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Will Vicars

March

Caledonia co-chief investment officers Mike Messara and Will Vicars. The fund can fall in love with some of its stocks and can be reluctant to sell. It is not a quick-flipper.

A 63pc premium for Just Eats? Major investor Caledonia is unimpressed

The food delivery sector is red-hot for deals despite some spectacular blow-ups. That land grab has come to one of the high-profile fund’s core holdings.

July 2024

The often nautical Will Vicars, co-chief investment officer of Caledonia Investments.

Will Vicars and Caledonia are still deep in the red

Financial year results from the fund manager show a 6.3 per cent gain in the month to June 30. Elsewhere, it’s a sea of woe.

April 2024

Zillow chief executive Rich Barton was a founder of Expedia.

Caledonia’s $9b bet on Zillow hits an activist short seller wall

The hedge fund backed by some of Sydney’s wealthiest families says the real estate portal’s share price could triple by next year. Others think it will halve.

November 2023

Oroton CEO Jenny Child says consumers are making more considered purchases, but still willing to  invest in nice pieces.

How Oroton doubled its profit after years of turmoil

Oroton chief executive Jenny Child said regaining relevance and less discounting has been key to recording another year of growth.

The Oroton store at Sydney’s QVB has a window display with augmented reality screen, so passersby can try on a virtual handbag.

How to wear a luxury handbag for free

In a crowded fashion market, the luxury brand is using augmented reality screens to allow customers to try on bags without setting foot in its stores.

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September 2023

Caledonia’s Will Vicars.

Caledonia still believes in this loss-making US property stock

Will Vicars’ hedge fund started investing in the real estate platform more than 10 years ago, and the Packer and Fairfax families followed.

August 2023

 Mike Messara, Will Vicars and Mark Nelson.

Inside the wild ride of Will Vicars’ Caledonia

Three decades since Caledonia, Australia’s largest and most private hedge fund, was created, it still follows its bigger bets with an almost religious fervour.

July 2023

Oneview’s biggest shareholder is Will Vicars.

Will Vicars-backed Oneview Healthcare in $22m raising via Bells, MST

The listed healthcare software microcap, 31 per cent owned by the high-profile fundie, has two brokers drumming up interest in a $22 million raising.

June 2023

Child with her scrambled eggs and spinach at 101Kissa in Sydney’s Chippendale, near her office.

This CEO loses an hour at the office every morning – but it’s worth it

Jenny Child was a partner at McKinsey & Co when Will Vicars tapped her to lead Oroton in 2021. The change in career also changed her daily routine.

January 2023

Co-chief investment officers Mike Messara and Will Vicars say “free money” hit the Caledonia Global Fund hard.

Caledonia hedge fund soars out of the red

Latest performance numbers from the high-profile hedge fund run by Will Vicars and Mike Messara show the big pendulum swings caused by a concentrated equity portfolio.

December 2022

Oroton is making a further push into new categories like jewellery.

Oroton swings back to black in 2022

The leather good and fashion retailer posted strong double-digit sales growth over the year, but is bracing for a slowdown in 2023.

November 2022

The feud continues: The elite Cranbrook School in Sydney’s Point Piper.

Cranbrook governance crisis deepens as Jon North digs in

Yet another member of the elite school’s governing body has resigned in frustration.

August 2022

Lachlan Murdoch is suing Private Media’s Crikey over the publication of a June article.

Will Vicars can’t stop crossing Lachlan Murdoch

Who knew that since 2013, Vicars has been a shareholder of Private Media, publisher of Crikey?

Caledonia’s Mike Messara.

Caledonia rallies clients with 18-page essay amid underperformance

There’s a hot new publication out of Will Vicars and Mike Messara’s investment firm.

July 2022

F45 founder Adam Gilchrist and major shareholder Mark Wahlberg on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the company’s IPO in July 2021.

Caledonia, L1 hit by F45 wipeout

A Hollywood celebrity as the second-biggest shareholder was reason alone to short the stock; hedge funds must be kicking themselves.

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May 2022

Caledonia’s Will Vicars.

Will Vicars gets richer, his clients get poorer

Vicars’ financial fortunes appear to have been decoupled from his clients’ – or should that be inverse correlated?

Benefactor Scott Barlow with Smith Family Challenge survivors Richard Wagner and Chad Walker, at a less gruelling occasion.

Smith Family Challenge survivors raise $1.2m

Every year the charity baits wealthy volunteers into enduring a 100 kilometre adventure course, featuring a sadistic mix of hiking, running, mountain biking and canoeing.

Caledonia (Private) Investments’ Will Vicars.

Caledonia flagship fund down 21.9pc in March quarter, shrinks $1.5b

Will Vicars and Mike Messara’s Caledonia (Private) Investments’ flagship strategy posted a -21.9 per cent return for the March quarter, way behind MSCI World Index’s -4.5 per cent.

March 2022

Former McKinsey & Company consultant Jenny Child took over as the new CEO of OrotonGroup on October 1.

Oroton sales jump 16pc, led by online

Oroton sales jumped double digits, but its bottom line fell into the red after making investments in its digital and sales management systems.

February 2022

Caledonia chief investment officer Will Vicars collecting his new puppy last month. 

Will Vicars collects puppy... by private jet

It’s the jaded act of almost every Australian fund manager that they live the most ordinary lives. And then, there’s Caledonia’s chief.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/will-vicars-5ra