Nov 2018: Disney – Game changer

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Disney – Game changer

Nov 2018 ($117)

 

Charlie Munger’s observation that the emergence of video cassette players in the early 80s was a game changer for Disney because it allowed the company to re-monetise its exceptional quality content we think is apt. In other words, there was latent pricing power within the business that was only realised due to a new distribution channel. Today we believe Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer opportunity is another such game changer.

“So a lot of the great record of Eisner and Wells was utter brilliance but the rest came from just raising prices at Disneyland and Disneyworld and through video cassette sales of classic animated movies” – Charlie Munger – A Lesson on Elementary Worldly Wisdom

Reams have been written on the rapidly changing media landscape of the last decade: on Netflix spending $8bn to develop its own content, on Amazon (a book seller) winning a Golden Globe, on Disney buying Fox (thwarting Comcast, who bought Sky), on AT&T buying TimeWarner (and then raising prices) and on and on. What every player agrees though is the obvious point: Content is King (us too, as you know: Holland Views – Disney – Content King – October 2016).

What strikes us as curious though is that, in Disney’s case, whilst many industry observers write and opine very favourably[1] on Bob Iger’s strategic nous and Disney’s execution and prospects – Mr Market still remains sceptical. Sceptical, it seems, on the costs of such change, the ability to scale the offering and the pain of cannibalising existing distribution routes. Mr Market is highly sceptical that moving to OTT[2] distribution will be accretive.

Wholesaler becomes retailer

At 16x PE, Disney’s shares discount no benefit from the game changing move from being essentially a wholesaler of content to suddenly becoming the retailer of it too. Disney is in effect getting access to a low-rent, global shopfront of its own with control of pricing for its unique products – not to mention direct contact with its customers!

We see this is another golden opportunity for Disney to re-monetise the back catalogue and realise increased pricing power in the future. That makes it an opportunity that surely will be accretive to the business. The more we have analysed and debated Disney’s prospects over the last two years, the higher our conviction has become that this is a mispriced share.

At the same time, we fully accept that things (forecasts, sentiment, roll-out and cannibalisation costs) could quite possibly get worse before they get better.

We make it our job to seek great companies that are priced like OK ones. Disney owns the best global content and the brands that will keep producing it and it is a high return business with strong FCF generation. It also has the determination to execute this move to becoming a retailer of its own brands online in the same way it is in the theme parks

When Disney gets behind something, look out.” – Steve Jobs[3]

Three Misconceptions

We summarise Mr. Market’s three misconceptions thus:

  1. Disney will not be able to execute this transition to a proprietary ‘Disney+[4]’ streaming service seamlessly and therefore risks killing its Golden Goose.
  2. The move to direct selling will cannibalise existing revenue streams from the traditional distributors and the streaming market is just too competitive.
  3. Disney will take a huge hit to its earnings as it builds out this network and we have no idea if/or for how long it will take to get back to steady state.

We take down those misconceptions one by one later on. In doing so, we draw heavily on Bob Iger’s thoughtful and candid comments on the motivation and consequences of Disney’s move to direct consumer selling of its media.

Crucially though, we also draw on our own experience as very close-followers of the evolution of WWE (and Formula 1) – two other unique media brands who are embracing the opportunity that direct selling of content is affording them. Importantly, their evolution was two-fold: 1) in terms of their business models and 2) of Mr Market’s confidence in such moves. Our earlier work has looked in detail at business model evolution – this note primarily addresses the latter.

in the future, all companies will be internet companies– Andy Grove, Intel founder, 1999

First, a reminder of what a great business Disney is

This note is not intended to be a rehash of our earlier work. In our first note on Disney we asked the rhetorical question – “Could Disney turn out to be one of the few old school companies to truly benefit from the internet”? This note builds on that earlier work and our now increased conviction that Disney’s equity price is attractive thanks to market scepticism. We encourage you to review our earlier work on Disney[5] (including – notably – a detailed rebuttal of misplaced ESPN concerns in that first note).

Our earlier work concluded that:

  1. Bob Iger is a world-class manager of creative talent and brands with an impeccable track record. He is a terrific capital allocator. Iger is also exceptionally candid and consistent in his communication as evidenced in his quotations through this report.

Journalist Question: what is the content industry going to look like in five years?

Bob Iger: “I believe we have to look at this as opportunity versus threat. Meaning I’ve tried to manage this company … in a way that enables us to not only survive but to thrive in a world that doesn’t look anything like the world that existed just a few years ago… There are three ways to do that. The first is make great content. And this is very relevant to the Fox acquisition. The second is to be incredibly innovative about how you bring that content to market. By the way, there isn’t a better example than Netflix. The third is to be truly global in nature. – Hollywood Reporter

2. Disney is perhaps a surprisingly high return, high Free cash generating company. The group as a whole makes a 25% RoNTA (after tax). Excluding theme parks, these returns are c.35%. In 2018 its EBIT outside the parks was c.$11bn. It’s CAPEX for the same divisions a mere $1.2bn.

3. With Disney-Fox, and a post more than decade of judicious investment in content brands (Pixar, Marvell, Star Wars), infrastructure (China theme parks and BAMTech streaming technology) and their pipelines, Iger now has an unparalleled ‘stable’ of proven content and proven content producers to leverage globally. That is fact.

