B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC
LSE:BPM
B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC
B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC is a GB-based company operating in Capital Markets industry. B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc is a United Kingdom-based specialist investor in early-stage financial services intermediary businesses. The firm's segments include UK and Non-UK. The firm invests in various business, including insurance intermediaries, financial advisors, wealth and fund managers and specialist advisory and consultancy firms. The company invests amounts of up to £5 million in the first round. Its investment stage ranges from start- up to more developed. Its investments are in the insurance intermediary sector. Its Insurance Intermediary investments are separated into two areas, such as insurance brokers and underwriting agencies/managing general agents (MGAs). The company has three subsidiary investment entities, B.P. Marsh & Company Limited, Marsh Insurance Holdings Limited and B.P. Marsh (North America) Limited, that provide services that relate to its investment activities. The company considers investment opportunities based in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and Internationally.
Earnings Calls
B.P. Marsh experienced a robust six-month period ending July 31, 2024, with a 86% increase in profit before tax to GBP 29 million. The net asset value (NAV) rose 10.3% to GBP 252.9 million, driven by a 24% increase in portfolio valuation to GBP 153 million. The total shareholder return reached 12.1%, with dividends per share nearly doubling to 10.72p. The company has raised significant funds, indicating a healthy future pipeline for investments. Notably, GBP 4 million in dividends are projected annually for the next two years, aiming to total GBP 24.8 million by 2026.
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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc Investor Presentation. [Operator Instructions] The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses where it's appropriate to do so.
And before we begin, as usual, we would like to submit the following poll. And if you could give that your kind attention, I'm sure the company would be most grateful. And I would now like to hand you over to the executive management team from B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc. Dan, good morning, sir.
Morning, all. I'm pleased to welcome you to the B.P. Marsh half year results to 31st July 2024 presentation. Alongside me in presenting these results is our newly appointed Group CFO, Francesca Chappell. In light of this, I'd obviously like to warmly welcome Fran to the presentation; and also take the opportunity to thank our predecessor, Jon Newman for his service to the company over 2 decades.
Jon was an important member of the team during his time here, in particular, the company's flotation, and then as the company has developed over the past decade or so. Whilst we're sad to say goodbye to Jon, we're delighted with Francesca's appointments. Whilst new to the role, Francesca is not new to the company, having joined B.P. Marsh in 2013 and was appointed Director to the trading income in 2018.
During the time with the company Fran's formed part of the team that's taken it to where we are now and shares our confidence over the future potential of the coming going forward. Given this change, we thought it made sense to include summary Slides 3 and 4, which sets out the experience management function within the group that has overall responsibility for the results we present today.
This set of results continues the strong performance shown from our previous full year results, and we are pleased to present them to the market. I'd like to thank all the members of the B.P. Marsh team and the wider portfolio companies for their efforts in allowing us to achieve them.
The key takeaways for this [ 5 ] periods performance are set out on Slide 5. Consolidated profit before tax in the period of GBP 29 million compared to GBP 15.6 million over the same period last year or an 86% increase. Net asset value has increased by GBP 23.7 million to GBP 252.9 million, a 10.3% increase over 6 months and 24.3% increase over 12 months. The portfolio valuation stands at GBP 153 million, an increase of 24% or GBP 29.7 million in the period, compared to an 8.6% or GBP 14.7 million increase over the same period last year.
With total shareholder return standing at 12.1% over the period compared to 7.9% over the same period last year. Available capital of GBP 80.2 million compared to GBP 4.3 million as at July 2023, an increase of GBP 75 million or a significant percentage increase.
Clearly, that's somewhat manipulated by the disposal of Nexus, where our cash did increase relatively quickly after that period. So whilst there is a big jump in cash, it's slightly mirrored or masked in these presentations. And then dividend per share of 10.72p for the year, an increase from 5.56p at 31 January 2023, a 92.8% increase.
