Investors following the Sharestock September 5 speakers line-up now have very little time to act: only 12 of the 100 seats remain for the annual investing day on the banks of the River Dee, between Chester and Wrexham. The event has sold down to its final places, and the programme announced so far is the most densely packed the day has seen.
Why the Speaker Line-up Is Pulling in Crowds This Year
In most years, one of the two men nicknamed ‘Britain’s Buffett’ headlines the event. This year, both will be there. Jim Mellon speaks just before lunch; Nigel Wray takes the slot immediately after.
The new addition retail investors are likely to pay closest attention to is Mark Slater. A fund manager who has led Slater Investments since 1994, Slater built his methodology around selecting companies able to deliver reliable, above-average earnings growth while trading on a relatively low PEG ratio (price-to-earnings divided by growth rate, a measure of whether growth is being bought cheaply).
The Slater Growth Fund A Acc had delivered cumulative growth of 242.8% since inception and 104.9% over the 10 years to July 2024, according to the fund’s own fact sheet. As of that date, 42.5% of the fund sat in micro-cap stocks and 36.7% in small-cap stocks, with Serco Group PLC the largest single holding at 6.8% of the portfolio.
Slater manages segregated portfolios for large corporate pension schemes, charities and high-net-worth investors alongside three unit trusts and a hedge fund. For retail stock-pickers with an interest in small and micro-cap UK equities, hearing his methodology explained directly is a rare opportunity.
The Sharestock September 5 Bitcoin and AI Sessions Explained
A new session pits a bitcoin bear against a bitcoin bull. Tom Winnifrith takes the sceptical side; Andrew Webley, chief executive of the Smarter Web Company (AQSE: SWC), argues the case for holding bitcoin inside a listed vehicle. SWC shares rose as much as 23% after Webley published a quarterly update laying out the investment case for different categories of shareholder.
The company has since moved up from the AQUIS exchange to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, positioning itself as Britain’s largest publicly listed bitcoin holder. At the listing ceremony, Webley said the move ‘represents the next stage in building a long-term British public company aligned with Bitcoin,’ according to Cryptorank.
Separately, Coinfomania reported that SWC’s shares fell to a level below the market value of its own bitcoin holdings, a situation Webley attributed to ‘unusually pessimistic sentiment.’ He has said UK institutions are slowly becoming more open to companies that hold bitcoin as a reserve asset, which makes the debate at Sharestock timely.
The AI session features Barry Downes and Brian Kinane asking three questions retail investors are increasingly wrestling with: is the current enthusiasm a bubble, which listed companies face the greatest disruption, and how will the technology reshape everyday working life.
Peter Brailey will interview two company bosses: Cathal Friel of European Green Transition (AIM: EGT) and Chris Gilbert of Eco Buildings. Friel is a serial entrepreneur who has listed five companies on the London Stock Exchange. He co-founded Amryt Pharma, which listed in 2016 and was sold to Chiesi Farmaceutici for $1.48bn in April 2023. European Green Transition, described by Vox Markets as focused on acquiring and optimising revenue-generating businesses in the critical infrastructure sector across the UK and Ireland, represents a different kind of bet on the energy transition.
The event also retains its informal character: the night-before pizza gathering, chef Vijay’s lunch, cold salmon supper, homemade ice cream, Joshua’s croquet, and Jaya’s plum and ginger cake stand are all returning. Speakers including Lucian Miers and Evil Banksta are expected back alongside the new names.
With only 12 places left and the full schedule still to be confirmed, the next few days could see the event sell out entirely. Anyone considering attending should treat the closing of the programme announcement as the natural deadline.
