VersaillesinNY

RIP Charles de Vaulx. It's a tragedy. https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1035374/iva-founder-charles-de-vaulx-has-died Charles de Vaulx, an iconoclastic value manager who co-founded IVA Funds after working for many years with investing legend Jean-Marie Eveillard, has died in an apparent suicide, the New York City Police Department confirmed Monday evening. De Vaulx, 59, entered IVA offices at 717 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan shortly before 1 p.m. Monday, the department’s public information office said in an email. Responders pronounced him dead at the scene at 1:05 p.m. The police said detectives are still investigating de Vaulx's passing, but do not suspect any criminal activity. The death of de Vaulx shocked and saddened former colleagues and others who knew him for his uncompromising investment style that prioritized buying stocks at deep discounts or not at all. He was renowned and revered across the industry for his investing acumen and opinionated views on individual companies and the market in general. IVA, the firm he formed in 2008 with former colleagues from First Eagle funds, had struggled in recent years, however. His passing comes little more than a month after IVA abruptly announced it would liquidate its funds and close shop.

Behind the Rise and Fall of an Esteemed Value Shop _ Morningstar.pdf https://www.morningstar.com/articles/708457/behind-the-rise-and-fall-of-an-esteemed-value-shop Good article and lessons learned about IVA's fund raise and dramatic fall.

MARCH 11, 2021 IVA Funds Liquidation Effective March 10, 2021 International Value Advisers (IVA) and the Board of Trustees has approved the liquidation of the IVA Funds. The Adviser and Board believe that this liquidation is in the best interest of the Funds’ shareholders. https://www.ivafunds.com/documents/news/IVA Funds Supplement - Liquidation.pdf https://citywireusa.com/professional-buyer/news/they-could-have-kept-going-what-drove-iva-to-liquidate-its-funds/a1479887 https://www.barrons.com/articles/venerated-international-value-shop-iva-shuts-down-51615500015

He looks good, witty & healthy. Attached is the Zoom transcript which is not exactly accurate. meeting_saved_closed_caption.txt

That's in order to see the AUM evolution over a decade: $1.7 billion => $17 billion => $8.3 billion => $4.95 billion Sorry to have confused you.

Charles De Vaulx Fund Raises $1.7B! created on: August 27, 2009,

The house is on fire at IVA fund, Charles de Vaulx is facing massive redemptions, their AUM melted from $17 billion in 2012, $8.3 billion in late March 2020 and $4.95 billion now :( I hope that they are able to stabilize their outflows, they have a good value approach & discipline but kept huge amounts of uninvested cash for years. Quote from Sept 2020 call - Transcript "3) Outflows have continued unabated, at least until a few weeks ago when value stocks became much more resilient than growth tech stocks. We now have in total $4.95 billion under management, down from $8.3 billion late March. So because markets have rebounded since, the net outflows that we have experienced with IVA have been approximately $4 billion, and that includes some institutional separate accounts that we have lost. The IVA Worldwide fund is now $2.7 billion in size across all the share classes. And the IVA International fund is $1.1 billion in size. As a result of that shrinkage, IVA has had to let go of four employees that became redundant from various departments a few weeks ago and we now have 38 employees and that includes the partners. We have been able to meet these outflows both by using some cash in the various portfolios, but first and foremost, by trimming most positions so as to maintain the desired individual weightings in each name. Because IVA’s AUM are down, but also because we own fewer thinly traded stocks, the liquidity portfolio of our portfolios including both funds is very good. Besides the cash position of 36% today in the Worldwide, 31% in the International Fund, we could now theoretically liquidate 26% of all equities held by all IVA products in one day, we could liquidate 44% of such equities in three days, 57% in five days, and 69% in 10 business days if we made the assumption that we would represent 20% of the average daily volume. Fifteen months ago, we could only have liquidated 30% in three days versus 44% currently."