4. There is clear demand to meet that supply of content. Thanks to the OTT wave, demand for media, in our view, has never been stronger. The ability to create personalised household bundles of content (say WWE, F1, ESPN, HBO, Netflix, Prime, Sky Now etc.) is enormously disruptive for the cable aggregators whose stranglehold of living rooms is ending. For those who actually own unique content production and brands – and Disney is one of the largest – OTT is a massive opportunity.

This is not just applicable to movies: our work on ESPN in the first Disney note showed clearly that the move from wholesale to direct selling could release a lot of value in this division also. As a reminder, ESPN generates (i.e. receives) only $8 per subscriber per month in wholesale revenue whereas its peer Sky Sports – a business we know well – generates circa $40 directly selling direct to its subscribers. ESPN’s monthly $8 could also be compared to a typical US pay-TV retail bundle (incl. sports/ESPN) that averages over $120 a month.

5. The OTT channel is highly synergistic for existing content owners. Existing cable companies still need content which is in finite supply. WWE has also shown us just how accretive to brand equity having a direct relationship with consumers can be. It is true that Disney has lacked this engagement (outside of theme parks, Disney had extremely limited contact with the consumers of its movies) until now. As such in the long term we expect this direct relationship to be helpful to Disney’s marketing efficiency, brand equity and even product innovation.

Taking down Mr Market’s fears

Mr Market is being what you might call ‘rationally irrational’ in his attitude to Disney. It is quite understandable that a period of uncertainty is coming for Disney investors – a period in which earnings will be clearly difficult to forecast. We see that. But the key word is we think is “uncertainty”. As we have stated before high ‘uncertainty’ is different form high ‘risk’.

We now seek to address those three misconceptions outlined above:

Misconception #1: That Disney will not be able to undertake this transition seamlessly

This is an obvious uncertainty – Disney is launching a new distribution channel which involves technological and consumer adoption unknowns. But let’s put it into this context: Disney has not just a Golden Goose but a flock of Golden Geese and all are alive and well. The question in front of us is the manner in which these golden eggs are being sold – not whether the goose is being sacrificed in some high risk business pivot, nor indeed whether demand will remain high.

We don’t try to predict the future but we are relaxed about Disney’s transition to OTT distribution. Here are three reasons:

  1. With BAMTech, Disney has an established and proven technology platform in-house.
  2. Disney has used the ‘DisneyLife’ streaming trial in the UK to understanding pricing sensitivities and platforms etc. In fact, Disney might have a ‘late mover’ advantage in this regard.
  3. The Golden Geese are being well looked after and they remain highly sought after. Disney-Fox’s content pipeline is unmatched globally.

It is important to note that Disney is undertaking this move by its own volition and it is the value of its intellectual property that is the ultimate margin of safety in assessing the risk “if things go wrong”. In the end, the main point here is that in an unlikely worst-case scenario, it can still revert back to its old distribution channels who will always need and pay-up for good content. So, whilst we think the move to OTT can be accretive, in the worst-case, the company can revert to the status quo. We might also add that far smaller peer businesses like WWE (whom we know well) have been through this transition. They emerged with a far increased brand equity value and a platform for truly global growth.

Here is Iger on why Disney can pace itself on the move to OTT:

Analyst: Bob, are there any overarching principles that is driving how much you think is the right investment level in streaming? For example, is there a need to move quickly because otherwise the market would be passing by? Or should you move slowly to manage the impact on earnings? Any framing of the factors that determine how aggressively the company is turning to digital would be helpful?

Iger: “to answer the first question, we don’t see the need to rush because the market will pass us by, simply because the only place people are going to be able to get Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars original product is going to be on this app. And so, we believe whenever we launch, it will be attractive. – Disney Q3 2018 conference call

Iger’s point about not needing to rush the transition is subtle but absolutely key to acknowledge as it reminds us of the quality of the Disney assets. Remember, what we ought to be debating here is not the ‘ins and outs’ of a partial shift to a new distribution channel but whether the underlying product being sold is in fact sought after.

It should be obvious that the likes of Netflix – who is trying to build a ‘culture of content creation’ from scratch, simply don’t not have the luxury of patience – they have to hurry. Bear in mind too, Disney is not really competing head-head with Netflix. Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s Chief Executive, makes as similar point as he referred to HBO as Tiffany’s to Netflix’s Walmart:

“Netflix is like the Walmart of subscription video — while HBO is Tiffany & Co– Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T

Well, I happen to like Walmart; we do a lot of business with them. So maybe I’d say it a different way. They’re a volume play with a lot of quality within their volume. And we’re going to be a quality play with enough volume and enough scale to provide the consumer with a good price-to-value relationship– Bob Iger, referencing Stephenson’s statement

As we wrote in March of this year, Disney is certainly not immune from making (or admitting to) mistakes – Iger has candidly discussed the “rookie mistakes” incurred during the trial launch of Disney Life – its early OTT experiment in the UK. As we mention later, one of Iger’s great traits as a businessman is his candid nature of saying things as he sees them. Is that to say that Disney (and its BAMTech division) will execute flawlessly? Of course not. In fact it is surely likely that there will be periods of margin erosion as high investment costs (including necessary tailor-made content) coincide with fewer cable/Netflix eyeballs as consumers get to know the vagaries of the new internet bundles and pricing. We’ll address that later in this note.

Such uncertain times might just be the period of maximum opportunity investors seek.

