Franchise investor hires analyst

Roman Aliev
ROMAN ALIEV
ICE Investors Pty Ltd - Investment Analyst
APPOINTMENT
ICE INVESTORS PTY LTD
Date: 17 May 2022
Position: Investment Analyst
By Elizabeth Fry

Small-cap specialist ICE Investors has recruited Roman Aliev as an investment analyst, joining from Franklin Templeton Investments.

There, he worked for eight years as a research analyst in the firm's global equities business.

Before that, he worked at Mercer Investments and AXA Australia.

In the new role, Aliev will report to Callum Burns, ICE's managing director, and lead portfolio manager.

ICE specialises in franchise-style investing in Australian equities.

Burns said given the uncertainty in the market and the need to identify sound, long-term stock opportunities, Aliev joins the business at an opportune time.

"He is a passionate investor and a high performing global equity research analyst, with strong experience covering a range of geographies and sectors," he said.

"His analytical experience and focus on identifying companies that are well-positioned to grow shareholder value over the long term make him a good fit for the investment team."

ICE Investors' SGH ICE fund is an actively managed predominately small-cap equity fund that aims to invest in ASX listed franchise companies with a sustainable competitive edge.

"We look for franchise companies that have high barriers to entry and use assets that are difficult for competitors to replicate," he added.

"This typically leads to strong pricing power and, most importantly, sticky customers."

The ICE managing director noted that inflation will continue to impact markets, and a key risk to margins is failure to pass on material or labour costs.

"As pricing power is a key element of our investment process, many franchise companies are well suited to this market environment."