By 2026, GBP 24.8 million in dividends would have been distributed since 2010 or nearly 71p per share or 50% of our floatation price. We're delighted with the overall performance of the group in the period, which, as I said, is a continuation of our previous positive results.
At this juncture, I'm pleased to hand over to Fran, who will talk you through the financial highlights for the period and the strong financial position the group sits in.
Thank you, Dan. Having been appointed to the role of Chief Finance Officer after almost 12 years at the company, I'm pleased to be able to present the key financial highlights for the 6-month period ended 31st of July 2024, with the group having another strong period.
Slide 6 presents the financial highlights. NAV increased by GBP 23.7 million or 10.3% for the period and now stands at an all-time high of GBP 252.9 million. This is equivalent to 690.8p per share or 658.5p per share diluted. The growth in NAV is primarily driven by the rise in investment valuations with the equity portfolio increasing by 24% for the period, adjusting for additions and realizations. The equity portfolio is now valued at GBP 153.4 million. And Dan will be talking through the equity portfolio later on in this presentation.
Over the 6-month period, we provided GBP 9.5 million in equity funding with the highlights being GBP 7.3 million in follow-on funding for Pantheon and GBP 0.3 million in one new investment Devonshire.
The group achieved consolidated profit before tax of GBP 29 million, reflecting an 87% increase on the GBP 15.6 million reported in the 6-month period to the 31st of July 2023. This profit is the highest for any 6-month period since the group was formed, which is a testament to the strength of the underlying equity portfolio.
The total shareholder return for the 6-month period was 12.1%, including $4 million aggregate dividends paid.
Slide 7 reports the distribution of our loan portfolio and treasury funds. On the left of the slide, you will find a breakdown of our loan book as of the 31st of July 2024, which stood at GBP 19.2 million, a decrease from GBP 28.9 million in January 2024. Details of our loans can be found on Slide 28 of the appendices.
The average interest rate for the period was approximately 10.7%, up from 9.9% as at July 2023. This increase was due to many of our loans being linked to the Bank of England base rate.
The middle of the slide shows that during the period, we issued GBP 1.4 million in new loans and received loan repayments totaling GBP 11 million. On the right of the slide, you will see that at the end of the period, we held GBP 80.2 million in cash, up from GBP 40.5 million in January 2024.
The main reason for the increase in cash over the period was due to the successful proposal of Paladin, for which the group received equity proceeds of GBP 42.1 million in March 2024.
The group keeps its cash diverse across prestigious wealth management institutions with the majority being held with Rothschild, Rathbones, Coutts and GAM in a mixture of short term and instant access deposit accounts. The average interest rate received on the group's cash was 4.7%, which amounted to GBP 1.6 million of investment income over the 6-month period.
Slide 8 presents our consistent long-term NAV growth. Since flotation, the group has achieved compound annual growth of 9.7% and 12.2% since inception. This is after accounting for all expenses, taxes and distributions excluding any capital raised. As of the 31st of July 2024, 61% of our NAV was attributable to our equity portfolio, whilst 39% of our NAV was made up of cash and other assets.
Slide 9 outlines our dividend strategy. The group paid out GBP 4 million in aggregate dividends over the 6-month period. The Board has already proposed further dividends of GBP 4 million per annum over the next 2 years, increasing the aggregate dividend paid to GBP 24.8 million by 2026.
We believe this rewards our shareholders for their support of the company, whilst also providing significant firepower for new investments and to support the existing portfolio.
I will now hand you back over to Dan, who will talk through the rest of the presentation.
Thanks, Fran. Moving on from the financial position, NAV and dividend growth. I can now talk you through portfolio developments, which will take us through the end of the presentation, which starts on Slide 10. Whilst we previously talked about the disposal of Paladin/CBC, given that occurred during the period in review, we thought it's sensible to include it here.
As you all know, it was a tremendous investment and return, which is testament to the efforts of the management team Andrew, Rob, Earl and many others at CBC, and turning CBC from a loss-making broker in 2016 to a high-margin, high-growth multiline specialist insurance broker by 2023.