Misconception #2: That the move to direct selling will cannibalise existing revenue streams

Actually, we absolutely agree that Disney’s move to direct selling will cannibalise its existing business! In some ways, that’s the whole point. But – and it’s a big “But”, the key point here is that Disney will cannibalise some wholesale revenues and replace them with retail revenues. Said differently, we strongly believe that Disney’s move to direct selling will be significantly accretive due to 1) cutting out the aforementioned aggregator middlemen and 2) increasing the cross selling opportunities inherent in direct customer access (i.e. targeted bundling of theme parks passes, shorter movie release windows, customised content, merchandise etc etc). This is not a one-sided win – crucial to all of this is that the consumer gets offered better value (and thus the flywheel of synergistic growth continues).

It’s easy to overlook that movie theatres retain c.50% of box office receipts. Disney movies generated $2.4bn at the US box office last year of which $1.2bn was paid-away to the cinemas. Roughly a similar amount was spent in US retail stores on Disney Video/DVD sets for which retailers probably get a 100% mark-up – i.e. Disney received 50% of this). Some of the marginal revenue Disney+ will realise may be these former wholesale sales, but now at a higher $ value per unit sale.

WWE Learnings

As alluded to above, Mr Market’s fear about cannibalisation in effect says that Disney’s content value is already fully realised. We disagree, because DTC offers consumers increased value.

Case-in-point: the ardent WWE fan was paying c.$70 for the annual Wrestlemania show on pay-per-view (PPV) back in 2014 and also paying c.$30 for each of eight other PPV events throughout the year. Well for $10/month in 2018, that same fan can now get the same Wrestlemania show on-demand, plus all the other PPV’s, plus bespoke content plus the entire back catalogue of wrestling content. Today what might have cost >$300 in 2014 a WWE fan can get for $120. Who were the losers here? – the cable middlemen of course. The winner was the customer who got more value and WWE who got the platform and growth that lower pricing and better product brings.

You might say that proves Mr Market’s fear just there – but to do so is to ignore the fact that the lower retail price (and higher value afforded by additional streaming services of the back catalogue) also attracts additional new global customers (with a lower marginal acquisition cost) who then have a relationship directly with the brand, not via a marked-up cable product. WWE’s massive success in OTT has not just been in creating the new distribution channel; it has also been in the increased fan engagement and associated brand building that internet platforms enable. The c.$500m 10-year contract which WWE won this year in Saudi Arabia was won in no small part thanks to WWE’s unmatched brand presence on YouTube (Saudi has one of the largest per capita consumption of YouTube globally). In WWE’s case, this, in turn got reflected in the legacy TV distribution contract renewals (valued at over 3x the previous contract’s value).

Let’s also not forget the key attribute of DTC – it is two-way – it therefore allows for tremendous insight into, and feedback from, customer preferences.

Its hardly contentious to say that demand for high quality long form video content has never been so strong. What is changing is how it is consumed. In short, the content owners are getting a bigger share of the pie (by cutting out the middleman) but the pie is getting bigger too. This is due to the ability of customer now to personalise content spending the same (or often more) but often getting better value by paying the old wholesale rate rather than retail price. Our last point is an obvious one of a bigger addressable market. Any product that was bundled had a limited reach (i.e. it could only be sold to those within that cable contract) – Formula 1 experiences in markets like Brazil and Italy are good examples of this.

DTC could have a much wider potential and appeal and outside the US where Cable networks are less developed but there is still a very big untapped market for branded and quality content.

Analyst: think you’re going through a pretty notable renewable cycle between your major affiliate deals up in 2019. The question is really how you’re balancing those negotiations with the distributors given your high profile direct-to-consumer priorities?

Iger: “I think there is a reality that is set-in in the distribution side of the business that the business is changing, that consumer habits have changed, and that the over-the-top SVOD product is here to stay and is real, and is probably going to continue to either compete with the more traditional platforms or complement the more traditional platforms. So we don’t really see it complicating our negotiations with the primary distributors. – Disney Q3 2018 conference call

We could be even bolder and take a much bigger picture view here. That is, Disney has a much wider scope of businesses when you consider theme parks, DVDs etc. By gaining an access to its own ardent movie fans directly, Disney is offered the opportunity to create a seamless direct link between media, real world experiences and merchandise.

Rather than creating movie stars, as the Hollywood enterprises of yore did, or elevating auteur-directors, as the Miramax-style studios did, Iger has focused on establishing brands. “He’s refined the business,” says Rupert Murdoch, executive co-chairman of Fox. “He built this thing around reliable franchises, whether it’s with Pixar, with Lucasfilm or with Marvel, which then play right into the theme parks and everything.” – Time Magazine, October 15 2018

Misconception #3. Disney will take a hit to its earnings as it builds-out this network – indeed, who knows just how long it will take to get back to steady-state?

You can’t manage a company just because of what analysts expect you to do – Iger (11:20 excellent 2015 Vanity Fair interview[6])

If you really look across all of our businesses and you include ESPN and ABC and ABC News and what we’re buying with Fox, we probably spend upwards of what they (Netflix) are spending. It’s just that we’re distributing differently. So the pivot for us is not necessarily substantially more spending, it’s substantially different distribution. But while we’re migrating to new distribution models, we have to spend enough [to populate] the new distribution until we can move content on the older ones over. – Bob Iger, Hollywood Reporter Interview (emphasis ours)

Again, we do not contest that Disney will take a hit to earnings in 2019 and possibly in 2020. That seems likely. Our earlier work referred to the hit that WWE took. WWE also showed that investors who were willing to look-through the earnings hit were able to enjoy significant increase in profits and, ultimately a share price, that is 7x(!) higher.

