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This is an interesting document. Thanks for sharing. I wonder if it’s not mentioned because it’s assumed. The discussion around buying on ATS is interesting. It seems like they can exceed the daily limit by bidding on an ATS. I think they have done so on occasion when looking at insider filings but I wasn’t curious enough to figure out how they were able to do so. In this way it makes sense to cross blocks on the TSX and save the room for the ATS if necessary. We think they bought a 416k share block last week but there can’t be many of those left so this allows for faster buybacks if the price is right and the capital is available.

Lmfao ok you’re clearly either off or trolling cuz this is like the third thing you’ve posted this afternoon that’s that out there.

I believe this is the current TSX document: https://cdn-ceo-ca.s3.amazonaws.com/1in03pb-TSX_Company_Manual_-_April_20__2023__English_.pdf (ix) "normal course issuer bid" means an issuer bid by a listed issuer to acquire its listed securities where the purchases: (a) if the issuer is not an investment fund, do not, when aggregated with all other purchases by the listed issuer during the same trading day, aggregate more than the greater of: (i) 25% of the average daily trading volume of the listed securities of that class; and (ii) 1,000 securities; (b) if the issuer is an investment fund, do not, when aggregated with all other purchases by the listed issuer during the preceding 30 days, aggregate more than 2% of the listed securities of that class outstanding on the date of acceptance of the notice of normal course issuer bid by TSX; and (c) over a 12-month period, commencing on the date specified in the notice of the normal course issuer bid, do not exceed the greater of (i) 10% of the public float on the date of acceptance of the notice of normal course issuer bid by TSX, or (ii) 5% of such class of securities issued and outstanding on the date of acceptance of the notice of normal course issuer bid by TSX, excluding any securities held by or on behalf of the listed issuer on the date of acceptance of the notice of normal course issuer bid by TSX, and for the purposes of (b) and (c), whether such purchases are made through the facilities of a stock exchange or otherwise, but excluding purchases made under a circular bid; In other words, the 2% in 30 days rule seems to only apply to investment funds.

I take it you've never played competitive sports then. In competitive sports, pretty well everyone both wants and takes any competitive advantage that they have. That's why the things you are saying are silly, because they're so obviously incorrect, and pretty well everyone who even watches sports knows it.

But this document https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2022/07/toronto-stock-exchange-staff-notice-on-normal-course-issuer-bids does not mention the 2% restriction. OTOH, it does mention the fact that only 25% of the average daily volume in the last 6 months can be repurchased in a given day, but that one block trade per week is permitted even if it exceeds this limit, and that no trades are allowed at the open (how many minutes after the open?) nor in the last 30 minutes of the trading day, and that trades on other exchanges do not have these restrictions, except in as much as they contribute to the total allowable shares authorized to be repurchased in the year by the NCIB.

There are those that dive and perform like most sports, but I'm guessing you haven't played much soccer or at a high level. We won the Provincial Championship twice as 14 and 15 year olds and I also tried out for one of the best clubs at the time...many players on that club eventually played at the college and national level. I wasn't as good as some of my friends who played at that level. I can tell you for a fact they aren't sissies. And back then, like you saw with the Canadian player a couple of weeks ago, if you were a top level player...they often did try and hurt you or break your leg. The diving started with the Italians and Brazilians...fucking divas because they won so many championships historically. But then it became habit and part of the game everywhere over time. They still are trying to hurt the top players, but diving is no different now than the push off fouls in the NBA, jersey pull flops by NFL receivers, or dives by a handful of NHL players. Any advantage they can get! I didn't play a ton of hockey, but I will tell you that hockey players are the toughest athletes. My 11 year old nephew, in the "no-contact" under 13 club he plays with, has been hit hard into the boards, corners, open ice, etc. He even lost a tooth on one hit...at 11 years old! You jump to the under 15 category, which allows hitting, and they are throwing around the weight like major-junior players. And when these kids get hurt, they want to be on the next shift! Cheers!

Ready for it!

This document https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/wealth-management/normal-course-issuer-bid-ncib/ would seem to suggest that the 2% rule during a 30-day period is back.

@wondering, I appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts and questions. That is how we all learn. Here are some answers to your questions: "1. ...are you saying that the equity-accounted investments (20-50%) does not reflect the economic earnings of those." My post tried to weave together two different partnership models. The accounting treatment for each is very different (consolidated versus associate). Fairfax's share of earnings from the associate holdings (20 to 50%) showed up in the 'share of profit of associates' bucket. "2. When Gulf Insurance was equity-accounted, did Fairfax still have control in investing the float?" I don't know. My guess is Fairfax, as the minority partner, did not have control of the float. Kipco was the majority partner. "3. The head guy OMERS recently left the pension plan. Does anyone on the board be the know if this will materially effect the relationship with Fairfax. In the past OMERS seems to be the go-to guys for partnering on big investments? I guess it is a speculation question." I don't know. OMERS is a massive organization ($145 billion in assets under management?). The amount they have invested with Fairfax is pretty small (from their perspective) and they earned a solid return of the various investments over the years (collectively). It looks to me like Fairfax has been a very good and profitable partner for OMERS. I agree with your final point... I think Fairfax has a long list of companies they could partner with in the future. And given how strong the company's performance has been over the past 5 years, my guess is the list is getting longer...

