Though the fears of a Brexit have subsidized a little bit in the last few days, most sophisticated investors are still refraining placing any large bets till the UK electorate makes its final decision on June 23. One such investor, restructuring maverick billionaire Wilbur Ross is of the opinion that if the vote turns out to be in the favor of the UK leaving the European Union, it will be a ‘financial suicide’ for British homeowners. While speaking on CNBC recently, Mr. Ross explained why he thinks Brexit will be disastrous for the UK economy. According to him, the foreign direct investments in the UK, a bulk of which comes from fellow EU countries, will be negatively impacted if Brexit becomes a reality and the UK’s export will also see a large decline, because 45% of it goes to other EU nations. He also highlighted how tough it will be for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union:
“There, in fact, is no mechanism in the EU constitution for an exit. This is totally unchartered water and I think to have to negotiate treaties that you hope will benefit you with people you just told to go shove off [is] not going to be an easy exercise. There will be volatility and fright throughout the United Kingdom.”
Moreover, according to CNBC, Mr. Ross’ company, WL Ross & Co., is engaged in mortgage lending in the UK and the investor believes that in case of a ‘Brexit’ the home prices would collapse. In this article, we will take a look at the top five US equity holdings of Invesco Private Capital, a subsidiary of investment giant Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) which owns WL Ross & Co.
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Follow Wilbur Ross's Invesco Private Capital (WL Ross)
#5 Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:XENE)
– Shares Owned by Invesco Private Capital (as of March 31): 436,384
– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $3.05 million
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:XENE) continued to remain Invesco Private Capital’s fifth largest equity holdings at the end of the first quarter with the fund making no changes to its stake in the company during the company. The biopharmaceutical company has lost almost half of its market capitalization in the last 52 weeks and is currently trading down by around 20% year-to-date. For its fiscal 2016 first quarter, Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:XENE) reported a per share loss of $0.23 on revenue of $0.6 million versus analysts’ expectation of a per share loss of $0.21 on revenue of $3.3 million. Following its earnings release, on May 11, analysts at Jefferies Group reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $13 price target on the stock, which represents a potential upside of over 100% from the current trading price of the stock.
#4 EXCO Resources Inc (NYSE:XCO)
– Shares Owned by Invesco Private Capital (as of March 31): 51.10 million
– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $50.55 million
EXCO Resources Inc (NYSE:XCO) has been the best-performing stock among Invesco Private Capital’s top five equity holdings this year, registering a gain of 25.7% so far in 2016. While Invesco kept its stake in the company constant during the first quarter, billionaire David E. Shaw‘s firm D.E. Shaw increased it by 185% to 3.36 million shares during that period. Even after accounting for the gains that the oil and natural gas company has made this year on the back of the rally in crude oil prices, its stock is still down almost 90% in the last five years. Some analysts who track the stock feel that since it is trading at an excessively cheap valuation, pricing the company at nearly bankruptcy levels, it can see significant upside even in the scenario where the company manages to just survive and reduce its debt burden. On May 24, EXCO Resources Inc (NYSE:XCO) announced that for its fiscal year 2016, it will be reducing its capital spending budget by 69% year-over-year to $89 million and also revealed that it has reduced its net debt to $1.1 billion as of March 2016 from $1.5 billion on September 30, 2015.