We were delighted with this result and happy to assist where we could with guidance, introductions and funding. A major driver for CBC's growth was their establishment of Alchemy Underwriting, which we provided 100% of the financing for, which has proved to be a great success.
Slide 11 provides a useful summary of recent disposals, which really is the proof in the pudding of our investment approach, exceptional returns on the equity committed. So far in 2024, the group has made 3 new investments, one within the period and two post period end, which takes on to Slide 12.
As announced in our full year results to31st January 2024, the group completed and completed an acquisition of a 30% stake in Devonshire Underwriting. An underwriting agency which specialize in transactional liability risks globally, excluding the U.S. for an equity investment of GBP 300,000 alongside just over GBP 1.5 million in loan funding.
We believe the group has positioned itself as the first quarter call for entrepreneurial management teams that truly want to run their own business, which alongside some risks and presents an opportunity for significant returns for both parties being management and B.P. Marsh.
As per Slide 13, September saw the group acquired a 44% stake in CEE Specialty. CEE Specialty is an underwriting agency based in the Czech Republic that focuses on marine hull, bonds and liability insurance, targeting business in Central and Eastern Europe. Founded in 2019, B.P. Marsh offered exclusive support to allow the founders of CEE to undertake a management buyout.
Whilst an established business, we believe this transaction will be transformational for CEE and its team, as it now is management control with a minority specialist investor as opposed to the opposite as it was before. We see strong growth opportunities for this investment going forward. Whilst we haven't taken a position in this area well previously. We felt the caliber of the management team and the opportunity to assist the business in the next phase of its growth presented an excellent opportunity.
Turning to Slide 14. In the last week or so, we've also completed an investment in Volt Underwriting, as outlined in this slide. Earlier this month, the group acquired a 25.5% shareholding for a nominal cost of GBP 25.50 in Volt alongside a more meaningful loan facility of just over GBP 1 million. Volt is a startup underwriting agency specializing energy insurance in both the renewable and nonrenewable sector.
The co-founders, Chris Allison, Andrew Tokley and Kevin Cleary each have over 25 years' experience working in senior leadership positions at various underwriting led businesses; including large insurance companies, Lloyd's syndicates and underwriting agencies.
These 3 new investments exemplify B.P. Marsh investment approach, offering unique investment structures, which attract motivated and entrepreneurial management teams in an area of generally berated professional funding, which hopefully takes us on to Slide 15, which provides further background on the gap filled by the group.
With the support of B.P. Marsh, our investment approach allows our investments to grow over time and eventually attract wider interest from a variety of parties, amongst others, mid-market private equity houses and trade buyers, consolidators, of which there are a growing number.
Often we sell these 2 competitive run processes, and this is how we bridge the gap. Clearly, we've shown the success of our realizations earlier in the portfolio, and this shows how we start the process in attacking an area, which is underserved by professional investors where we deploy our experience in capital to support management teams, to take them to the next phase of their development, which provides excellent underlying returns to B.P. Marsh.
In terms of new investment origination, given the capital we've got to deploy, we thought it sensible just to provide an overview of where we sit in terms of new investments on Slide 16. As you can see, this sets out what the numbers are and where they come from.
I'd say, a key driver of B.P. Marsh is we get the vast majority of the investments that we do, if not all of them, from personal connections or the insurance network within which we operate. And I think that shows our unique approach in terms of drawing out these investment opportunities that others wouldn't see.
Turning to Slide 17. As at 31 July 2024, the group reported a portfolio value of GBP 153 million, which you can see is spread across the portfolio in the table on the left, based on an invested amount of GBP 47.6 million.
As mentioned earlier in the presentation, the portfolio has increased by GBP 29 million or nearly GBP 30 million or 24% over the period, which I think demonstrates the underlying strength of the B.P. Marsh portfolio.
Given timings and focus, I thought it made sense to draw out the larger portfolios in the company for specific attention, which hopefully is welcome.
