MLN – May 2019 monthly update

1
Monthly Update
May 2019
MLN NAV
$
0.99
SHARE PRICE
$
0.88
DISCOUNT
1
10.7
%
as at 30 April 2019
A word from the Manager
Market Overview
Global markets continued the recent strong run in April,
with the US first-quarter earnings season off to a better than
expected start and recent economic data out of China and
the US showing signs of stabilisation. Against this backdrop
the US S&P 500 Index gained 3.9% for the month and
pushed through the all-time highs set in September last year.
Marlin Global delivered gross performance of 5.4% in April,
compared to our global benchmark, which gained 4.5%.
Portfolio Company Developments
I am writing this from the US where I am attending digital
advertising and payments industry conferences, as well as
meeting with a number of our portfolio companies and other
prospects. Industry conferences form part of our ongoing
research, to help us better understand current industry
dynamics and potential developments that could affect our
investments in companies like PayPal, MasterCard, Google
and Facebook. These four businesses also recently reported
first quarter financial results, are delivering in line with the
investment thesis and growing strongly.
PayPal continues to benefit from the growth in ecommerce,
particularly on mobile devices where its One Touch
technology reduces checkout friction and is popular with
both users and online merchants. For the first quarter,
PayPal’s active user numbers grew 17% year-on-year,
transaction payment volumes grew 22%, and earnings grew
by more than 30%. We believe PayPal’s recent integration
with Instagram (to enable Instagram’s ecommerce ambition),
and its recent deals with Latam
2
ecommerce leader
MercadoLibre and Uber provide avenues to gain even more
users and payment volumes. MasterCard beat expectations
in the first quarter, with strong secular growth in digital
payments more than offsetting a slightly weaker global
economy. MasterCard is firmly on track to meet its medium-
term plan of low-teens revenue growth and high-teens
earnings per share growth.
Facebook and Alphabet both delivered strong growth in
core advertising revenues, up 33% and 19% respectively (in
constant currency terms). Facebook continues to benefit
from rapid advertising growth on Instagram, while both user
engagement and advertiser interest in its ephemeral stories
format is going from strength-to-strength. While Alphabet’s
revenue growth did slow slightly in the first quarter and its
share price fell on results, the business continues to grow
rapidly on the back of strength in YouTube and mobile search.
On the negative side of the ledger were United Parcel
Service and Core Laboratories. While the recent slowdown
in the global economy had been expected to impact United
Parcel Service, its first quarter revenue growth was worse than
anticipated and came in flat year-on-year. This combined with
its ongoing investments in facility automation and headwinds
from bad weather in the quarter resulted in flat earnings.
While the lack of growth this quarter is disappointing, we
believe UPS is making the right investments in its network to
position the company to benefit from growing freight volumes
and ecommerce deliveries.
Oilfield services company, Core Laboratories, also delivered
slightly disappointing results with revenue flat compared to
the first quarter of 2018. Core Labs benefits from new US shale
wells being put into production, and from the development
of new offshore oilfields. However, recent bottlenecks
impacting US shale oil production, combined with a lack of
offshore projects have impacted the business. We expect an
improvement in both of these areas later in the year, but the
turnaround in Core Lab’s business is taking longer than we
anticipated.
New Portfolio Addition
We added Texas based software company Tyler Technologies
to the portfolio in April. Tyler is the leading provider of
software to the local government sector in the US. The
specialised nature of this software has resulted in hundreds
of regional software players that provide some solutions,
but none with the broad coverage and scale of Tyler (ERP,
finance, billing and collection, HR, payroll, justice/courts,
public safety, appraisal and tax). Tyler is the only company that
1
Share Price Discount to NAV (including warrant price on a pro-rated basis).
2
E-commerce in Latin America.

