Had this on the watch list too long and could kick my own ass if it was possible. I think this is just the type of play needed on these markets along with Value shares such as Churchill China that I recommended yesterday.

Heres just a brief background on the company.................

Hedge fund leads rush to float
by Louise Armitstead
RAB Capital is the first to plan a listing in London. Others are bound to follow

IN the spring of 1999 Philip Richards and Michael Alen-Buckley arrived almost empty-handed at their new office — a small room in 1 Adam Street, just off the Strand in central London.
The day — April Fools’ Day — seemed apt at the time. Richards and Alen-Buckley, both highly regarded bankers at Merrill Lynch, were giving up stellar careers to start their own hedge fund, RAB Capital. The only money they had was their own, and their staff consisted of one manager, a compliance officer and a secretary.

Five years on, the little room in 1 Adam Street, still RAB Capital’s main trading floor, albeit straining under a vastly expanded workforce, is again the engine room of an ambitious and pioneering venture.

Last week RAB Capital became the first stand-alone hedge-fund company to announce its intention to float in London.

Richards, 46, and Alen-Buckley, 43, will be at the helm of a company with a market value that could be as high as 100m. Their stakes could be worth 30m each. Advised by KBC Peel Hunt, the firm will release a prospectus tomorrow revealing how much money it intends to raise.

In the past five years, Richards, a former army officer, and Alen-Buckley, who is the son-in-law of the hotelier Lord Forte, have increased their funds under management from 4m to an estimated 1.1 billion. They have 40 staff (16 of them managers), 7 hedge funds and a track record that is the envy of the City.

RAB’s first fund, the European equities fund, which was launched in November 1999, has made returns of 84% despite the tumbling markets.

Floating will for the first time allow small investors to take part in the success of a hedge-fund boutique rather than investing in one fund.

But there is growing concern that they will also be exposed to risks that at the moment are restricted to professional investors.

Watching in the wings are hundreds of other hedge-fund managers, salivating at the thought of following RAB to market and realising the value of their businesses. Investment bankers and advisers are also rubbing their hands at the prospect of a spate of similar deals.

Two funds earmarked for flotation are Thames River Capital and GLG Partners, one of the biggest hedge funds in London, with about $8 billion under management. Experts say plenty of others are looking to float as a way of cashing in.

Richards and Alen-Buckley dismiss the suggestion that this is their motive for floating RAB. “Right from the start we wanted to create a long-term business and we’re here to stay,” said Richards. “Floating is an indication of our permanence. Neither one of us will be taking cash out. We are also doing this for our staff. We have given them options over the years and this will be their chance to realise some cash. Staff loyalty is important to us and to our clients, who like the stability this offers.”

The cash raised from the float will also be used to launch additional hedge funds and bankroll the company’s rapid expansion.

Managers have already been hired for several new funds that will specialise in energy and in Japan. Small investors are likely to be attracted through a joint venture with Saga, which provides services for the over-fifties and has 7m customers.

Richards and Alen-Buckley built impressive reputations in the City working together in the late 1980s at Smith New Court, where they helped to build the stockbroker from a market value of 10m to one of 500m by the time it was sold to Merrill Lynch in 1995.

Both men had been watching the growing hedge-fund industry with interest. Alen-Buckley had numerous contacts, including leading figures such as George Soros. They spent four years at Merrill before quitting to set up RAB.

Alen-Buckley, who is taking the title of executive chairman, is described as the “public face” of the business. Richards, who goes from chief investment officer to chief executive, is more involved in strategy.

Richards runs the Special Situations fund, which is just over a year old but has already generated a return of 1,274%.

Since hedge funds are known for being opaque and secretive, observers are concerned that RAB will struggle to live with the scrutiny that comes with being a public company.

Richards said the company planned to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) rather than the main market so that lengthy meetings with institutions could be avoided. “We want to spend our time managing the money, not talking about it,” he said.

“We have a simple philosophy. Our goal is to produce consistent returns in all market conditions. We think that if you work on managing the risks and reducing the downside, the upside tends to look after itself. The float is exciting but it will still be business as usual.”ENDS



Please DYOR, you are responsible for your own buying and selling timing actions.

cheers GF

Oh dear someone not done their research....some aren't very good on MoneyAM at research are they?


KMS floated in 1999 where is your graph relating to 1999 on OFEX ... not how it did on AIM to which your graph relates. KMS was a 100 bagger on OFEX which is absolutlely true.

Also it had a scrip issue, before the AIM debut.



Please refrain from calling me a liar until you can verify your case.

Ian form Money AM. Could you please get rid off of this Third Eye. he is a liar and worst of all a dirty ramper!!!!

BTW u've been squelched.

As I said some don't like the truth so they complain & hope that they can make it go away.




