NAOS CEO Insights

CEO INSIGHTS – Week Ending 23 April 2021 By NAOS Asset Management

Written by NAOS Admin | Apr 23, 2021 12:53:09 AM

“We’re going to see [with 5G] much like we did with 4G, applications explode that we don’t even know today. We have no idea what they’re going to be…I mean, if you go back to the early days of 4G, no one expected we would be carrying the computing power and the number of applications we carry in our pockets every day” Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems Inc


As part of the NAOS investment process, we pay particular attention to the comments made by company CEOs and business leaders in order to gain a greater understanding of the current investment environment and key trends that may be emerging. Below are quotes from the week which in our view detail some of the most important and prominent industry trends and economic factors impacting their businesses.  
 
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Technology & Telecommunications

“We’re going to see [with 5G] much like we did with 4G, applications explode that we don’t even know today. We have no idea what they’re going to be…I mean, if you go back to the early days of 4G, no one expected we would be carrying the computing power and the number of applications we carry our pockets every day” Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems Inc

Venture Capital & Innovation

“We still have a long way to go before we see the level of venture funding that we need in order to meet the demand from our rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem” Yasser El-Ansary, CEO, Australian Investment Council

“We feel that the next two to three years will be the best there's been for innovation and new companies since the 1994-99 era” Paul Bassat, CEO, Square Peg Ventures [Australia’s largest venture capital firm]

Finance & Lending

“This [mortgage] industry is still very complicated, you have thousands of products and deviations. Overwhelmingly today and for a long time tomorrow, face-to-face and bricks-and-mortar will be where the [mortgage] volume is at” James Symond, CEO, Aussie Home Loans

Energy & Resources

“What’s fundamentally changed now is the capital discipline in the [LNG] industry that wasn’t there before and obviously the focus on climate change…It’s gone from being almost an industry that were [climate change] deniers to an industry that has accepted we need to be part of the change” Peter Coleman, CEO, Woodside Petroleum Ltd

Construction & Infrastructure

“Governments [are] focused on accelerating “shovel-ready” projects, adopting use it or lose it funding, with bias to regional areas” Market Statement, Seven Group Holdings Ltd [subsidiaries include Westrac & Coates Hire]

Supply Chains

“I think the pandemic has really put a finger on the sensitivity of the global supply chains, not just for us, but for any industry and company and we of course have been challenged by disruptions in terms of components, supply throughout this entire pandemic and we still are dealing with these kinds of things, and we will be dealing with it for many months to come” Henric Andersson, CEO, Husqvarna AB

“COVID-19 related restrictions continued to support high levels of at-home consumption in key markets, while general uncertainty across global supply chains led customers and retailers to increase inventory levels, particularly in the US and Europe” Graham Chipchase, CEO, Brambles Ltd

Inflation & Labour

“This is one of the bigger increases in commodity costs that we’ve seen over the period of time that I’ve been involved with this, which is a fairly long period of time” Jon Moeller, Chief Operating Officer, Proctor & Gamble Co

“Operationally, capacity across labour and transport markets remains tight in all regions and we continue to see increasing levels of lumber inflation” Graham Chipchase, CEO, Brambles Ltd

Domestic Economy

“As we sit before you today, we are facing the most positive economic conditions that we have seen in the six years this [senate] committee has been enquiring into the major banks” Shayne Elliott, CEO, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd

Retail & E-Commerce

“You only need to look at the US to see how the e-commerce market is playing out, and why we remain bullish about the shift from offline to online. We are at the start of this once in a generation shift” Mark Coulter, CEO, Temple & Webster Ltd

Tourism, Leisure & Entertainment

“We’ve seen strong demand since the [NZ travel] bubble was announced, with tens of thousands of bookings made in the first few days” Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas Airways Ltd

“Safety has always been an important consideration for travellers in terms of destination choice, and Australia has always ranked highly in this regard, but the latest research shows it is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage for Australia” Phillipa Harrison, MD, Tourism Australia

“So outside of China, I think pay television peaked about 800 million households, and that was several years ago that it peaked [so we have] lots of room to grow” Reed Hastings, Co-CEO, Netflix Inc

Corporate Travel

“It is very clear from both customer feedback and client activity that businesses are keen to get back on the road. Corporate travel and company success are highly correlated” Jamie Pherous, CEO, Corporate Travel Management Ltd

“Through the use of our products, business leaders were able to see that flexible work could and should be something that continues long after the pandemic. Not only because data shows it’s what employees want, but also because it’s what can help our environment” Bill Wagner, CEO, LogMeIn [remote working collaboration tool]

Health & Wellbeing

“The Australian vitamin and dietary supplement category has been [negatively] impacted by structural shifts as a result of COVID-19” Market Statement, Blackmores Ltd

Important information: This material has been prepared by NAOS Asset Management Limited (ABN 23 107 624 126, AFSL 273529) (NAOS) for general information purposes only and must not be construed as investment advice. Certain economic, market or company information contained in this material may have been obtained from published sources prepared by third parties. Nothing contained herein should be construed as granting by implication or otherwise, any license or right to use such third party content without the written permission of the owner.