2
Ashley Gardyne
Senior Portfolio Manager
Fisher Funds Management Limited
can offer a full suite of products and it continues to extend
its lead through both research & development and bolt-on
acquisitions.
Local authorities are well behind the software adoption
curve in the US and two-thirds of local authorities are still
maintaining old in-house systems or using legacy systems
that are no longer supported by competitive vendors. Most
of these government entities will need to upgrade over the
next 10-20 years.
Despite being the industry leader, Tyler only has 13% market
share and we see continued market share gains and margin
expansion over the long term. Tyler has a longstanding
Sector Split
as at 30 April 2019
Key Details
as at 30 April 2019
FUND TYPE
Listed Investment Company
INVESTS IN
Growing international companies
LISTING DATE
1 November 2007
FINANCIAL YEAR END
30 June
TYPICAL PORTFOLIO SIZE
25-35 stocks
INVESTMENT CRITERIA
Long-term growth
PERFORMANCE
OBJECTIVE
Long-term growth of capital and
dividends
TAX STATUS
Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE)
MANAGER
Fisher Funds Management
Limited
MANAGEMENT
FEE RATE
1.25% of gross asset value
(reduced by 0.10% for every 1% of
underperformance relative to the
change in the NZ 90 Day Bank Bill
Index with a floor of 0.75%)
PERFORMANCE
FEE HURDLE
Changes in the NZ 90 Day Bank
Bill Index + 5%
PERFORMANCE FEE
15% of returns in excess of
benchmark and high water mark
HIGH WATER MARK
$0.91
SHARES ON ISSUE
145m
MARKET CAPITALISATION
$128m
GEARING
None (maximum permitted 20%
of gross asset value)
25
%
CONSUMER
DISCRETIONARY
9
%
FINANCIALS
15
%
COMMUNICATION
SERVICES
21
%
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Geographical Split
as at 30 April 2019
15
%
WEST EUROPE
76
%
NORTH AMERICA
9
%
INDUSTRIALS
7
%

ASIA
2
%

ENERGY
The Marlin portfolio also holds cash.17
%

HEALTHCARE
management team and a great track record, having
grown revenue by circa 15% per annum and earnings
per share by over 20% per annum over the last decade.
We see Tyler delivering mid-teens earnings growth over
an extended period, with the potential for upside from
a faster than expected shift of clients to Tyler’s hosted
software offering.

April’s Biggest Movers in local currency terms
Typically the Marlin portfolio will be invested 90% or more in equities.
CERNER CORPORATION
+16
%
FACEBOOK INC.
+16
%
ESSILORLUXOTTICA
SA
+11
%
DESCARTES
SYSTEMS
+10
%
5 Largest Portfolio Positions as at 30 April 2019
ALPHABET
8
%
PAYPAL
7
%
ALIBABA
5
%
MASTERCARD
5
%
TJX COMPANIES INC
5
%
The remaining portfolio is made up of another 22 stocks and cash.
Nov
2007
Nov
2008
Nov
2009
Nov
2010
Nov
2011
Nov
2012
Nov
2014
Nov
2013
Share Price/Total Shareholder Return
Share PriceTotal Shareholder Return
Nov
2015
$
1.00
$
0.50
$
0.00
$
1.50
Nov
2016
Nov
2017
$
2.50
$
2.00
Nov
2018
Total Shareholder Return to 30 April 2019
Performance to 30 April 2019
1 Month3 Months1 Year3 Years
(annualised)
Since Inception
(annualised)
Company Performance
Total Shareholder Return+4.5%+4.5%+14.8%+12.9%+6.4%
Adjusted NAV Return+5.2%+12.5%+12.8%+15.1%+7.1%
Portfolio Performance
Gross Performance Return +5.4%+13.3%+16.6%+19.3%+10.8%
Benchmark Index^+4.5%+9.5%+6.2%+12.5%+7.6%
3
^Benchmark index: World Small Cap Gross Index until 30 September 2015 & S&P Large Mid Cap/S&P Small Cap Index (50% hedged to NZD) from 1 October 2015
Non-GAAP Financial Information
Marlin uses non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net asset value, adjusted NAV return, gross performance return and total shareholder return. The rationale for using such non-GAAP measures is as follows:
»adjusted net asset value – the underlying value of the investment portfolio adjusted for capital allocation decisions after fees and tax,
»adjusted NAV return – the net return to an investor after fees and tax,
»gross performance return – the Manager’s portfolio performance in terms of stock selection and currency hedging before fees and tax, and
»total shareholder return – the return to an investor who reinvests their dividends, and if in the money, exercises their warrants at warrant maturity date for additional shares.
All references to adjusted net asset value, adjusted NAV return, gross performance return and total shareholder return in this monthly update are to such non-GAAP measures. The calculations applied to non-GAAP
measures are described in the Marlin Non-GAAP Financial Information Policy. A copy of the policy is available at http://marlin.co.nz/about-marlin/marlin-policies/
EXPEDIA GROUP
INC.
+9
%

