Hello, my name is Ryan.

First of all, I must be completely honest with you, writing this article scares the sh*t out of me. I started this blog under anonymity for this very reason. I was too scared to expose myself to the big wide world of the internet! But alas, it has felt unnatural writing under this cloak.

If I want true, honest, and rewarding interaction with my readership, I feel as though I must be as open and honest as possible. That is what I would want if I was reading another author’s blog. So, here we go.

My name is Ryan Vergottini. Above is a photo of me on a recent (amazing) trip to Botswana 😊

I have lived in Auckland, New Zealand for the past 21 years, having been born in a small rural town in South Africa called Nelspruit (pronounced: Nel-spraite). My parents decided to move our family to New Zealand when I was 6 years old. We landed back in October 2001. I love New Zealand and have called it home ever since. I am a tennis-playing, dog- and cat-loving accountant with a passion for value investing.

Why would you start a blog, Ryan?

Partly out of frustration and partly out of a desire to build an education tool both for myself and readers. A convoluted story. Let me attempt to briefly explain.

My interest in business

I have always been in and around business. As a wee boy in Nelspruit, I remember spending days with my Dad at his second-hand furniture store, plopped on a couch in front of a wall of TV screens watching my favourite cartoon movie of the day, probably Tarzan. Once we had moved to New Zealand, my Mum, a skilled saleswoman, was in the business of selling educational books and toys to schools, so I accompanied her to sales meetings on days off school. As a teenager I spent my weekends, alongside my sister, helping my Dad clean office buildings in the centre of Auckland. He started a commercial cleaning business shortly after we immigrated.

Being around business my whole life led to a natural interest in the subject. So, it was an instinctive step for me to start my own lawn mowing business as a teenager. The story is cliché. As a 15-year-old, I needed money, and my sister suggested I offer lawn mowing services to my neighbours. Thus, Ryan’s Lawncare was born. By the end of my undergraduate degree in Accounting, I had grown the business to a list of 35 regular lawn mowing and garden maintenance clients. The business covered the cost of my degree and paid me an hourly rate more than two times what my peers were earning at the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this period of my life. The free time I had was remarkable. I also met my amazing fiancé in my third year of university. We are getting married in May next year! I couldn’t be happier. As a bit of an introvert, the thought of having the attention of more than a hundred people on me scares the sh*t out of me. Wish me luck!

A foray into the Accounting world

From university, I went into public practice accounting. I was fortunate enough to land a graduate role at a small boutique practice in Auckland, specialising in providing tax advice to small and medium-sized businesses. The learning and mentorship I received during my time at the firm was second to none and I am eternally grateful to my manager and employer. I would know literally nothing without them.

After graduating as a Chartered Accountant in July of last year, I had an existential crisis. I was on a natural high for about a week. I must have had about 20 hours of sleep in total thinking about where I could take my life. A bizarre experience, but one that I can only put down to being overjoyed with having (in my mind) ‘made it’.

With a strong case of analysis paralysis, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my professional life.

With the help of an awesome business coach, I came to the realization that it was time to explore a passion of mine that had been taking up an ever-increasing portion of my headspace (and time): investing in publicly listed companies via the stock market. I knew that if my interest in the field was this strong, while also having had success growing my personal portfolio in excess of 40% per annum since starting three years ago, I would be a fool not to pursue this passion of mine.

With a background in tax and small business accounting, I didn’t have much success in applying for investment-related jobs. I also didn’t feel as though the roles would offer me creative freedom to explore investment ideas and theories that excited me. So, I resigned from my job at the beginning of this year, and here we are.

Alongside managing my portfolio, this blog is now my full-time focus. I am not going to lie; it’s been a tough few months. So many things to think about!

What this blog is and who it’s intended for

My blog is intended to be a space for me to share my investment research. I apply a value investing approach which you can read more about from me here.

In my mind, the stock market is an area people are fearful of. They dabble in small dollar amounts on investing apps on their smartphones, while leaving the ‘real’ investing up to people in suits and fancy offices that generate meagre returns slightly above inflation.

I would love to build a platform where I can show people that they can invest successfully too. If you view investing in the stock market for what it really is; buying an ownership stake in a real live business, then I believe you can generate healthy returns on your savings as well.

Anyway, I hope I have given you some interesting insight into who I am and why this blog now exists.

Oh! And if you were wondering about the dog on the front page, that’s my beautiful 16-year-old labradoodle, Bayley!

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed what you read, you can check out my latest article on the DGL Group, here, a vertically integrated chemical manufacturer with an interesting history and opportunistic future.

To follow my ideas and writing more closely, you can follow me on twitter. I generally tweet about potential ideas before writing about them in depth on bayleycapital.com.

I’m really keen to hear from my readers, so please don’t hesitate to send me an email at analyst@bayleycapital.com. Or, of course, you can tweet me.

Disclaimer: Bayley Capital is NOT investment advice and the author is not an investment advisor.

All content on this website, in the newsletter, and all other communication and correspondence from its author, is for informational and educational purposes only and should not in any circumstances, whether express or implied, be considered to be advice of an investment, legal or any other nature. Please carry out your own research and due diligence.