Looking at Slide 18. ATC investment we made in 2018. It's one of the largest independent underwriting agencies in Australia. We've backed it for a number of years, and it continues to perform strongly across its many product offerings, with many of which have been developed under B.P. Marsh's investment.
For their financial year to 30th of June 2024, ATC has achieved substantial year-on-year growth in gross written premium revenue and EBITDA. Specifically, ATC generated nearly AUD 15 million of EBITDA, marking an increase of over 40% compared to the previous financial year.
Looking at Pantheon Specialty Group on Slide 19. Since it was established just over a year ago, the business has seen a quite phenomenal start to life with the hiring of a new number of key individuals and has built a position in a very short term as a market-leading independent specialist Lloyd's broker. Since establishment, Pantheon has performed strongly. And in 2024, it's first full year of existence, Pantheon is forecast to produce an EBITDA in excess of GBP 16 million. Making it arguably one of the fastest-growing start-up Lloyd's brokers on record.
On Slide 20, Lilley Plummer Risks coming to its fifth anniversary of our investment continues to grow and expand its product offering, whilst established as a start-up marine broker, the business has now developed into a number of other niche areas, including political violence, terrorism, North American property and reinsurance. Again, strong performance over 2024 with revenues approaching GBP 13 million adjusted EBITDA approaching approximately GBP 7 million.
On Slide 21, XPT, the largest investment B.P. Marsh has made within the portfolio, another tremendous start-up success story for us, given we invested in 2017 in 4 individuals in a business plan. That's changed completely to where we are now, where XPT is forecasting to produce nearly GBP 1 billion of gross written premium, north of GBP 20 million of EBITDA for the 2024 financial year. 16 acquisitions made to date, offices in over 20 great locations across 13 states with over 300 employees.
Like the other large investee companies in the portfolio, it's experienced significant year-on-year growth in revenue and profitability. Following its acquisition plan, it's now developed an attractive platform with which to hire producing brokers as opposed to via M&A or coupled with M&A activity, and we see this as an area of significant growth going forward.
Alongside our new business opportunities, we see strong opportunities in committing further capital to the existing portfolio to meaningfully assist in their growth, which in turn should deliver significant uplift to B.P. Marsh as an investor.
Whilst I've highlighted the larger investments within the portfolio, we do have a very strong portfolio overall, which is detailed in the appendix. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their efforts to from Bend, Oregon to Toronto, Canada to lead England and then through to Singapore and Sydney, Australia, they've all contributed to the group's overall performance for the period.
Moving away from the portfolio and on to shareholder returns. Slide 22 illustrates how our strategy to date has led to significant and growing shareholder returns through our dividend and share buyback strategy. This is something we have flagged previously and remains a key focus alongside developing the portfolio.
The group remains committed to driving a reduction in the discount between share price and NAV per share. This is dealt with on Slide 23. These strategies that we've put in place have seen -- continue to make good progress with regard to reducing discount. And as you can see, from 2009, where it stood at 61% discount to 31st of Jan, it's 18% discount, and that discount is continuing to be monitored, managed and reduced hopefully.
Alongside of all the portfolio activity, the group announced the appointment of Singer Capital Markets as joint corporate broker alongside Panmure Liberum to broaden our market reach and enhance investor engagement. In drawing our presentation to a close. And as I said at the beginning, we're absolutely delighted with the results achieved, thanks to our partnership with our portfolio companies and the efforts of the team at B.P. Marsh.
Our modus operandi and remains the same, being we continue to identify businesses with strong management teams and good growth potential. We have funds, support and develop these companies so they can deliver on growth opportunities and produce returns from our investments to our shareholders by a blend of ongoing equity growth within the portfolio and regular returns of capital to the shareholders.
