Roy Sebag

Roy Sebag
The Founder Of BitGold Roy Sebag
Born Roy Sebag
(1985-06-28) June 28, 1985
Residence Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation
Years active 2015–present
Known for BitGold
Salary BitGold $1 (2015) [1]

Roy Sebag (born June 28, 1985) is a Canadian hedge fund manager,[2] practicing contrarian investing. He is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and 53% owner of Natural Resource Holdings, Ltd. a publicly traded company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.[3] In 2015, Sebag founded BitGold a gold savings/payments company publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.[4][5]

Career

In 2004, Sebag founded the Essentia Equity investment partnership. The company generated average annual returns above 30% for the periods 2004-2010.[6]

On July 23, 2007, Sebag authored a letter entitled: "Reality Approaching" [7] where he discussed the housing bubble: "I feel that in the coming years reality will set in and the huge overhang of debt will become a burden on the global economy. I am not entirely sure as to how the economy will fare out of this cycle but I believe that it will be a long time before valuations are attractive again and our portfolio is positioned accordingly."

Sebag describes his investment style as mix of contrarian value investing modeled after the late Benjamin Graham in his book The Intelligent Investor and the identification of Asymmetry in the risk/reward dynamics of a potential investment. Sebag believes that financial events described in the black swan theory are not as rare as financial models predict.[8]

In March 2008, Sebag through Essentia Equity, provided seed financing to PPDai, a Chinese peer lending network.[9] On November 15, 2013, PPDai closed received a $35 million investment from Alibaba Group.[10]

In June and July 2010, Sebag through Natural Resource Holdings, invested in British Petroleum. His investment thesis was predicated on the long-term financial opportunity present in BP shares due to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that occurred between 20 April 2010, and 19 September 2010.

In 2011, Sebag led an investment group that injected $43 million of rescue financing into American Apparel helping the company avert bankruptcy.[11] In an interview with the fashion-industry trade journal Women's Wear Daily, Sebag was quoted as saying: "“We are contrarian investors and look for opportunities where the market has discounted companies for reasons that are temporary ... American Apparel is a perfect example of that. In my opinion, it’s one of the greatest brands that’s been created in the recent past — it went from zero to $550 million in sales in five years, has set countless trends, resonates with consumers around the world and is trading at a ridiculous valuation. Why? Because of sexual harassment lawsuits, an auditor resigning and employees being deported — which all makes for great headlines but has nothing to do with consumers around the world wanting to go into the stores and buying the product.” [12]

In September 2012, Sebag invested in German automotive company Porsche Auotmobil Holding SE, which controls 50.73% of the voting rights in Volkswagen AG. In an interview with the financial newspaper Barron's, Sebag argued that the legal overhang due to the 2008 short squeeze of Volkswagen provided a unique opportunity to purchase shares of Porsche at a discount. He calculated the value of the shares at 100 Euros.[13]

In 2010, Sebag formed Natural Resource Holdings, an asset consolidator of historically delineated natural resource deposits. In his 2013 letter Sebag explained that: "gold and finite natural resources (what I define as money in our present global economy which relies on 100% fiat based mediums of exchange) have become cornerstones of my investment process." citing the fiat money system as being the chief enabler of debt which leads to unnecessary financial bubbles, and defers savings.[14]

Since 2011, Sebag and his team at Natural Resource Holdings have been compiling and distributing a database of the world's largest gold mines.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Moriarty, Bob. "BitGold Lights Gold's Fire". 321gold. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Executive Profile Roy Sebag". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Profile: Natural Resource Holdings". TASE Site. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Hill, Liezel. "Toronto-based startup BitGold plans up to $20 million IPO next year". Financial Post. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Interview: BitGold co-founder Roy Sebag explains company's philosophy". Northern Miner. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Essentia Equity". CrunchBase. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Reality Approaching" (PDF). Hedge Fund Letters. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Roy Sebag Introduction: 2013 World Gold Mine & Deposit Ranking". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "PPDai – China's Leading Peer Lending Network Announces Record Activity". Business Wire. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "PPDai lands USD35 Million Investment From Alibaba Finance". Venture Capital Post. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "American Apparel gets up to $43M in rescue financing, avoiding bankruptcy". New York Times. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "American Apparel Gets $15M Lifeline". WWD. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Porsche Preferred Shares Merit a Faster Track". Barons. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Global Gold Mine and Deposit Rankings 2013". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Global Gold Mines and Deposits Ranking 2012". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
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