11/16 Hindesight UK Dividend Letter
NOV 16 Mark Mahaffey Ben Davies Aalok Sathe “Wir können das schaffen” (“We can do it”) ― Angela Merkel OVERVIEW In late-September for the last 20 odd years, I have made the three-day trip to the famous Munich beer festival, ‘Oktoberfest’. Ex-colleagues and friends have made the trip over the years, with differing rotation, and many people still tell me it is on their bucket list. The Oktoberfest is the world’s largest festival, with 6 million visitors attending the 16-18 day event, which runs from late-September to early October. Originating from the royal wedding celebrations in 1810 between Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, the festival has been an annual event almost ever since. In over 200 years, the festival has only been cancelled 24 times, usually as a result of war. Obviously, beer is an attraction for the largely German attendance (some 75% usually) but the pantomime party atmosphere of historic Bavaria is like a journey back in time. Only beer that has been brewed from the six breweries in the city limits can be sold as Oktoberfest beers – Augustiner-Brau, Hacker-Pschorr-Brau, Lowenbrau, Paulaner, Spatenbrau and Staatliches Hofbrau-Munchen. The belief is that Oktoberfest beer is brewed only for the festival, so it is fresh and without multiple preservatives, thus reducing its hangover potential!!! While our capacity for beer is far less in our 50s, than it was in our 20s and 30s, an enjoyable time was still had by all. HINDESIGHT DIVIDEND UK LETTER / NOV 16 1 Last year’s trip to Munich in September 2015 coincided with Germany opening their arms to refugees, the majority of them arriving at Munich’s main railway station right in the centre of town, as their first step on German soil.
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