Once again, Iger is very candid about the double whammy of sacrificing Netflix’s licensing income coupled with the increased spend on bespoke platform content.

Two things are happening here. We’re weaning ourselves off licensing revenue from third parties. That kicks in, really, in 2019, when the movie studio output, which was licensed to Netflix, will cease in terms of new films. At the same time, we are investing more in content to seize these direct-to-consumer businesses before we can move content from the more traditional platforms over. So there’s more spend in production and there’s less licensing revenue.

There will be an impact on our bottom line in fiscal ’19 because of what I just described, and it’s with the full support of the Disney board because we all believe that the reality of transformation is staring us in the face, and we have to transform with it. In order to transform successfully, it means that you’re going to go through a period of time where you’ve reduced your profitability somewhat. It’s the right thing because we’re playing the long game and not the short.” – Bob Iger, Hollywood Reporter interview (emphasis ours)

So there is a very real headwind to short term profit forecasts as Disney has made a stand on exclusivity of content (as Iger says “the long game”). It is either not renewing content distribution deals with the likes of Netflix or delaying the monetisation of 2019 releases so that they can be offered more exclusively on the Disney platform. As the Disney+ platform does not start until end 2019 and will presumably take at least a few years to achieve any sort of scale it could be assumed to be lossmaking during that 2019-21 period. Furthermore, the existing distribution deals that Disney are not renewing (and are thus losing) were likely to have been highly profitable. The scale of hit this combined factors will have on Disney earnings at a group level we are unsure of but our best guess is a 10-15% hit to EBIT (we are happy to share our workings).

However we find ourselves wanting to ignore it anyway.

The reason being that we think Iger is right. Disney has the brands to build a quality content platform that no others can match. It, like WWE, also has a huge advantage in that the content that populates these platforms is being produced anyway and it has perpetual ownership of it. That is a model any aggregator is going to find very very hard to match. In short, we think the Disney streaming platform will win share and be a powerful driver of the companies longer term monetisation of its IP. If on the road to that, short-term profits fall 10-20% due to this investment phase maybe we should just look past this. As for Mr Market – well he is always hard to judge. Our money is on him being more swayed by the speed of take up of the new platform, but we accept that ‘investment phases’ are very hard to judge.

ESPN upside and thoughts on the asymmetry of the bet

In all the discussions on Disney’s DTC future, much is made of the film brands it possesses and the additional content that Fox will bring. However, we think the success or not of ESPN+ and what follows it, combined with any changed market attitude to this division is potentially significant. With its falling headline subscriber base and ESPN’s past 35% contribution to Disney group EBIT it has been the reason for many franchise investors to stay away. However, we think ESPN is a great snapshot of today’s content world (i.e. still high content costs and yet falling subs). Arguably therefore, a change in the economics and recognition of the monetisation potential of this channel could have the greatest effect on the investor sentiment around Disney and thus the share piece. We note that ESPN+ has already passed the 1m subscriber level in under a year (at $4.99 per month) – not too shabby considering that, so far, this is a distinct and niche extra products from the much larger ESPN offering.

Heads I win, Tails I don’t lose too much

Returning to the idea of high uncertainty vs. high risk we think potential Disney investors may be well served by inverting the problem. What happens to Disney if it fails in this DTC venture?

“Invert, invert, always invert” – Charlie Munger

We could define failure as the content side of the business being still in good shape with great films, programming and parks enjoyed by its consumers. However, Disney just cannot sort the technology or the pricing or get enough customers to connect directly with it despite the significant investment in new IP and the back catalogue it has put in place on the Disney+ platform.

At the financial level we could make a short cut and say that in four years Disney does not grow its Net income at all as any organic growth it would normally experience is wiped out by start up costs and the attrition of lost content sales via past profitable channels. In 4 years’ time it might have bought back c.10% of its stock, or be debt free.

So, what might happen next? Well, assuming others have succeeded where Disney has not, then Netflix, Amazon and A.N. Other will have huge DTC global platforms. As such were Disney to turn to this market and say “we give up, lets do a deal” – what happens then? In short, we think the mother of all bun fights ensues to try and secure the greatest content on the planet with prices reflecting not only the draw this content would bring, but also the knowledge that to lose the deal would give your competitor a huge advantage. In such a scenario, it is not outlandish to suggest that bids for Disney (the company) could even result.

If properly cared for, Disney assets will only increase in value over time as a look at its past compounding attests. Today’s DTC route can create an exciting future for the group with direct relationships with millions of global customers – but it is not the only route. Companies like Netflix must grow and innovate in the DTC arena to survive – they have no choice. Disney is different. It has the brands, the history and the IP innovation that ensure its continued success. Reflecting in this way suggests to us there is limited downside in the shares.

Capital Allocation and a Conclusion

We have written in other pieces that Iger and his team are strongly focused on returns. Despite being previously acquisitive they have shown great returns resulting from those purchases (including the sizable goodwill paid). The Fox deal might be interpreted by some that they have lost that discipline, but we feel such a unique opportunity to scale up was worthwhile for the scale of the global content model that it creates.

That Disney lost/chose not to keep bidding up for Sky we think is also interesting in the effect it can have on future capital allocation. Despite all its past acquisitions, Disney still cancelled 20% of its shares in the last 10 years thanks to its strong cash generation.

