Rawn Lakhan, portfolio manager at Meadowbank Asset Management, discusses psychedelic investments in this PANGEA Talks interview. He believes psychedelic stocks are highly speculative at this point given the early research stage of the sector. He recommends conservative exposure of 2-5% of an aggressive investor's portfolio. Unlike cannabis companies, psychedelic companies are coming to market primarily to fund research and clinical trials rather than commercial operations, given regulatory restrictions. Canadians considering psychedelic investments should evaluate if a company has a viable product, differentiated technology, and a sufficiently large target market. The portfolio manager views long-term growth potential but expects an onerous regulatory environment and consolidation in the industry.
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
PANGEA guest introduction ............................................. Page 3
About PANGEA Talks ....................................................... Page 4
Q1: Psychedelics in Canadian portfolios? ........................ Page 5
Contact PANGEA ........................................................... Page 11
Q2: Psychedelics vs. Cannabis coming to market ........... Page 6
Q3: What to consider when investing in psychedelics ..... Page 8
Q4: Long-term view of psychedelics market ................... Page 9
Q5: Investor participation in psychedelics ...................... Page 10
3. Rawn Lakhan is President, CEO and
Portfolio Manager with Meadowbank
Asset Management. He joined
Meadowbank in 2006 as one of the
co-founders of the firm.
Rawn currently manages the Meridius
Separately Managed Accounts and
the Global View Separately Managed
Portfolios, which are sub-advised by
Wisconsin-based, Global View Capital
Management, LTD.
Previously, he was Portfolio Manager
for the publicly traded, Legg Mason BW
Investment Grade Focus Fund
(BWI.UN: TSX), which was sub-advised
by Philadelphia-based Brandywine
Global Investment Management, and
Chief Financial Officer of Meadowbank
Capital Inc., a subsidiary of
Meadowbank Asset Management Inc.
PANGEA GUEST
In this PANGEA Talks interview we learn what
portfolio manager Mr. Rawn Lakhan thinks about
psychedelic investments and what he believes
Canadian investors should consider.
Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
Rawn holds an MA in Economics from
York University. He is a Chartered
Investment Manager and a Fellow of the
Canadian Securities Institute.
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4. PANGEA Talks are thought
leadership conversations with
some of the world's leading
experts in family wealth matters.
Hosted by Declan Winston
Ramsaran, Managing Director of
PANGEA Private Family Offices,
these forward thinking
conversations position our host to
pose some challenging questions
to our guests so the audience can
learn useful information and
unique perspectives from credible
sources.
Available in video, audio and PDF
formats, you can click here to
access more PANGEA thought
leadership resources.
ABOUT PANGEA
TALKS
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
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5. DR: Speaking as portfolio manager, Rawn,
where do you see exposure to psychedelics
fitting in the investment portfolios
of Canadians?
Q1
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RL: From an investor’s standpoint, psychedelics is an
emerging sector which is at the early stage of research
and development. While there appears to be scope for
growth in the sector, there is still no clear path to how
the industry would evolve.
We therefore believe investing in psychedelic stocks is
highly speculative at this point in time. Consequently,
investors must have an aggressive profile and must be
willing to risk losing all or part of their investments in
order to make potentially significant gains in the sector.
If an investor chooses to invest in psychedelics, we
would recommend conservative exposure of between
2% to 5% of their total investable portfolio, depending
on the investor profile.
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
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A1 Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
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6. DR: Drawing from your investment banking
experience with cannabis companies, what
two things would you say are different
about the way psychedelic companies are
coming to market?
Q2
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RL: Unlike the cannabis sector, psychedelic companies are
coming to market largely to raise funds for research and
development of viable products and for testing of
psychedelic products.
While psychedelics have been widely used for decades, the
derivative drugs remain highly controlled and can only be
used in supervised clinical trials for specific conditions.
Cannabis, on the other hand is not subject to the same
restrictions and can be sold widely, albeit subject to
regulatory licensing. Therefore, cannabis companies coming
to market have been largely focused on raising funds for
growing operations and for testing of new products
which can be readily sold for recreational use and certain
medical conditions.
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
TM
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A2 Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
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8. DR: What three things do you think
Canadians should consider when making
decisions about investing in the
psychedelics market?
Q3
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Does the company have a viable product?
Is the product differentiated or patentable?
Is the company’s target market large enough to
sustain profitability?
RL: Canadians should consider the following three things
when making decisions to invest in the psychedelics
market:
1.
2.
3.
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
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A3 Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
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9. DR: What is your long-term view on
the psychedelics investment
market?
Q4
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RL: We believe the psychedelics sector has scope to grow
but growth will be over the longer-term and will be subject
to an onerous regulatory environment. There are few
patentable products in the space, although variations of
similar products will emerge.
Companies engaged in research and development would
likely do well in the early stages of growth but the scope for
growth of companies involved in the growing of magic
mushrooms will be restricted to few players in the long run.
Although many growers might emerge, most will fail or get
absorbed through consolidation. Therefore, only quality
companies with a strong capital base, good management
and a viable product pipeline will survive.
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
TM
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A4 Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
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11. DR: How does your team plan to
meet the growing investor demand
to participate in the fast emerging
psychedelics market?
Q5
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RL: We will continue to monitor the psychedelics sector
for potential investment opportunities.
At this point in time, investment in the sector remains
speculative.
From a strategic standpoint, we do not foresee ourselves
participating in this market now, but may consider making
tactical bets on specific companies as new information is
available.
Host of PANGEA Talks
Declan Winston Ramsaran
Managing Director
PANGEA Private Family Offices
TM
TM
A5 Guest on PANGEA Talks
Rawn Lakhan
Portfolio Manager
Meadowbank Asset Management
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12. CONTACT
PANGEA
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PANGEA Private Family Offices
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