Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric (GE) has died at the age of 84. He turned the company around from a slumbering US corporate giant into a much more profitable business that awarded shareholders handsomely. His management style was of the “slash and burn” variety with jobs being reduced and anyone rated as underperforming being fired. This was similar to the management style of Fred Goodwin at Royal Bank of Scotland and with what they might consider tough but required decisions being made. In both cases their legacies proved to be toxic with successors facing difficulties.
Both had a large media presence and big egos. But is that what you want in a CEO? And do the ends always justify the means? Certainly Jack Welch showed that the ability of management is probably the key factor in the success of a business but the cult of personality that surrounds such leaders and the decisions they make often makes for difficulties in management succession. For investors, such managers tend to make good short-term returns but you need to know when to bail out while humble and more sensitive managers can be better long-term bets.
As I write this stock markets are zooming up after large falls in the last week. Your portfolio is probably down substantially like mine, but is this recovery a “dead cat bounce” or a realisation that the Covid-19 virus impact might be lower than anticipated? I have no more great wisdom to impart than others on the future impact nationally or worldwide but it does seem to me that we might well see a major pandemic. Some industries such as travel and entertainment venues might see much reduced revenue for a short period of time and supply chains will be disrupted in many markets. I don’t think it will really hit home in the UK as it has done in China until people you know start dying. The fact that it may be mostly fatal to the elderly or those with poor immune systems (like me incidentally) may be little comfort. As with the 1918 flu pandemic, the long-term economic impact may be small but there may be short term disruption.
It was interesting reading the announcement this morning from 4Imprint (FOUR) whose shares I hold. Their final results were very good and the share price is up 20% at the time of writing. But this is a company that sells promotional products and most of the manufacturing takes place in China. This is what the company had to say: “Impact on the business has so far been minimal, reflecting the timing of the inventory cycle of our domestic suppliers. However, the situation is very fluid and if production restrictions in China persist, the potential for disruption of our supply chain increases”. They go into a lot more detail in their operational review which is quite helpful. But they have not estimated the possible impact on reduce sales volumes if there is a general impact on the economy of the USA which is their major sales market.
In essence I think it is way too soon to judge the likely impact so having sold some shares (not those of 4Imprint though) in the face of the declining markets I don’t plan to rush back into the markets in a big way and particularly I will be avoiding shares that may be vulnerable. Companies with longer term or recurring revenues are a better bet as usual because they should be able to survive short-term economic disruption. Property companies may be a good bet as they mostly have long-term leases spanning multiple years when the virus impact may only last a few months before everyone has survived it or died even if there is a global pandemic.
On that positive note, I think it’s best to close before I get seduced into giving share tips.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
You can “follow” this blog by clicking on the bottom right in most browsers or by using the Contact page to send us a message requesting. You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.
© Copyright. Disclaimer: Read the About page before relying on any information in this post.