Drahi Offers $3 Billion to Take European Telecom Empire Private https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-11/billionaire-drahi-to-take-altice-private-in-5-8-billion-deal?sref=iO3LZPgY

https://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/paul-reichmann-the-man-who-blew-$10-billion-dies

The way I read it is that: - Chuck wanted to deploy cash more aggressively, while Charles wanted to hold on the cash pile and remain "prudent". - The fund has been under performing the indexes for a long period of time, mainly because of their large cash position. This uncomfortable situation generated strong disagreements. - The share of the cake (fees) is not to be split anymore. - Most of the value shops have their own internal breakups & spin-offs (Baupost, Bestinver, First Eagle fund, IVA, Paulson, Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb, Fairholme, GoodHaven, T2...) ---------------- "As of July 13, 2020, Chuck de Lardemelle has departed IVA. Effective immediately, all IVA products will be solely managed by Charles de Vaulx, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager. IVA believes that, during these challenging times, Charles’ solitary voice directing the investment team is in the best interest of our shareholders. The investment objectives, investment strategies and management philosophy remain unchanged. Chuck was one of the Founding Partners of IVA, and his contributions and service to IVA and our clients are greatly appreciated. We wish him success in any future endeavors. As a reminder, Charles de Vaulx joined International Value Advisers, LLC (IVA) in May 2008 as a Partner and Portfolio Manager, and serves as Chief Investment Officer. Until March 2007, Charles was the Portfolio Manager of the First Eagle Global, Overseas, U.S. Value, Gold and Variable Funds, together with a number of separately managed institutional accounts. His career has thus far spanned 3 plus decades and he has successfully navigated many market cycles and crises. His experience and leadership are vital during this volatile time. We believe our firm and its clients are in capable, wise, responsible care as Charles continues to be a prudent steward of client assets."

If not allowed here - my apologies - but makes for interesting reading..... Thanks for sharing!

Challenging times at IVA where they have been holding large parts of their portfolios in cash for many years. https://www.barrons.com/articles/why-did-iva-funds-co-cio-leave-10-months-after-accepting-the-job-51594745599

Thanks for sharing!

It seems that the lowest price is currently on abebooks.com at only 338 usd. I purchased the book on amazon.com in 2012 for 19.69 usd :), my guess is that you just need to check again in a couple months.

Wishing him a prompt recovery.

Many thanks Liberty!

Interesting to see that Giverny hired David Poppe from Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb in order to launch a new investment firm. It will give wings to Giverny's US operations. My guess is that David Poppe had a one year non compete agreement after leaving RCG, where he worked for almost 20 years.

Many thanks!

May 17, 2019 – Investor Day Transcript https://www.sequoiafund.com/Download.aspx?ID=d2978b9c-4642-4edb-900f-5d222e88aba1&Name=May_17,_2019_%E2%80%93_Investor_Day_Transcript_ May 17, 2019 – Investor Day Slide Presentation https://www.sequoiafund.com/Download.aspx?ID=3c672408-ad47-4173-9702-ac8b81b9ec06&Name=May_17,_2019_%E2%80%93_Investor_Day_Slide_Presentation_

Some additional material. The-Hippocratic-Method-in-Security-Analysis.pdf Profit_Guru_Walter_Schloss_interview.pdf

Lessons learned

The article, in particular Part II is disturbing and not a good PR news for Howie Buffett, a current BRK board member and its designated future Chairman. Kudos to Howie and his foundation for building hydroelectric plants in Africa, fighting hunger while helping farmers around the world; these are noble causes. The fact that Howie advocates tighter security on U.S. borders, investing in Mexico and fighting drug trafficking is not shocking either, given his values and the challenges at the border. A BRK board member who likes wearing the sheriff uniform in his county while playing cowboys, G.I. Joe, Vigilante or whatever you like to name it, can seem awkward, but it's is not even my business. Boys like playing cowboys and American patriots like carrying guns while taking pictures with their militia buddies. Although, militias shouldn't act or replace law enforcement officers; militias are part of the American culture dating back to the revolutionary war. But, what is disturbing to me is Howie Buffett alleged association/financial support with far-right ranchers and the white-supremacist ideology, which is described in the newspaper. Howie is supposed to guard Berkshire culture once Charlie and Warren are gone, but will shareholders support Howie Buffett in the future? Following some scandals, Warren Buffett successfully extracted his son from the boards of ADM in 1995 & Coke in 2017 while preserving his reputation. As a BRK shareholder, I would expect some clarification from Howie and the BRK board of directors regarding this negative article and the reputational damage that it can cause.

His interesting speech at HKU: Freedom and the future of China - 30 October 2018 https://webb-site.com/articles/chisun.asp

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-12-18/druckenmiller-on-economy-stocks-bonds-trump-fed-full-interview-video

Many thanks Liberty!