We believe the results for the period continue to justify this approach. Given the strong cash position, our current portfolio and the strong pipeline of new business opportunities, we believe the group is in a very positive position moving forward. I think this is an extremely exciting time for the entire team at B.P. Marsh with strong cash reserves, a first-rate portfolio of investments with significant growth opportunities, which we have the capital to fund alongside a considerable pipeline of new opportunities, coupled with the potential for 1 or 2 disposals over the next 6 to 12 months, subject to the right terms being achieved.
As Chief Investment Officer, I'll share the optimism given the promising opportunities ahead. We believe these will have a positive impact on the company's performance, share performance and share price and ultimately, shareholder returns, which is the long-term measure of success for any listed company.
At this juncture I can conclude the presentation and invite any questions.
Perfect. Dan, Francesca, if I may just jump back in there. Thank you very much indeed for your presentation this morning. [Operator Instructions] But Katie, at this point, if I may just hand over to you to chair the Q&A with the team. And if I pick up from you at the end, that would be great.
Thank you very much, Jake. Thanks for the presentation, Dan and Fran. Starting off with the new business pipeline and what does it look like? And someone has raised a question about CEE Specialty and how it's based on product and how did that come about?
Thanks, Katie. In terms of new business, yes, we do have an active pipeline. I think talking as to CEE, it came to us strange enough by ex portfolio CEE that we'd invest -- CEO that we'd invested in and wished well and moved on. And the company that bought that portfolio company was not interested in the area that CEE was based for a variety of their own commercial reasons, given where they were based.
The CEO that we had a good relationship over maybe a decade with came to us and said, would B.P. Marsh be interested in looking at this, and we did. We met with the individuals concerned. One, the CEO, James Grindley, an English gentleman with Marine background at Lloyd's, who moved to Eastern Europe and Tomas Marsalek, individual from Czech Republic with a finance and private equity background and they made a compelling team.
So we thought we'd have a further look, we engaged Deloitte as -- for financial due diligence and Taylor Wessing on the legals to go belt and braces from a due dividend perspective. It's satisfied all our questions, and we proceed with it. Whilst the Central and Eastern Europe isn't necessarily a natural area for us to invest as primarily investors in people and compelling business plans, this did tick all the boxes. So we're quite -- quietly confident that this should prove to be a good investment in an area that B.P. Marsh has good experience and results in.
Thank you, Dan. There's been a question about Fran in your new appointment, noting that you have been in the company for many years, as is mentioned. Just kind of questions if there's been any plans about your new appointment, anything you're looking to change or -- and any more information?
Thank you, Katie. So I've been at the company a long time and work closely alongside Jon during that period. And I'd say the reporting has significantly improved over the past few years. Our stat accounts have significantly grown and provides additional notes. So in terms of the information provided, I'd say it's ample, and I don't have any plans currently to change this, but I'll keep it under review. Thank you.
Thanks, Fran. There were some questions over how B.P. Marsh structured its investments in terms of loan versus equity, Dan? And if you can provide some color on that.
Sure. Well, I mean, it really depends. Because we're early-stage investors and significantly focused on start-ups. Generally, the propositions that come to us as a management teams say they need x amount of money to get the business up and running and they are prepared to give up a percentage. We will say -- we'd quite like to take it, all things being equal and positive.
We take the position that -- from that standpoint, we -- say, we'd like between 20% and 40% shareholding, and we can provide the funding. But opinions on valuation might differ. So we'll lead with our valuation and say we can provide all the funding. But in order for it to tick our book is from a valuation standpoint internally and then for our auditors and then from when we release our accounts and valuations.
We set the valuation at what we think is an appropriate and conservative level, but then say, but we can provide the remainder of the funding via loans or similar instruments. And that generally is how we're able to tailor make our investments that we make. And then on to established investing companies in the portfolio, it's a case of trying to negotiate the best possible terms for both B.P. Marsh and the portfolio company.
Generally speaking, and thankfully, our experience to date, our portfolio companies are very selfish and guarded over equity dilution and want to keep hold of it because they see that's where the ultimate value is. So we'd much rather take funding by loans as opposed to equity dilution. We're kind about [indiscernible] with them on that as much as we want them to value the equity. We try and take a meaningful minority position so that we're covered.