Disclaimer: The information in this update has been prepared as at the date noted on the front page. The information has been prepared as a general summary of the matters covered only, and it is by
necessity brief. The information and opinions are based upon sources which are believed to be reliable, but Marlin Global Limited and its officers and directors make no representation as to its accuracy
or completeness. The update is not intended to constitute professional or investment advice and should not be relied upon in making any investment decisions. Professional financial advice from an
authorised financial adviser should be taken before making an investment. To the extent that the update contains data relating to the historical performance of Marlin Global Limited or its portfolio
companies, please note that fund performance can and will vary and that future results may have no correlation with results historically achieved.
Marlin Global Limited
Private Bag 93502, Takapuna, Auckland 0740
Phone: +64 9 484 0365 | Fax: +64 9 489 7139
Email: enquire@marlin.co.nz | www.marlin.co.nz
4
Computershare Investor Services Limited
Private Bag 92119, Auckland 1142
Phone: +64 9 488 8777 | Fax: +64 9 488 8787
Email: enquiry@computershare.co.nz | www.computershare.com/nz
About
Marlin Global
Marlin is an investment company
listed on the New Zealand Stock
Exchange. The company gives
shareholders an opportunity to
invest in a diversified portfolio of
between 25 and 35 quality growing
international companies (excluding
New Zealand and Australia)
through a single, professionally
managed investment. The aim
of Marlin is to offer investors
competitive returns through capital
growth and dividends.
Capital Management Strategies
Regular Dividends
»Quarterly distribution policy introduced in
August 2010
»Under this policy, 2% of average NAV is targeted
to be paid to shareholders quarterly
»Dividends paid by Marlin may include dividends
received, interest income, investment gains
and/or return of capital
»Shareholders who prefer to have increased
capital rather than a regular income stream have
the opportunity to participate in the company’s
dividend reinvestment plan (DRP)
»Shares issued to DRP participants are at a 3%
discount to market price
»Marlin became a portfolio investment entity on
1 October 2007. As a result, dividends paid to
New Zealand tax resident shareholders have not
been subject to further tax
Share Buyback Programme
»Marlin has a buyback programme in place allowing
it (if it elects to do so) to acquire up to 5.9m of its
shares on market in the year to 31 October 2019
»Shares bought back by the company are held as
treasury stock
» Shares held as treasury stock are available to be
re-issued for the dividend reinvestment plan
Warrants
»On 12 April 2019, Marlin warrant holders converted
23,452,115 warrants into ordinary Marlin shares
»The new shares were allotted to warrant holders on
16 April 2019 and quoted on the NZX Main Board
from that date
»All new shares have the same rights as current
Marlin shares, including participating in the
company’s quarterly dividend policy

Management
Marlin’s portfolio is managed
by Fisher Funds Management
Limited. Ashley Gardyne (Senior
Portfolio Manager), Chris
Waters and Harry Smith (Senior
Investment Analysts) have prime
responsibility for managing
the Marlin portfolio. Together
they have significant combined
experience and are very capable
of researching and investing in
the quality global companies that
Marlin targets. Fisher Funds is
based in Takapuna, Auckland.

Board
The Manager has authority
delegated to it from the
Board to invest according to
the Management Agreement
and other written policies.
The Board of Marlin
comprises independent
directors Alistair Ryan (Chair),
Carol Campbell, Andy Coupe
and Carmel Fisher.