|
|
|
|
|
|
Magnis has long been a lightning rod for investors. Shares jumped to more than 70¢ in 2021, and the company found itself with an array of supporters from John Hancock to former Macquarie property banker Bill Moss, who wanted to jointly develop a battery plant in Queensland. |
|
More recently, things have taken a turn for the worst. Shares haven’t traded at all this year, and the company is teetering on the brink of insolvency. |
|
The Federal Court claim from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, however, is not the first time Magnis has been on the radar of compliance teams. |
|
Street Talk can reveal that one compliance team that felt the need to intervene, in a way, was at Magellan Financial. At the time, in 2015, it was a high-flying fund manager run by Hamish Douglass (that year, described among the market’s “CEOs who deliver”). |
|
But, sources said, Magnis shares were doing a roaring trade among Magellan staff. It would have been a good buy too. Magnis shares were trading at about 27¢ early that year, but soared all the way to 97¢ in 2016. |
|
One employee, however, who made some serious money off this trade “departed” the business, sources said, after falling foul of Magellan’s compliance team. No suggestion of insider trading, of course, but the fund manager’s trading policy requires pre-trading approval – which was not requested. |
|
A Magellan spokesman declined to comment, except to say: “Magellan implements a strict personal trading policy for employees. While extremely rare, any violations of the policy are reviewed and may result in disciplinary action.” |
|
In a curious coincidence, Magellan has had Strong Solutions on hand as its IT provider since 2014. That company was founded by Poullas – and has been a provider of plenty of services to Magnis over the years. Filings by Magnis in March show the company paid Strong Solutions some $179,000 for consulting and IT services in the six months to December 31 despite it having just $528,644 left in the bank. |
|
Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Australian Unity has called in Cushman & Wakefield’s alternative capital markets team to shop one of its biggest investor’s units in its healthcare trust, in hopes of closing the book on an ugly period for the manager. The $2.3 billion trust has a portfolio of 101 Australian healthcare properties including hospitals, medical centres and aged care facilities. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|