan joins from UXC/Red Rock Consulting, a business he co-founded and successfully grew over many years. On the face of it, his experience and skill set appears to offer a good fit with the requirements the IFM board had previously identified.
We met with Jonathan this week, and while it is too soon to draw clear conclusions, the first impression was a positive one. Jonathan spoke sensibly about how he intends to approach the task, with an emphasis on focusing existing corporate resources more effectively, rather than large scale addition of new resources (and costs).
While it is difficult to know what will develop over the next few years, our assessment is that IFM has an exciting global opportunity in front of it, and is now a step closer to capturing the value in that opportunity.
Tim Kelley is Montgomery’s Head of Research and the Portfolio Manager of The Montgomery Fund. To invest with Montgomery domestically and globally, find out more.
Tim joined Montgomery in July 2012 and is a senior member of the investment team. Prior to this, Tim was an Executive Director in the corporate advisory division of Gresham Partners, where he worked for 17 years. Tim focuses on quant investing and market-neutral strategies.
This post was contributed by a representative of Montgomery Investment Management Pty Limited (AFSL No. 354564). The principal purpose of this post is to provide factual information and not provide financial product advice. Additionally, the information provided is not intended to provide any recommendation or opinion about any financial product. Any commentary and statements of opinion however may contain general advice only that is prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances or needs. Because of this, before acting on any of the information provided, you should always consider its appropriateness in light of your personal objectives, financial circumstances and needs and should consider seeking independent advice from a financial advisor if necessary before making any decisions. This post specifically excludes personal advice.
Hayden
:
Dear Tim,
You recently sold your position in Infomedia. What has caused you to change your mind? Did you get it wrong or just rotating into another stock with better value.
Thanks again for our of your articles.
Cheers,
Hayden
Roger Montgomery
:
Yes. We backed management who have faced (and generated) several headwinds. Because of the very small size of the company, it was a very small position in the portfolio.
Oscar De Toffol
:
Hi Tim,
What are your thoughts around recent developments with Clifford Thames? It appears they’ve entered into some sort of agreement with Jaguar Land Rover to develop and supply them with an electronics parts catalogue solution, world-wide, by about 2020. Are Infomedia now losing a significant contract to a competitor?
Oscar De Toffol
:
Hi Tim,
Sorry, in my haste following the market reaction today, I failed to realise this appears to be the same issue that arose in Jan 2015. So I suppose the real question to ask, is does Clifford Thames have a product, or is it capable of developing a product that would significantly threaten Infomedia’s offerings to other manufacturers? Your thoughts are appreciated.
zoran arnautovic
:
Hi Roger
Are you guys going to ask for seat on the board ? 5.2% may not be huge % but shareholders like myself would be happy to know that one of the Montgomery boys are keeping an eye on the business.