Post the Fox deal buybacks have been stopped until the company gets back to investment grade. If they had purchased Sky (for 17x EBITDA) then Disney’s Net Debt/EBITDA would have been c.4x. By selling Sky this is reduced closer to 2x. In c.18 months’ time, this ratio could be back to the level Disney had before the Fox deal (and thus presumably buybacks will be resumed). In essence Disney chose to pass on Sky at 17x EV/EBITDA and will be buying its own shares back at 10x EBITDA. That looks good allocation to us.

The price of success?

At this point of technological uncertainty over Disney’s future, investors having considered ‘failure’ above might now also consider the following question:

What would be an appropriate PE rating for Disney shares if the company is successful in its move to profitably build scale in Direct to Consumer distribution?

Consider that the resulting company would enjoy one of the greatest portfolios of global content and brands with a direct channel into potentially every consumer on the planet and the ability to monetise all the future distribution of these brands (media, parks and merchandise) directly with that customer.

Our best guess of a future Disney Group PE multiple is least 20x and maybe even c.25x. This is as Mr Market starts to consider the ongoing future growth potential of the groups brand and network combining and the operational gearing that will start to come from marginal new global subscribers joining a by then, well-established, network.

We suggest that were Disney to keep compounding earnings at a modest c. 10% for the next 4 years and end up on a PE of 20x in four years’ time; its 4 year IRR from today’s starting values would be 17%. Were the end multiple to be 25x the IRR rises to a whopping 23%. Clearly things may prove a little more bumpy than that during the required investment years but long term we see the share rating of new Disney higher than today’s valuation.

In 2016 we asked ‘Could Disney turn out to be one of the few old school companies to truly benefit from the internet?’ – We believe the answer to this question today is ‘Yes’. The mispricing, if one exists, is that Mr Market has yet to come round to that view.

Andrew Hollingworth & Mark Power

The Directors and employees of Holland Advisors may have a beneficial interest in some of the companies mentioned in this report via holdings in a fund that they also act as advisors to.

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This document does not consist of investment research as it has not been prepared in accordance with UK legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. Therefore even if it contains a research recommendation it should be treated as a marketing communication and as such will be fair, clear and not misleading in line with Financial Conduct Authority rules. Holland Advisors is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This presentation is intended for institutional investors and high net worth experienced investors who understand the risks involved with the investment being promoted within this document. This communication should not be distributed to anyone other than the intended recipients and should not be relied upon by retail clients (as defined by Financial Conduct Authority). This communication is being supplied to you solely for your information and may not be reproduced, re-distributed or passed to any other person or published in whole or in part for any purpose. This communication is provided for information purposes only and should not be regarded as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument. Any opinions cited in this communication are subject to change without notice. This communication is not a personal recommendation to you. Holland Advisors takes all reasonable care to ensure that the information is accurate and complete; however no warranty, representation, or undertaking is given that it is free from inaccuracies or omissions. This communication is based on and contains current public information, data, opinions, estimates and projections obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The content of this communication may have been disclosed to the issuer(s) prior to dissemination in order to verify its factual accuracy. Investments in general involve some degree of risk therefore Prospective Investors should be aware that the value of any investment may rise and fall and you may get back less than you invested. Value and income may be adversely affected by exchange rates, interest rates and other factors. The investment discussed in this communication may not be eligible for sale in some states or countries and may not be suitable for all investors. If you are unsure about the suitability of this investment given your financial objectives, resources and risk appetite, please contact your financial advisor before taking any further action. This document is for informational purposes only and should not be regarded as an offer or solicitation to buy the securities or other instruments mentioned in it. Holland Advisors and/or its officers, directors and employees may have or take positions in securities or derivatives mentioned in this document (or in any related investment) and may from time to time dispose of any such securities (or instrument). Holland Advisors manage conflicts of interest in regard to this communication internally via their compliance procedures.

  1. TIME’s recent profile on Iger is a great example
  2. Over-The-Top – i.e. distributed over the internet
  3. ‘The Pixar Touch’ book
  4. Disney+ is the planned name of Disney’s streaming service to be launched in 2019
  5. Holland Views – Disney – Content King, Oct 2016Holland Views – Disney – Mouse Marries Fox, March 2018

