Calcutta 2020: ‘Hall of Fame’ fundies lift the lid on their 14 best ideas

Not even the challenges thrown up by a year ravaged by a global pandemic could get in the way of Australia’s top fund manager finding a way to pitch their best ideas while also raising valuable funds for the charities they support.

The Australian Fund Manager Foundation holds an annual charity event to recognise outstanding performances from the investment industry and to raise money in support of charity. A pillar of the annual event is a highly competitive stock picking competition called the Calcutta. Under ‘normal’ conditions, the Calcutta would feature stock ideas from a small selection of market legends. However, this year a second competition, The Great Charity Calcutta Challenge, has also been launched allowing emerging stock pickers to go head-to-head against the big guns with the lure of a potentially lucrative cash prize for the winner.

The Great Charity Calcutta Challenge entry fee is $1000, with the winner taking 50% of the pot, the balance going to charity. Click here for the full entry details.  

If you're short on ideas then read on, as you might get inspiration from the 14 ideas nominated by the fund managers.

Perennial’s Steven Bruce takes out 2019 Calcutta 

The winning stock, selected by Steven Bruce of Perennial Value Management, was Redbubble (ASX:RBL) which delivered a 12-month return of 280%. The stock was sitting dead last at the midpoint of the competition before staging a stunning rally, surging past the pack to finish the clear winner.

Notable performances also came from anonymous fundies with a short on Jumbo Interactive (ASX:JIN) and a long on Silverlake Resources (ASX:SLR), Matt Williams from Airlie kept the resources theme going with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and Chris Stott from 1851 rounded out the top 5 by tipping Optimcom (ASX:OPC).

Commenting on the 2019 Calcutta, Adam Woods from Evans and Partners (E&P) described it as a wild ride with the ~50% outperformance of the Calcutta picks over the ASX200 index as a strong endorsement for active managers.