I tried to look up how this ruile was framed and found this, which suggest that the 2% rule wouldn't apply to a company purchasing its own shares: "To prevent the company from manipulating the stock price, exchanges enforce daily purchasing restrictions. For TSX-listed companies, the daily limit is restricted to the greater of: [1, 2] 25% of the Average Daily Trading Volume (ADTV) of the shares. 1,000 securities per trading day. [1] (Note: There is a separate 2% rolling limit applied specifically to investment funds over a 30-day period, which doesn't apply to standard corporate equity). [1, 2]. The second note goes to a 2007 Stikeman Elliott document that summarizes the change from the prior rule which DID prevent a compan from buying more than 2% of its own shares over 30 days: "The rolling 2% restriction on the repurchase of shares within any 30 day period has been eliminated for issuers that are not investment funds. The new limit is now the greater of 25% of the average daily trading volume (ADTV) and 1000 securities per trading day. This limit will only apply to purchases made through the TSX. The rolling 2% limit for investment funds remains. " That was 20 years ago, but it would not surprise me that there is a more recent version. Does anyone know?

Thanks for reading!

Nice write-up, thanks.

My guess is Fairfax wants employees to write new business - if it hits Fairfax's underwriting hurdle rate. Incentives drive behaviour. Below are a couple of details. They provide some useful information. Underwriting profit: One part of the compensation program is the employee stock ownership plan. Part of it is linked to underwriting profit. Exhibit 1: Prem Watsa on Employee Stock Ownership Plan (2025 Annual Report) Fairfax also has an Employee Stock Ownership Plan that is available to essentially every employee in the company. The plan offers each employee the opportunity to take up to 10% of their salary annually in Fairfax shares. The company will automatically match 30% and then if certain targets are met (primarily underwriting profit), the company matches an additional 20%. The participation rates differ by company but generally for our large companies, we have a participation rate of approximately 60% and it has been increasing over time. (More on this plan in the Miscellaneous section at the end of the letter.) Long term timeframe: Another part of the compensation program is the annual bonus for senior executives. 50% is cash and 50% is Fairfax shares that vest over 5 years. Exhibit 2: Prem Watsa on Employee Ownership (2025 Annual Report) We continue to encourage all our employees to be shareholders of Fairfax. We think it will be a great investment for them over the long term and great for the company to have our employees as shareholders in the company. As part of that initiative, close to 10 years ago we decided to have a general principle that our annual bonuses to senior executives across the company would be awarded 50% in cash and 50% in Fairfax shares that vest in five years. As these bonus shares are awarded, the company buys the shares in the market (which comes out of shares outstanding) and they are recorded as treasury shares, as shown in the table below. As the shares are vested and or exercised, the shares are then reissued and come out of treasury shares and back into shares outstanding. You can see over the years our treasury shares have increased from 0.6 million to 1.8 million today. We think this is fantastic and hope they continue to grow over time.

Yes, I watch soccer at best, 2-3 times during a World Cup or Olympics type big event. Otherwise can’t stand it and think it’s for extremely well conditioned sissies

LOL -- Congress sets the rules!

@Viking . some of your best posts yet. They are good because I thought about them hours after I initially read them. It spurred some questions. 1. I might be misreading what you are writing, but are you saying that the equity-accounted investments (20-50%) does not reflect the economic earnings of thosetoge 2. When Gulf Insurance was equity-accounted, did Fairfax still have control in investing the float? 3. The head guy OMERS recently left the pension plan. Does anyone on the board be the know if this will materially effect the relationship with Fairfax. In the past OMERS seems to be the go-to guys for partnering on big investments? I guess it is a speculation question. Maybe to answer my own question, even if OMERS turned their back on Fairfax, Prem's contact list is really impressive of star-investors and institutional investors. Off the top of my head Wilbur Smith - Bank of Ireland KW - multiple investments Bryan Trott - multiple investments Pierre Lassonde - Ora, Foran Fildelity Investments - largest institutional investor in Fairfax Francis Chou - although I don't think they have invested together on a project A bit of ramble, I realize. I guess the point I am trying to make is that Prem's contact list is long if he needs a partner on an investment that is too large for FFH.

we can evaluate the technical aspects of the regulations, but discussing the spirit of the decision is a different matter... what happened came across as opportunistic and unfortunate in my humble football experience, in the long run things like this end up working against the team that benefited from the situation

End of an Era! Not a great finish as the team didn’t mesh well, but one Hell of a career. Respect

I could save them some time/cost on the feasibility study of building a new oil pipeline across the Canadian shield to the north of the great lakes. First take all your money... This never gets built, it's 100% designed to sway votes in the Alberta referendum as Canada doing something for Alberta.

Dunno Greg. I know loads of sports guys that don’t give a crap about beating their best opponent, and want any little advantage they can get so they can win. I can also tell you don’t watch much football, because the ease at which football players regularly fall over looking for a free kick, or a penalty, for even the lightest of touches, is embarrassing, and is a direct counter to the point you are making.

Do you think they would take off TRS without buying shares back? If so what portion of the TRS do you think they would do that way and why now?

i was being conservative. do not want anyone to accuse me of exaggerating the president's graft:)

I thought the speculation was TRS related, not buybacks.

They wouldn’t do buybacks near or on the close and they probably can’t buy any back for a while. I believe they can only buy 2% of shares outstanding on the NCIB over a 30 day period.

I don't think so but I don't have access to that detail.