Luke Mcmahon
If someone came to you tomorrow with R100m to invest in just one company, which would it be?
In the old days, some pilots had a saying: “If it ain’t Boeing, it ain’t going.” And Boeing’s share price is certainly going — at mid-november, when I initially recommended the stock, it was trading at Us$262/share. It was the best-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2017, while delivering a 2.2% dividend, and at the time of writing it had risen a staggering 21.03% in the year to date. Some may say the share price is expensive, but there is still a lot more steam in this stock’s upward trajectory. Late lastyear the company was awarded a $37bn aviation contract by the Chinese government, and it has also just won a $6.6bn deal with the US Missile Defense Agency for a Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. This is an indication of the business’s diversified revenue stream over and above its core aviation business.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To be more musically inclined.
What was your first job?
A call centre agent straight out of high school, selling general insurance and airtime.
What was your worst investment mistake?
Believing the masses that were saying Brexit would never happen and going long in European and Japanese equity the day before the vote, all being leveraged positions, without a stop-loss in place. Needless to say I lost more than I invested due to being leveraged. A painful lesson indeed.
What’s your favourite song?
It’s a tough choice, but two songs that definitely resonate with me every time are Tupac Shakur’s “Changes” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”.
How much was your first pay cheque and what did you do with it?
My first pay cheque was R2,000 and it went straight towards my undergraduate studies.
Apple or Samsung (or Nokia)?
Samsung. I’ve never really bought into the Apple ideology as it is too much ofa closed system. Samsung runs on Android and allows for more choice and flexibility.
What is your greatest extravagance?
My wardrobe — I often buy expensive colognes, suits, shoes and even bamboo material socks.
Name a place you’ve been to that lived up to the hype?
Thailand.
Do you own bitcoin? And why?
Yes, I bought it after doing extensive research on blockchain technology and digital assets, starting with reading the initial white paper that sparked the emergence of the technology. I support the ideology of a decentralised financial system.