August 24:

Nothing we didn't already know in the results today. It's pleasing to see a bit more diversification in the portfolio with the recent investments in Dash, Hapana & Updoc but I still think decreasing the shareholding in SiteMinder would close another ~ 5% on the discount to NTA.

Good buying at these levels, I think a 10% IRR p.a. is very likely at anything over a 20% discount to NTA. I don't really see a path to the discount to NTA being closed, but I'm not really bothered by that either, given the dividend is tied to NTA.

March 24:

Most of my previous sentiments remain, although I'd make the following updates to my observations:

1 I'm pretty sure Soul Patts sold down some of their holding.

2) I'm not so sure that some of the valuations are conservative anymore

3) The portfolio is even more poorly diversified, due to some exits and Site Minder (SDR) doing so well.

Point 3 is starting to annoy me. Most of todays NTA update involved a stock pitch for Site Minder (SDR).

The value of SDR is now almost 50% of BTI's SP or 33% of BTI's post taxNTA.

I have no opinion on SDR, it seems like a great business and Bailador seem to think it will continue to do well, and I hope it does. The problem is that shareholders aren't paying Bailador to manage a listed equity portfolio. Management seems to be doing some serious mental gymnastics to justify holding SDR at its current weighting.

IF I was to be very cynical, I'd say they want to avoid to whopping tax liability that will result in a lower NTA and resultant management fees.

Management - I'm not paying you 1.75% and 20% to sit a third of the portfolio in a listed stock . If it was 5, 10 or even 15% then I would be satisfied. This needs to be sorted out, otherwise it's clear to me that this needs to trade at least a 20% discount to NTA.

I can tolerate the cash holding on the basis that management are being patient and the market is still a bit too hot.

March 23: A lot has been said about BTI so I'll keep this briefish.

BTI is currently trading at a price equal to the cash and listed investments it holds. The other 26% of reported Pre Tax NTA are private companies. It's worth noting that in order to realise these investments BTI would incur a big bill to the tax man, bringing NTA below $1.50.

I think the current SP is about right, making the following observations:

1) Management appear to be skilled, however market conditions have been very rewarding to the kind of investment strategy that BTI employs.

2) Management have made a point of having conservative valuations for private investments. Now that the market has lost its froth it's unclear whether this is still the case.

3) The portfolio is currently poorly diversified .

4) Management fees are high. 1.75% of NTA and 17.5% over an 8% hurdle.

5) Souls have crept up on the share register. I can see how BTI would be valuable to Souls and think a takeover is possible.

6) I think the dividend policy is to pay out 4% of NTA p.a

The bottom line is that without a takeover offer, I don't see great value at the current SP. I'm not sure what probability to assign to a takeover and what sort of timeline is reasonable to assume.