All my posts tell the truth & Ofex can verify that KMS was a 100 bagger in fact I think you can get old company information so take a look for yourselves, or even a google search may well enlighten those too quick to judge or do PROPER research.


Now after you lot have diverted the issue, anyone want to get back to talking about RAB?

No justification has been yet given for 1 by Xmas in fact I would say that the justification with Eps growth & P/E & current uncertainty more in fits with my reasoning.

Oh & from the Ofex website under "Withdrawn companies"

KMS low: 17.00
KMS high: 2075.00

I doubt if anyone will wish to apologise.

wake up...it is now 2004. 1999 bubble market conditions. where do u see the fundamentals in those years. Answer to that then.... you so much go on about fundamentals.... your company is not more than silly joke. you clown

I thought I was squelched?

Is that an apology for calling me a liar?

I gave you a current & a past example, so you have both.


My current example was my justification purely to reply into your critical attack on my choices.


I'll leave you to it for a while, you keep wanting to divert from RAB & my detailed response to valuation of RAB hasn't been replied to, so I guess you can't justify your 1 claim for the same, far from it.

yeah whatever LOOSER !!!! u have the RAB fundamentals already. Go and back your looser companies...

Well I did leave for while amongst all the insults & liar calls, since proved wrong & I have let the market do the talking. Now 38p bid just 8p off my 30p target.


Whilst I'm 8p out, the other forecasts with no fundamental back up as I can see are 60p or 150% out of range.


It's was a good spike, but a spike is all it was in my opinion.

cant u see the whole market is down or are u dumb. How about KMS??? good gains hey? and your other ofex tiddlers?? why dont your report on thread, they are doing nicely today hey?? dont u have better things to do?

1 quid by xmas and we stand by it

Sure the market is down but good quality company's can still rise (they may need to if to be 1 by Xmas in all conditions) in a red market or at the very least hold their own, but then I don't think RAB is a quality play.

No but G Soros thinks all hedge funds with good management are quality plays.

cheers GF.

Quid quick time.

GF et all (except nitemare ThirdEye) Lets not answer to him anymore, there is not point. I will not answer to any of his remarks.

SILENCE IS THE BEST!!!

Just for the record. All shares go up and down and follow the market moves, there will be good and bad days. The market is forecast to trade sideways till end of summmer. RAB will face them nicely. A quid b4 xmas or before is my forecast. Based on fundamentals and market behaviour.

You haven't given any fundamentals to back your 1 up nor has g/f.

Perhaps because you are not able to?


The fundamentals you gave = about 52p at year end at best, and that's with no concerns about FSA etc.

Sorry to be blunt but "1 quick time" "1 before Xmas" is just ramping or at best hype without constructive reasoning as to why the share price should increase (150% in circa 5 months in this case).

Youn obviously dont understand hedgefunds thirdeye, may I suggest you read a book, Soros on Soros, you can get it from your local library so it wont cost a self confessed cheap skate like yourself any dosh.

cheers GF.

If I don't understand then I do understand that the price has reached my first forecast of 40p & is 150% away from your 1 in quick time. that much I do understand.


And if you indeed understand Hedge Funds, shouldn't RAB be your forecasted "these will be 1 quick time" by now? (Forecast was I believe in April)


As for Xmortal telling me RAB had just gone down with the market, I would point out that the market is currently UP & RAB are DOWN 1p.

Check back in the thread thirdeye, you are forever repeating yourself. What you seek is there.

cheers GF. Excelent book by the way.

Where's Goldfinger?

All (except ThridEye) I managed to get more fundamental info for RAB. I will be posting it later. All good!!!

xmortal,

looking forward to reading it!

HERE YOU ARE:

LAST AVAILABLE REPORT DATE: 31/12/2003 (period cover 12 months)

MARKET CAP 145.20M
SHARES IN ISSUE 372.30M

Revenue: 23.24m
Operating Result: 9.12m
Pre Tax Profit/(Loss) 10.56m

Total Current Assets: 22.06m
Cash-Equivalents: 4.08m
Fixed Assets: 2.84m
Total Assests: 24.95

Total Liabilities: 15.34m
Long Term Debt: 0m
Shareholders Equity: 9.61m

KEY RATIOS:

Return on Equity % 70.52
Return on Total Assests % 41.76
Operating Margin % 39.95
BVPS (GBP) 0.03
Quick Ratio 1.50
Total Assets/Equity 2.60
Price to Book 15.11

FORECASTS:

EPS 2004: 3.40 EPS 2005: 4.80

DPS 2004: 0.30 DPS 2004 0.43

EBITDA: 18.400M EBITDA 2005: 25.800M

PRE TAX PROFITS 2004: 18.80M PRE TAX PROFIT: 2005 26.30M