    Holland Views – Disney – Blowing Up The Castle, July 2018

  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtsBBKAJgFQ
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This Website is not directed at or intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction where (by reason of that jurisdiction’s applicable securities laws, person’s nationality, residence or otherwise) such distribution, publication, availability or use of this Website or any part of its contents would be contrary to applicable law or regulation or would subject Holland Advisors (London) Ltd to any registration or licensing requirement within such jurisdiction. If you are such a person or entity, you are not authorised to enter the Website. It is your responsibility to ensure that your use of this Website complies with any restrictions or any applicable local laws regarding use of the Information on this Website. Persons or entities in respect of whom such restrictions apply must not access the relevant pages on this Website. The Information displayed on this Website contains material that may be interpreted by the relevant authorities in the country where you are viewing this Website as a financial promotion or an offer to purchase securities. Accordingly, if you reside in any such country or fall within the scope of any law that seeks to regulate financial promotions in the country of your residence or in the country in which you are viewing this Website, please cease accessing or using this Website immediately. If you are uncertain about your position under the laws of the country in which you are viewing this Website, then you should seek clarification by obtaining legal advice from a lawyer practicing in the country of your residence or in the country in which you are viewing this Website before accessing this Website. You may not use any part of the material or Information on this Website to establish, maintain or provide or assist in establishing, maintaining or providing a stock market for trading in securities. 6. Investment Performance and Accuracy of Information The Site contains material about the past performance of our Funds. The value of an investment in a Fund may go up as well down so that an investor’s investment in a Fund, when redeemed, may be more or less than the original investment amount. By its nature, investment in a Fund managed by Holland Advisors (London) Ltd is only suitable for sophisticated investors who do not require immediate liquidity for their investment, for whom an investment in a Fund does not constitute a complete investment programme and who fully understand and are willing to assume the high risk involved in the investment programme of a Fund. THE PAST PERFORMANCE OF ANY INVESTMENT, INVESTMENT STRATEGY OR INVESTMENT STYLE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE. Whilst the information contained on the Website has been given in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, the Information may not be complete or accurate for your purposes. This Website and the Information is provided on an “as is” basis and Holland Advisors (London) Ltd may not, and has no obligation to, update the Information or correct any inaccuracy which subsequently becomes apparent. The Information and/or opinions and estimates comprised in the Information may be changed or withdrawn without notice and may become outdated. You, therefore, should verify any information or other material obtained from this Website before you use it. HOLLAND ADVISORS (LONDON) LTD, ITS DIRECTORS OR OFFICERS DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BY WAY OF EXAMPLE BUT NOT LIMITATION AS TO RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, FITNESS FOR PURPOSE OR ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE OR ON ANY THIRD PARTY WEBSITE LINKED TO THIS WEBSITE. IN ADDITION, WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THIS WEBSITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR FREE, OR FREE FROM INFECTION, VIRUSES, WORMS OR ANY OTHER HARMFUL CODE WHICH MAY HAVE CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES. YOU ARE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING PROTECTIVE STEPS TO BE TAKEN SUCH AS VIRUS CHECKING. The Information is assembled from material prepared by Holland Advisors (London Ltd) or its agents but may not include Information made known to Holland Advisors (London) Ltd officers (or agents) subsequent to the date of publication of the Information indicated on the Website. If you use the Information, you do so at your own risk. Please recognise that the previous performance of securities or other instruments does not guarantee or predict future performance. 7. Exclusion of liability TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HOLLAND ADVISORS (LONDON) LTD ACCEPT NO LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOSSES OR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT OR INDIRECT DAMAGES, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, COSTS OR EXPENSES INCURRED OR SUFFERED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR DUE TO NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACCESS TO, USE OF, RELIANCE ON, OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE, WHETHER DUE TO INACCURACY, ERROR, OMISSION OR ANY OTHER CAUSE AND WHETHER ON THE PART OF US, OUR SERVANTS, AGENTS OR ANY OTHER PERSON. NOTHING IN THE TERMS OF USE EXCLUDES, RESTRICTS OR MODIFIES ANY CONDITION, WARRANTY OR LIABILITY WHICH MAY AT ANY TIME BE IMPLIED BY STATUTE OR ANY OTHER APPLICABLE LAW WHERE TO DO SO IS ILLEGAL OR WOULD RENDER ANY PROVISION OF AN AGREEMENT VOID. 8. Third Party Websites We may provide, on our Website, links to websites operated by third parties as a convenience to you. If you use these other sites, you will leave this Website. If you decide to visit any linked site, you do so at your own risk and it is your responsibility to take all protective measures to guard against viruses or other destructive elements. Holland Advisors (London) Ltd makes no representations, warranties or guarantees of any kind about any of the content of any other website which you may access by hypertext link through this Website. When you access any other website by means of a link from this Website, you should understand that your access to that other website is independent of Holland Advisors (London) Ltd and Holland Advisors (London) Ltd has no control over the content of the website, nor does Holland Advisors (London) Ltd in any way endorse or approve the content of that website. In no event will Holland Advisors (London) Ltd in any way be liable to you or any other person(s) or organisation(s) for loss or damage (whether direct, indirect, consequential, special or other) for any use of any site linked to it by means of hypertext or otherwise. 9. Indemnity You agree to indemnify Holland Advisors (London) Ltd and its officers from and against any claim brought by third parties against Holland Advisors (London) Ltd and its officers as a consequence of your breach of the Terms of Use. Furthermore, if your use of this Website results in the need for servicing, repair or correction of equipment, software or data, you assume all costs thereof. 10. Intellectual Property Rights and Licence The copyright, trade mark or any other intellectual property rights in the Website and the Information are owned by or licensed to Holland Advisors (London) Ltd. You may download or print out a hard copy of individual pages and/or sections of this Website provided you do not remove any copyright or other proprietary notices. Any downloading or other copying from this Website will not transfer title to any software or material to you. You may not reproduce (in whole or in part), transmit (by electronic means or otherwise), modify, link to or use for any public or commercial purpose this Website without the prior written permission of Holland Advisors (London) Ltd. Any rights not expressly granted in the Terms of Use are reserved. 11. Operation of the Website You should be aware that the internet, being an open network, is not secure. If you choose to send any electronic communications by means of this Website, you do so at your own risk. Holland Advisors (London) Ltd cannot guarantee that such communications will not be intercepted or changed or that they will reach the intended recipient safely. 12. Privacy Any personal data relating to you will be collected, used and recorded by us in accordance with current data protection legislation, the Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. You must read our Privacy Policy as it forms part of the Terms of Use. 13. Governing law The Terms of Use are governed by the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising under them. 14. Waiver If you breach the Terms of Use and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach the Terms of Use. 15. Our details This website is owned and operated by Holland Advisors London Ltd. You can contact us at: Holland Advisors London Ltd, The Granary, 1 Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 8BB. Updated and effective as of  31st March 2024
