Could this ASX-listed biotech stock become the next takeover battleground?

Note: This interview was taped Tuesday 10 December 2024. 

Ask Jessica Farr-Jones, one of the portfolio managers on Regal Funds Management's Emerging Companies strategy, how she looks back on 2024 and you get a (naturally) positive response. 

"It's been a great year for Regal. Regal has been very well positioned heading into this bull market. We have a myriad of different strategies and they all had a fantastic year," she says.

But more importantly, she argues that this historic bull market for equities can continue for one very important reason - the small and micro-cap stocks haven't joined the party in a material way just yet. 

"In true bull runs, you see the small and micro part of the market materially outperform the large caps and we haven't really seen that to date. We are hopeful that this outperformance can continue," Farr-Jones says. 

Like other small-cap managers, Farr-Jones is looking out for the world's highest-quality small and mid-cap opportunities. She tells me that she's after high-quality stocks that are trading at "reasonable" valuations and, ideally, have near-term catalysts as well.

But unlike other small-cap managers, Farr-Jones has access to both listed and pre-IPO opportunities. This gives her a unique viewpoint into not just what's already on investors' radars but also what's coming down the pipeline. 

This long-form interview from Livewire's 2025 Outlook Series will dig deeper into Farr-Jones' views on the year that's just passed and the year ahead. She'll also share five stock ideas, including:

• an ASX-listed biotech stock that's had a 600% re-rate that may be in for more good times to come,
• a mining services company that is, arguably, one contract win away from a massive share price boost and;
• the sector that Farr-Jones is avoiding, in large part because margins have reduced in half in just the last 12 months alone.