Stockbroker Charlie Aitken selling Darling Point trophy home
The star stockbroker turned fund manager Charlie Aitken and wife Ellie are selling their Darling Point villa.
Now with two children, the family have told friends they are looking for something with more lawn and a backyard pool.
Martin Ross at Black Diamondz Property has given has early interested parties around $14 million expectations.
It was 2008 when the couple bought the Mediterranean-style property for $6.95 million from William Penfold, the last of the family members to head the country's oldest stationery company, WC Penfold.
The Eastbourne Avenue house had been home to Penfold and his wife, Penelope since paying $890,000 in 1985.
The house, now with Thomas Hamel interiors, sits in gardens deigned by Paul Bangay.
His reputation for stock picking saw him establish the AIM Global High Conviction Fund which continues to perform well despite the highly volatile market conditions.
Since August the fund is up while the ASX200 is down 11.5% and the MSCI World Index down 9.6%.
"We have preserved unit holders capital in a period of high volatility and steep losses for individual investors, index and long-only funds," he told clients this week.
They include the Stokes media family’s money who invested $150 million in his new venture, Aitken Investment Management.
Aitken began his trading career picking receipts off the floor of the futures exchange in 1993, then made his name at Colin Bell’s Bell Financial Group with his “Ringing the Bell” newsletter.
The AIM Global High Conviction Fund remains open to new investors who can access the fund with a minimum $250,000.
His six-member team includes his wife of 13 years, former Clayton Utz lawyer Ellie Aitken.
He recently told the Saturday Daily Telegraph columnist John Lehmann that while high, Sydney house price were more likely to rise further than drop — especially if the Reserve Bank cuts the cash rate to 1.5 per cent.
“They’re not going to crash tomorrow in a fit — they’ll only crash if interest rates go up sharply or if unemployment goes up to 10% or if there’s a massive overbuild.’’
This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.