Disclaimer
Please read the following conditions of use of this website. This website is directed at high net worth experienced investors and institutional investors who understand the risks involved with the investments being promoted and it should not be relied upon by retail clients (as defined by Financial Conduct Authority). The information on this website is issued by Holland Advisors (London) Limited (hereafter referred to as “Holland Advisors”), a limited liability company (7431314) incorporated in England and Wales, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 538932). This website is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, funds or any other financial instrument. The information is directed inside the United Kingdom and is not directed at any persons in jurisdictions where it would be against local law or regulation.  In particular, information on this site is not directed at any person, partnership or corporation being resident in the United States of America. Holland Advisors disclaims all responsibility if you access or download any information in breach of any law or regulation of the country in which you reside. Information on this site The information provided does not constitute advice. Holland Advisors believes that the sources of the information in this website are reliable. However it cannot and does not guarantee, either expressly or implicitly, and accepts no liability for, the accuracy, validity, timeliness or completeness of any information or data (whether prepared by it or by any third party) for any particular purpose or use or that the information or data will be free from error. Holland Advisors does not undertake any responsibility for any reliance which is placed by any person on any statements or opinions which are expressed herein. Neither Holland Advisors nor any of its directors, officers or employees will be liable or have any responsibility of any kind for any loss or damage that any person may incur resulting from the use of this information. This does not exclude or restrict any duty of liability that Holland Advisors has to its customers under the regulatory system in the United Kingdom. All Information may be changed or amended without prior notice although Holland Advisors does not undertake to update this site regularly. Marketing Communications Documents on this site do not constitute investment research as they have not been prepared in accordance with UK legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. Therefore, even if they contain research recommendations they should be treated as marketing communications and as such will be fair, clear and not misleading in line with Financial Conduct Authority rules. These communications are not personal recommendations to you and any opinions cited are subject to change without notice. Holland Advisors takes all reasonable care to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and complete; however no warranty, representation, or undertaking is given that it is free from inaccuracies or omissions. Documents on this site are based on, and contain, current public information, data, opinions, estimates and projections obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The content of these documents may have been disclosed to the issuer(s) prior to dissemination in order to verify their factual accuracy. Investments in general involve some degree of risk, therefore Prospective Investors should be aware that the value of any investment may rise and fall and you may get back less than you invested. Value and income may be adversely affected by exchange rates, interest rates and other factors. The investments discussed on this website may not be eligible for sale in some states or countries and may not be suitable for all investors. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment given your financial objectives, resources and risk appetite, please contact your financial advisor before taking any further action. Holland Advisors and/or its officers, directors and employees may have or take positions in securities, funds or derivatives mentioned on this site (or in any related investment) and may from time to time dispose of any such securities (or instrument). Holland Advisors manages these potential conflicts of interest internally via its compliance procedures. Fund Information Parts of this site may refer to Funds managed or advised by Holland Advisors. These are not solicitations to invest and any potential investors should refer to the “Our Funds” section of the website in order to learn more about these Funds and find out how and where to obtain the relevant full legal documentation. Linked Websites This site may be linked to third party websites or contain information provided by third parties. Holland Advisors does not make any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of such websites or information, has not and will not review or update such websites or information, and cautions browsers that any use made of such websites or information is at their own risk. Holland Advisors does not accept any liability arising out of the information contained on any linked website or Information provided by a third party and the use of such sites and information is at your own risk. This does not exclude or restrict any duty or liability that Holland Advisors has to its customers under the regulatory system in the United Kingdom. Indemnity You agree to indemnify and defend Holland Advisors, its affiliates and licensors, and the officers, directors, employees, and agents of Holland Advisors and its affiliates and licensors, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, or expenses, including legal fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of this website and the Information. Use of Cookies If you agree to these terms and conditions a “cookie” might be placed on your computer. A cookie is a packet of information that does not identify individual users of a website, but allows the collection of website activity (such as the number of users who visit our website, the date and time of visits, the number of pages viewed, navigation patterns, what country and what systems users have used to access the site). We can use this information for statistical purposes, which allows us to analyse and improve our website. The cookie will expire automatically after 6 months or you can manually remove cookies in your browser settings. Copyright, Trademarks and Other Rights Copyright, trademarks, database rights, patents and all similar rights in this site and the information contained in it are owned by Holland Advisors or relevant third party providers. You may use the Information and reproduce it in hard copy for your personal reference only. The information contained herein and any supplemental documentation provided is confidential and should not be copied, reproduced or redistributed without the prior consent of Holland Advisors. Governing Law You agree that your use of this site and any dispute arising from this use is subject to English law and you submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England & Wales.
Privacy Notice
This is the privacy notice of Holland Advisors London Ltd our company number is 07431314. Our registered office is at The Halt, Smugglers Way, The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1NB.
Introduction
This notice describes how we collect, store, transfer and use personal data. It tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you. In the context of the law and this notice, ‘personal data’ is information that clearly identifies you as an individual or which could be used to identify you if combined with other information. Acting in any way on personal data is referred to as ‘processing’. This notice applies to personal data collected through our website www.hollandadvisors.co.uk. Except as set out below, we do not share, or sell, or disclose to a third party, any information collected through our website.
