Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Strategic Investor and Co-Founder of Bastion Asset Management, Michael Gentile to the show. Michael maintains a strongly bullish long-term outlook on gold, viewing the recent price consolidation from its highs as a normal pullback within a broader bull market. He emphasizes that his conviction is backed by significant personal capital deployment, having made his largest-ever quarterly allocation to junior mining companies during the recent downturn. He argues that the fundamental drivers for gold remain firmly intact, pointing to unsustainable global debt levels and a revolt in the bond markets as investors increasingly seek hard assets over devaluing paper currencies. He anticipates that central banks will eventually be forced to intervene to suppress bond yields, an action he believes will serve as turbo fuel for gold prices.

Gentile sees a historic opportunity in junior mining equities, which he believes are dramatically undervalued relative to the gold price. He explains that while all-in mining margins have expanded massively, the market is still pricing many in-ground ounces at the same low levels seen when margins were a fraction of what they are today. Recent high-profile acquisitions at valuations of five to six hundred dollars per ounce validate his thesis that a significant re-rating is possible for quality assets currently trading at a steep discount.

His investment strategy focuses on identifying assets with the scale, grade, and infrastructure to become actual mines, thinking like a major mining company would. He prioritizes projects that are already economic at lower gold prices and possess substantial exploration upside. For portfolio management, he limits initial positions to one percent of his net worth, aiming for a significant ownership stake, and only allocates follow-on capital to companies that continue to execute and advance toward becoming a mine. He also highlights his efforts to create synergies by marketing his portfolio companies collectively to investors.

Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:46 – Gold Price Consolidation
00:03:20 – Recent Mining Investments
00:06:43 – Bond Markets Driving Gold
00:11:25 – Central Bank Gold Buying
00:14:30 – Money Supply Acceleration
00:18:15 – Global Debt Problems
00:20:40 – Gold Miners Leverage Opportunity
00:26:24 – Company Selection Criteria
00:30:16 – Portfolio Management Strategy
00:36:00 – Metal Prices & Margins
00:39:24 – Commodities and Derisking
00:42:24 – Reallocating Capital
00:48:35 – European Roadshow Details

Guest Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gentile-01028552
Website: https://www.bastion-am.com/
Mining & Metals European Roadshow: https://saturdaymorningmining.subscribepage.io/

Michael Gentile, CFA is Founding Partner & Senior Portfolio Manager at Bastion Asset Management. Before founding BAM, Michael was Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Formula Growth Ltd for over 17 years. Michael co-managed the FG Alpha Fund (US SMid equity market neutral) between 2012 and 2018, co-managed the FG Focus Fund (US SMid long short strategy) between 2014 and 2018. Since leaving FG in 2018, Michael has been very successful investing in the gold sector also acting as Strategic Advisor and Director for several companies in the natural resource sector. Michael graduated with Great Distinction from the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) with a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and received the Calvin Potter Fellowship from Concordia’s Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management Program. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA)