How this manager discovers value in companies beyond the balance sheet
April 2026
Elliott Plotkin
Client Portfolio Manager
Kopernik Global Investors
Who is Kopernik and what does your role look like day-to-day?
Kopernik Global Investors manages more than US$10 billion for investors across public and private markets. In the Cornerstone portfolios we manage a portion of international shares, such as Glencore plc, inside the “dynamic core” which includes the Russell Investments Multi Asset Growth Strategy and Multi Asset Growth Strategy Plus.
We are a long-term active value manager, meaning we invest in publicly listed companies that trade at a lower price relative to what we believe is their fundamental value based on metrics like earnings and cash flow.
My role includes “looking through the noise” to determine what’s driving daily sharemarkets globally. I tend to spend time reading historical analyses of markets and differentiated viewpoints which drive thoughtful discussion. I also keep up with market events to better understand what clients could be worried about in today’s volatile market.
What are the key factors you use to determine how much a company’s shares are worth?
We don’t believe companies should all be valued the same way, because what drives value differs widely by industry. In some businesses, the earnings matter, while for others, like businesses with a lot of assets, its net worth may be a better representation. We focus on owning shares in industry leaders with strong balance sheets and management teams that think long term. We revisit our valuations regularly (exact timing depends on the size of our investment), or any time we know the underlying fundamentals of the industry or company have changed.
Where has your firm’s strategy identified something unique about an industry that’s led to a successful investment?
Too often we see professional investors misprice infrastructure, natural resources and real estate companies because they penalise those businesses for having a small cash flow. We believe these companies should be valued by the amount of assets they tangibly own, as well as their quality, replacement cost and long-term scarcity, not purely on current cash flow.
Separately, we believe that using industry-specific valuation metrics lends itself to making better investment choices. What drives value in a telecommunications business differs from an industrial business, for example. By focusing on industry fundamentals instead, we’ve been able to buy high-quality companies at cheap prices.
Are there any companies in Australia that you think are particularly good value?
Three Australian companies that we continue to see value in are uranium producer Paladin Energy, diversified miner BHP Group, and royalty and streaming company Deterra Royalties. All three have long-lived, high-quality assets across the globe and trade significantly below what we estimate them to be worth.
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