Our first priority is the people behind the business. Each year, JCM conducts between 200 and 250 meetings with company management teams, comprising both new introductions and ongoing engagement with existing holdings.
Over many years, we have developed significant experience in assessing management quality across the sectors in which we invest. We believe exceptional management teams are one of the strongest predictors of long-term investment success. Equally important is identifying situations where management, governance or execution risk outweighs the opportunity. In industries where unsuccessful projects far outnumber successful ones, avoiding poor investments can be just as valuable as selecting the winners.
Once management has passed our initial assessment, we undertake a detailed evaluation of the underlying asset or project. JCM has considerable technical and geotechnical expertise and regularly conducts site visits across the globe.
Our analysis extends beyond the geology itself. We assess infrastructure, logistics, permitting, jurisdiction, engineering complexity, financing requirements and execution risk. We recognise that company feasibility studies often rely on assumptions that prove optimistic, particularly regarding capital costs, operating costs and project timelines. Our objective is to develop an independent assessment of both the project's quality and its probability of successful delivery.
Only after we have developed conviction in both management and the project do we consider valuation.
We employ a range of valuation methodologies to determine intrinsic value and compare this with prevailing market expectations. We are particularly attracted to situations where we believe the market is failing to recognise an identifiable catalyst capable of materially changing a company's valuation. We believe that value combined with change creates the greatest investment opportunities, and we seek businesses where future positive developments remain largely undiscounted by the market.
Supporting our investment process is an extensive network developed over many years across the investment and natural resources industries. Our relationships with corporate brokers, company executives, institutional investors, advisers and other market participants provide access to high-quality deal flow, proprietary insights and investment opportunities that are often unavailable to the wider market.
We take a pragmatic, macro-driven approach to assessing the outlook for the underlying commodities in which we invest, regularly reviewing the portfolio’s aggregate exposure to each commodity.
While we favour a concentrated portfolio of 10–12 core positions, we remain disciplined in managing position sizes. Where an individual holding becomes disproportionately large, we will reduce our exposure, regardless of how compelling its future prospects may be.
When attractive investment opportunities are scarce, or our macroeconomic outlook for the underlying commodities is unfavourable, we may employ hedging strategies. However, we firmly believe that cash is often the most effective form of protection. We are therefore comfortable holding up to 100% of the portfolio in cash when market conditions warrant it.
We manage the JCM Special Situation Fund.
For more information on the JCM (Jub Capital Management) Special Situations Fund please contact Alina Bizgan or click here.
JCM offer a discretionary managed account service to professional investors. These are custodied with J Brearley Investment Management.
For more information about managed accounts please contact Alina Bizgan.
JCM also offer both ISA trading accounts and SIPPs for professional investors.
Please contact Alina Bizgan for more information.
Since its inception, JCM has committed a proportion of its annual profits to charitable causes, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, regions in which many of our investments are located.
In 2024, Longwave Foundation (charity number: 1206933) was established to provide a more structured and sustainable approach to these philanthropic activities. The Foundation supports charities working in the advancement of education, the empowerment of disadvantaged children and the relief of poverty, with the objective of creating long-term, measurable impact in the communities it serves.