And also, we think it's a -- some people say debt is bad. Some says it's good. I think it's a good discipline to get into as a growing company to be able to manage your cash flow such to satisfy any debt covenants that we might impose, and it also provides income to B.P. Marsh where our investments go over an extended period of time.
Thank you, Dan. Could you share some examples of minority protections you request from investee companies?
Okay. On Slide 42 of the presentation, we do set out an exhaustive list of these, and these are essentially veto rights over certain corporate actions that we think are proportionate and reflect our position as the funders to these businesses. And generally, focus around any deviation to the business plan, material underperformance, material acquisitions and any financing arrangements and ultimately, adviser appointments and sales.
We also appoint nonexecutive directors to the Board of all our portfolio companies. And we do have thresholds as the companies grow. We review these thresholds in terms of what's appropriate and not appropriate because ultimately, we want these individuals to be entrepreneurial and manage their own company in a sensible fashion. So we try and make sure that all our shareholder protections and minority protections engender the good performance of the business.
Thank you,n Dan. And as a question about NAV CAGR and how it's reduced over the years from 15.5% in full year '17 to 12.1% in full year '24. Our opportunities available reducing now that the group is larger, for example, size weighs down performance.
So in the financial year ended the 31st of January 2017, we reported compound NAV growth of 11.4% since 1990. As at the 31st of July 2024, we're reporting compound NAV growth of 12.2%. As at the 31st of January 2017, our NAV was GBP 79.7 million, compared to GBP 252.9 million being reported as at July 2024. So to be able to exceed our previous compound NAV growth based upon NAV of a much larger scale really is testament to our underlying investments led by our strong management team.
Thank you, Fran. There's been a couple of questions around kind of the home for cash saying you typically make early-stage investments in the low millions. How are you going to be able to find a home for the cash or also kind of how many proposals do you get in? And how many do you invest in? And how long do you think it will take to deploy the capital as well?
Part of -- our investment approach isn't going to change from a new business standpoint. We do see -- we set out in the presentation, how many proposals we see of them. You can then boil it down and say that we do 3 to 5, generally speaking on average over a calendar year. I think that will remain the same. And certainly, our upper limit of around GBP 5 million for new investments is -- it fits the bill.
I think where we've grown as a company and have better cash reserves. We've been able to follow investments where in previous times when we were a smaller company with less capital available, we -- management recognize this, and we work for an exit, whereas where we are now, we can follow the money and benefit from the growth of the company. And I think with our larger investments, XPT and Pantheon, certainly, we've been able to demonstrate that.
Thank you.
Okay. [indiscernible]...
Sorry, go ahead, if you want to.
I can say no. We're very cognizant of the capital position we find ourselves in. And as and when the disposals occur, we're mindful of what we need to satisfy the demands of the current portfolio and new business, but also recognizing and rewarding our long-term shareholders for their loyalty alongside the upward performance of the share price, i.e., via a dividend.
And slightly following on from that, there's been a question around how many new investments come from the contact of Brian March first the rest of the wider team?
In terms of that, so having been in financial services maybe 20 years and 17 years at B.P. Marsh, when I joined, the vast majority would come through Brian's or network or associated network. But as the company has grown in size and experience with the portfolio, the majority I'd say, if not all, developed by the management team and Brian is very much more of guarding hand with experience as opposed to delivering new business proposals, which I think -- if you look at the age demographic of the portfolio and the management team, that kind of makes sense. We've got our own network that we've developed as being the business for quite a long time and also within the insurance market for quite a long time. And B.P. Marsh corporately has got a good reputation, and we leverage and harness that to drive new business.
Thank you, Dan. And there's question around whether you can comment on Ardonagh's acquisition of PSC now that it's been completed?
