Sharemarket shines on richest investors as ASX soars in 2019

A 20 per cent lift on the Australian sharemarket has been lucrative for key members of The List: Australia’s Richest 250.

Barry Lambert has struck gold with hemp company Ecofibre. Picture: James Croucher

It has been a great year for the rich.

Magellan Financial Group co-founder Hamish Douglass has joined the billionaire ranks for the first time as shares in his fund management group more than doubled, and Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest has added close to $6bn to his paper fortune as the iron ore miner’s stock keeps climbing.

Pro Medicus co-founders Anthony Hall and Sam Hupert, members of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, have seen their shares rise by more than 100 per cent since January 1, as have those of Afterpay executive chairman Anthony Eisen and founder Nick Molnar.

But there is also a group of members of The List who have cannily picked some of the best performing yet lesser known stocks on the ASX this year.

Shares in junior miners, emerging biotech plays, tech firms and retailers have smashed expectations.

Here are the hidden gems that have surged for Australia’s wealthiest people in 2019:

TONY QUINN
Tinybeans Group

Quinn is best known for two big sales to private equity firm Quadrant in recent years, with wife Christina reaping more than $600m for VIP Petfoods and chocolate company Darrel Lea. But Quinn’s personal superannuation fund is also among the top 20 shareholders in social media platform Tinybeans. Its shares have surged more than eight times in value this year, helped by a breakthrough deal in April with Lego to sell ads for Lego’s Duplo products to parents in the US. Tinybeans’ big selling point has been the privacy of its platform, on which users upload pictures to share privately with friends and family.

BRIAN FLANNERY
Stavely Minerals

Flannery is one of the more prolific small and micro cap investors on The List, with at least 24 stocks worth a combined $56m on his portfolio held by one of his investment companies. One of those is Stavely Minerals, which has gold and copper prospects in western Victoria. Stavely raised $19.6m from investors in October to fast-track exploration ventures, and has acquired gold projects in Tasmania. Stavely shares have almost quadrupled in value since January 1. Flannery made $530m from the sale of Felix Resources a decade ago.

ROD JONES
Atrum Coal

The founder of education company Navitas, Jones also has a diverse range of investments via his family office Hoperidge Capital. One of those is Atrum Coal, a stock that has trebled in value this year. Atrum has high hopes for its Elan hard coking coal project in Alberta, Canada, describing initial drilling results in the southeast corner there in August as “outstanding”.

DALE ALCOCK
Magnetic Resources

Alcock has had a better time of it on the ASX than with his Dale Alcock Homes and AFL club Fremantle, respectively exposed to WA’s tough housing sector and having to replace a coach this year. Alcock has shares in Magnetic Resources, which has gold holdings in WA’s Leonora-Laverton district and is up more than 260 per cent this year.

DAVID PARADICE
Capricorn Metals

Master stock picker David Paradice has more than $17bn funds under management at his eponymous funds management firm, much of which is held in small caps. Paradice’s team has picked several big winners in the resources sector this year, with Westgold Resources being one of several good performers. But his best has been Capricorn Metals, which has the Karlawinda gold project in Western Australia.

Head of the Elphinstone Group Dale Elphinstone with the Sentinel 2 at Burnie.

DALE ELPHINSTONE
Empire Energy

Tasmania’s richest person, Elphinstone emerged as a substantial shareholder of Empire Energy in late November when he revealed he now holds more than 5 per cent of its stock. Elphinstone has made his fortune from mining equipment, including the ownership of the William Adams Caterpillar dealership business. Empire Energy has oil and gas assets in Northern Australia and the US.

BARRY LAMBERT
Ecofibre

Lambert has overseen one of the best floats of 2019 in industry hemp company Ecofibre, which he chairs. Though he made his fortune with the Count Financial wealth management group, Lambert put money into then private Ecofibre after his granddaughter was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. Hemp has helped her treatment and Ecofibre is also pursuing fibre technologies for use in clothing and other textiles. In November, Ecofibre’s market capitalisation hit $1bn and while it has since fallen, shares are up 182 per cent.

NIGEL AUSTIN
City Chic Collective

Best known for his private retail empire Cotton On, Austin’s investment company is also a major shareholder in City Chic Collective. The company’s shares have more than doubled as its focuses on this City Chic brand after selling key brands such as Millers and Katies to Noni B last year.

Patrick Grove, co-founder and CEO of the Catcha Group, iProperty Group, Rev Asia, iCar Asia, and most recently, iFlix.

PATRICK GROVE
iCar Asia

Grove is best known for his iFlix media streaming business, Asia’s answer to Netflix, but he has made his money from a series of online classifieds businesses. The most successful was iProperty, sold to REA Group in a $751m deal in 2015, but his Catcha Group is a major shareholder in iCar Asia. As its name suggests, the company has car classifieds businesses across Asia. Its shares on the ASX are up more than 130 per cent.

LANG WALKER
Next Science

Property and construction billionaire Walker also has a penchant for biotech stocks. He is a major shareholder in Next Science, a chronic infection specialist which listed in April. It has developed patented treatments for biofilm-protected bacteria, and is up more than 100 per cent.