Data Protection Officer
We have appointed a data protection officer (‘DPO’) who is responsible for ensuring that our privacy policy is followed. If you have any questions about how we process your personal data, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact our DPO, Claire Brunt at  claire@hollandadvisors.co.uk.
Personal data we process
1. How we obtain personal data The information we process about you includes information:
  • you have directly provided to us
  • that we gather from third party databases and service providers
  • as a result of monitoring how you use our website or our services
2. Types of personal data we collect directly When you use our website, you may provide personal data by submission of data by our Sign Up or Contact Us forms. This can be categorised into the following groups:
  • personal identifiers, such as your first and last names
  • contact information, such as your email address and your telephone number for communication
  • records of communication between us including messages sent through our website, email messages and telephone conversations
  • marketing preferences that tell us what types of marketing you would like to receive
3. Types of personal data we collect from your use of our services By using our website and our services, we process:
  • technical information about the hardware and the software you use to access our website and use our services, including your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version and your device’s operating system
  • usage information, including the frequency you use our services, the pages of our website that you visit, whether you receive messages from us and whether you reply to those messages
  • your preferences to receive marketing from us; how you wish to communicate with us; and responses and actions in relation to your use of our services.
4. Our use of aggregated information We may aggregate anonymous information such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Anonymous information is that which does not identify you as an individual. Aggregated information may be derived from your personal data but is not considered as such in law because it does not reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate usage information to assess whether a feature of our website is useful. However, if we combine or connect aggregated information with your personal data so that it can identify you in any way, we treat the combined information as personal data, and it will be used in accordance with this privacy notice. 5. The bases on which we process information about you The law requires us to determine under which of six defined bases we process different categories of your personal data, and to notify you of the basis for each category. If a basis on which we process your personal data is no longer relevant then we shall immediately stop processing your data. If the basis changes then if required by law we shall notify you of the change and of any new basis under which we have determined that we can continue to process your information. 6. Information we process with your consent Through certain actions when there is no contractual relationship between us, such as when you browse our website or ask us to provide you more information about our business, you provide your consent to us to process information that may be personal data. Wherever possible, we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process this information, for example, we ask you to agree to our use of non-essential cookies when you access our website. We continue to process your information on this basis until you withdraw your consent or it can be reasonably assumed that your consent no longer exists. You may withdraw your consent at any time by instructing us  claire@hollandadvisors.co.uk. 7. Information we process for the purposes of legitimate interests We may process information on the basis there is a legitimate interest, either to you or to us, of doing so. Where we process your information on this basis, we do after having given careful consideration to:
  • whether the same objective could be achieved through other means
  • whether processing (or not processing) might cause you harm
  • whether you would expect us to process your data, and whether you would, in the round, consider it reasonable to do so
For example, we may process your data on this basis for the purposes of:
  • improving our services
  • record-keeping for the proper and necessary administration of our business
  • responding to unsolicited communication from you to which we believe you would expect a response
  • preventing fraudulent use of our services
  • exercising our legal rights, including to detect and prevent fraud and to protect our intellectual property
  • insuring against or obtaining professional advice that is required to manage business risk
  • protecting your interests where we believe we have a duty to do so
How and when we process your personal data
8. Your personal data is not shared We do not share or disclose to a third party, any information collected through our website.
Use of information we collect through automated systems
9. Cookies Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer’s hard drive by your web browser when you visit a website that uses them. They allow information gathered on one web page to be stored until it is needed for use at a later date. They are commonly used to provide you with a personalised experience while you browse a website, for example, allowing your preferences to be remembered. They can also provide core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility; record how you interact with the website so that the owner can understand how to improve the experience of other visitors. Some cookies may last for a defined period of time, such as one visit (known as a session), one day or until you close your browser. Others last indefinitely until you delete them. Your web browser should allow you to delete any cookie you choose. It should also allow you to prevent or limit their use. Your web browser may support a plug-in or add-on that helps you manage which cookies you wish to allow to operate. The law requires you to give explicit consent for use of any cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of a website. 10. Personal identifiers from your browsing activity Requests by your web browser to our servers for web pages and other content on our website are recorded. We record information such as your geographical location, your Internet service provider and your IP address. We also record information about the software you are using to browse our website, such as the type of computer or device and the screen resolution. We use this information in aggregate to assess the popularity of the webpages on our website and how we perform in providing content to you.
Other matters
11. Your rights The law requires us to tell you about your rights and our obligations to you in regard to the processing and control of your personal data. We do this now, by requesting that you read the information provided at  http://www.knowyourprivacyrights.org 12. Communicating with us When you contact us, whether by telephone, through our website or by email, we collect the data you have given to us in order to reply with the information you need. We record your request and our reply in order to increase the efficiency of our business. We may keep personally identifiable information associated with your message, such as your name and email address so as to be able to track our communications with you to provide a high quality service. 13. Complaining If you are not happy with our privacy policy, or if you have any complaint, then you should tell us. When we receive a complaint, we record the information you have given to us on the basis of consent. We use that information to resolve your complaint. 14. Retention period Except as otherwise mentioned in this privacy notice, we keep your personal data only for as long as required by us to provide you with the services you have requested. 15. Compliance with the law Our privacy policy complies with the law in the United Kingdom, specifically with the Data Protection Act 2018 (the ‘Act’) accordingly incorporating the EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (‘PECR’). 16. Review of this privacy policy We shall update this privacy notice from time to time as necessary.