Well, I can't comment that it's been completed, and we're delighted to welcome Ardonagh to the shareholder base. From our standpoint, as a less than 20% shareholder. We intend to look after Ardonagh's interest as we did PSC. PSC bought their shares at GBP 2.52. The share price is, I think, hovering around GBP 5.70 at the moment alongside the dividend. So I'd like to think that we played a very small part in the success of that business.
And we're happy to partner with them with our Ardonagh as any other shareholder. So I think in the short to medium term, it's business as usual with regard to Ardonagh. Clearly, they've got their own separate and distinct strategy, and there's no crossover as yet, but we're always mindful that this is a people business. And if anything, it occurred, which was to impact the people, we invest in all the people at B.P. Marsh then the situation will be put under review.
Thank you, Dan. We're coming near the end of the questions, a couple more, I think. Maybe more of a little bit on market conditions and whatnot. There's been a couple of questions about the effect of, say, Hurricane Milton or issues with -- in the Red Sea and whether that's affecting your portfolio?
Yes. I mean, at a high level, yes, it affects the portfolio. But to what extent negatively or positively is a different question. Clearly, Hurricane Milton is a terrible natural disaster that's affected many thousands of people in America, which is unarguably a bad thing. Clearly, there will be insurance claims on the back of that, which in a market, the rest of surplus capacity could lead to prices going up.
That would mean that the commission our brokers, if they were involved in North American property, which they are received would go up on the back of premium uplift and the same in the Red Sea domain too, our marine broking investee company, Lilley Plummer Risks, they do place a lot of war risk and war risk has unfortunately, skyrocketed due to the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea and also the Black Sea in Ukraine.
That being said, it's not a driver for real growth within the portfolio. We very much focus on the standard stuff of either organic growth, hiring or mergers and acquisitions with XPT. I think you can see that across the portfolio in terms of how they've grown -- these things happen. Pricing insurance is generally plateauing at the moment, but we've been doing this for a very long time and seen markets move up and down, and we'll continue to see that.
And just for the final question, is there much competition from generalist private equity who also have lots of other money available? Or does your specialist positioning to give you an advantage?
In terms of that, no, we don't. I think the way we're structured our investment appetite and approach means that we consider ourselves unique. Our approach is -- we focus on the startups. We set it out in a proposal at the presentation as regards to where we think there is an equity gap that we fill. We're -- what I consider the only financial institution that deploys professional capital that GBP 0.5 million gap with a track record in insurance distribution. I think all that coupled added together has meant that we're a unique proposition alongside our minority approach. But we don't see competitors operating in our daily work.
Thank you very much, Dan. That's all the questions.
Perfect. Katie, Dan, Francesca, if I may just jump back in there. And thank you very much indeed for being so generous of your time there and addressing all of those questions that came in. And of course, if there are any further questions that do come through, we'll make these available to you immediately after the presentation has ended, just for you to review, to add any additional responses, of course, where it's appropriate to do so. And we'll publish all those responses out on the platform.
But Dan, perhaps before really just looking to redirect those on the call to provide you with their feedback, which I know is particularly important to yourself and the company. If I could please just ask you for a few closing comments to wrap up with, that would be great.
Thanks for that. I think in closing, we're delighted with these results. It's a continuation of prior period's performance where I think generally positive about a lot of the portfolio, if not all of it. I think there's some significant investments in there that are continuing to do well. The growth very, very pleasing. I think we've got a strong new business pipeline to develop, and we can take advantage of. The portfolio is very strong and growing.
And alongside that, we set it out in the presentation about realizations and where we've delivered value returns in excess of where the market might be in terms of when we seek to realize investments, and I think we'll see a continuation of that. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 3 to 6 months, there might be 1 or 2 disposals, which should be pleasing for all concerned.
Perfect. Dan, that's great. Thank you once again for updating investors this morning. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll now be automatically redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order the management team can really better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure it will be greatly valued by the company.
On behalf of the management team of B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session. So good morning to you all.