# COU - Count Financial



## System (27 June 2010)

Count Financial Limited (COU) is a licensed securities dealer providing financial planning and related services to clients of around 450 accounting firms which are Count franchisees. Services include financial planning, investment reviews, and advice on personal insurance, superannuation, home and investment loans, business loans and leasing. Additionally, COU provides loans to its franchisees and owns Countplus, a vehicle for acquiring accounting firms.

http://www.count.com.au


----------



## ROE (26 November 2010)

There is an IPO coming up

http://www.countplusoffer.com.au/

Read count announcement just release to the market, principles fully subscribe to Countplus and count founder Barry Lambert will subscribe to 3.3 million shares in Countplus 

that is a vote of confident 

I have COU shares


----------



## TheAbyss (26 November 2010)

Count have been on the slide for quite a while. Go take a look at Roger Montgomerys opinion of them.


----------



## ROE (26 November 2010)

TheAbyss said:


> Count have been on the slide for quite a while. Go take a look at Roger Montgomerys opinion of them.




Roger maybe a good investor, a publisher and a whole lot of other things..

I buy for my own reasons not Roger reasons...don't care what other people think I have my own reasoning and analysis, I bought CCP when Roger bailed out


----------



## Spudded (16 January 2011)

I'm getting into this stock at the moment, and if you use Roger Montgomery's method of IV, this company has just come into play!


----------



## ROE (16 January 2011)

Tane said:


> I'm getting into this stock at the moment, and if you use Roger Montgomery's method of IV, this company has just come into play!




Actually I'm out of this stock for a small profit.... I follow my Uncle Phil Fisher advices

Upon discovered the business carry a different fundamental than when you bought in get out even at a loss.

a fair amount of count earning coming from investment platforms ..IE easy fees money
but with the Super Cooper review and the wake of GFC and new rules on commission I'm worry that this easy little earner could disappear.

something I am preparing to stay on the side line keep an eye on it for a few years and see if it makes any difference to their earning...a little uncomfortable holding knowing what I know but if you know something better I appreciate any input..

Understanding the business and its earning to me is very very important 

I think COU is a decent business with strong conservative founder and I think its founder without acknowledging it in words ....that a new rules may cause problem to its earning and you can see he is changing his strategy (action) a bit lately with COU....I can observe people by their words and actions 

It turn out to be more and more of an investment holding company, where right now the cash flow from the business under the old rules give him amble cash to invest in equity under COU holding..


----------



## Spudded (18 January 2011)

ROE said:


> Actually I'm out of this stock for a small profit.... I follow my Uncle Phil Fisher advices
> 
> Upon discovered the business carry a different fundamental than when you bought in get out even at a loss.
> 
> ...




To be honest it looks like you have looked into the business side of this more than me (something I probably need to work on). From my analysis it has a massive ROE, has been around for a long time (80's), prior GFC it has a consistently growing revenue. During the financial crises it didn't spit more shares out or rack up more debt, it battled through and now it looks the price is well below its intrinsic value. Lets see how it goes


----------



## frankbaozhu (26 January 2011)

ROE said:


> Actually I'm out of this stock for a small profit.... I follow my Uncle Phil Fisher advices
> 
> Upon discovered the business carry a different fundamental than when you bought in get out even at a loss.
> 
> ...




I am reading the news as well and agree the new rules will affect COU. Basically COU collects assets from retail channel and get commissions by putting the money with different asset managers. 

I know people who is in this business and have an idea how hard they work. It is true they earn a lot. But just like any other high paid professions, FP is a tough job. A lot of them work long hours, 6 days a week. Plus they have to get all kinds of credentials while working. FPs have to be upbeat(or appear to) all the time even they are exhausted. Clients, while generally richer people are more easygoing, are not all very cooperating.

If the 'fee for service' proposal gets passed and commission is banned, I was wondering what will happen in this industry. Obviously FPs will not work for free or cheap. Assuming a universal fee, those who with less asset will be squeezed out of the market. And when the client base is smaller, the fee will be even higher for the remaining clients. This is an obvious fact. You may argue we should charge different fee for people with different asset size. Hey, why we ban volume-based commissions in the first place?

I think Indy Singh got a point here. The problem is really not about asset-based fee structure; it is about the disclosure. If every FPs are upfront about the fees going to be charged along the way and put the agreement in written, there should not be such a chaos. 

That being said, I am personally expecting a compromise in the final legislation. Otherwise the economics of FPs will be significantly deteriorated. This is a good thing, in my opinion, since more talented are going to become engineers and scientists and doctors. But the problem is still there. People will need financial advices from time to time in a more complicated financial world, and the demand is on the rise.

COU was valued at over 30x P/E at its peak and now it is valued at around 10x 2011 earnings even though the company has a very strong track record. I am not suggesting COU is a buy, but to say at least the crowd is very irrational at times.

Time will tell


----------



## jbocker (15 August 2011)

Decided to have a little crack at this one today and put in an order at $0.90. Got most of it filled when COU announced a 4c dividend, which gave it a nice kick (to 0.98). Main reason for buying are its 4 dividends it pays per year and has been over 5 years now (last year 4 x 2c), it had experienced a drop like most stocks last week.
Happy.


----------



## jbocker (1 September 2011)

Real Happy  I got in when I did. CBA announced they will buy them out and offerred 1.40 per share (and you keep the 4c dividend too). Not bad after holding for only two weeks. Jeez  ..I wish it was all just as easy as this.

This was a stock I was wanting to hold longer term for its divies ... better look for something else.


----------



## ROE (1 September 2011)

jbocker said:


> Real Happy  I got in when I did. CBA announced they will buy them out and offerred 1.40 per share (and you keep the 4c dividend too). Not bad after holding for only two weeks. Jeez  ..I wish it was all just as easy as this.
> 
> This was a stock I was wanting to hold longer term for its divies ... better look for something else.




Look at FPS (this stock should increase dividend payout and earning every 2 years)
and CUP (expect the same)  they both very good.

FPS debt free and run my able management and know how to allocate their capital well
they currently buying back shares as it is too cheap in my opinion...


----------



## Knobby22 (1 September 2011)

Well done jblocker.
The question I am asking is that when CBA takes over it will be a substantial holder of MOC (due to exisitng and COU holdings). Will they take over them as well?


----------



## jbocker (1 September 2011)

I will keep an eye on them ROE, appreciate the note. FPS look like they run a tight ship, not too many shares on issue yet are still buying back. They have a good history of dividends.

Knobby22, I dont know the potential holdings of MOC by CBA post the take over of COU, but it might prove interesting. Worth watching.


----------

