Parsad

<b>Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value July 17-21, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> Dr. George Athanassakos will offer a highly sought after five day seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value to finance executives, finance professionals, portfolio managers, financial analysts and individual investors seeking knowledge of value creation, valuation and value investing theory and practice. Mr. Josh Tarasoff, General Partner, Greenlea Lane Capital Partners, LP, will be a guest speaker on July 21. For more information and to register, see http://valueinvestingeducation.com/seminars.htm <b>Ben Graham Centre’s 2017 Value Investing Conference April 19, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its 2017 Value Investing Conference at The Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. For more details and to register: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2017_Conference.htm <b>Ben Graham Centre's 2017 Stock Picking Competition April 18, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its annual Stock Picking Competition at the MBA level in Toronto. Teams from MBA schools from around the world will compete for $17,500 in cash prizes as well as free attendance to the Ben Graham Centre’s Value Investing Conference and the Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Canada. For more details about the competition: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/stock.htm

Could you educate me? I missed this. Thanks! Well Prem runs Fairfax and will until he no longer can...be it physically or spiritually. But it looks pretty obvious who would run Fairfax if Prem could no longer do so. If you don't really know, time to do some legwork and figure it out. :) Incidentally, no one has ever said anything to me. But after watching it for all these years, I kind of have a pretty good idea of changes at Fairfax that may not seem like much, but are monumental shifts in planning or thinking. Cheers!

The style has most certainly changed over the years. Remember, for a very long-time, Hamblin-Watsa was composed of Prem and about 5 managers who had worked for/with him for 30+ years...they were Ben Graham, distressed investment disciples working together from Confederation Life to Gardiner Watson and then Hamblin-Watsa & Fairfax. But as the company has grown and grown, the tentacles within Hamblin-Watsa have become quite encompassing. At their heart, they are still those same Ben Graham disciples, but like Berkshire and the shift to acquiring whole businesses, they have become more private-equity like with the addition of various new vehicles and managers...FairVentures, Thomas Cook, India Fund, Africa Fund, etc. The one part that will not change is how they analyze and buy fixed income instruments, including all sorts of debt securities. That has been the domain of Brian Bradstreet for so many years, and he has been so successful, that it may only change once he is gone. As a Fairfax shareholder, the one area that I would be interested in getting to know better at the AGM, etc is who is the next generation of Hamblin-Watsa investment managers that have learned from Prem, Brian, Roger, Sam et al. We know who would run Fairfax and that's the perfect choice in my opinion. But who are some of the other managers at Hamblin-Watsa...I'm probably one of the few shareholders who knows a few of them, but it would be great for them to become more prominent over time. I also think as Fairfax/Hamblin-Watsa get bigger, they will rely on outside managers to manage some capital...not unlike what White Mountains/Markel do already and Hamblin-Watsa does to a lesser degree. Alot of talented people at HW! Cheers!

I'm writing this to you at 6am Christmas morning...how fitting! I recommend donating to wherever your heart may be...as well as where you think they may need help. This has become a big part of my life thanks to Buffett's example and Prem's example. For me, it's exactly how I suggested...both in time and money: - Crohn's & Colitis Canada - We were already doing an annual dinner in Toronto. When JoAnn (Prem's executive assistant) passed away from colon cancer, this became a natural fit and somewhere we wanted to help, as JoAnn had suffered from Crohn's for most of her life. She, along with Francis, were the ones who originally set up my lunch with Prem back in 2005...that changed the trajectory for my whole life! She became a good friend after that, helping as much as she could to make our dinner better each year. When I would come back to Vancouver in the early years, I would give the funds to their BC representative, Alison Obrecht, who became a good friend. Alison eventually was head-hunted by Cystic Fibrosis. - Cystic Fibrosis - When Alison arrived there, shortly after she mentioned that they were being evicted from their regional office because it was being sold and developed. I had just taken over at Premier, and wanted to sublease out some of the offices. She brought her Western Canada manager to our office and they ended up leasing out 5 of the offices at Premier for the next five years...essentially to the end of our lease agreement. I ended up being asked to join the Vancouver office's board of directors after raising money for them. Alison was subsequently head-hunted by Simon Fraser University's Endowment. - Simon Fraser University - Some of you may know, especially the old-timer board members, but my father passed away in 1991 when I was 21 and was a 3rd year student at SFU. My father, Tony Parsad, was one of the first employees hired by SFU when it opened in 1965 as a Chemistry lab technician, and worked there until the day he died. I had an awful love/hate relationship with SFU. I used to go up there as a young boy with him, and much of my formative years were spent enjoying what the campus provided from my father setting up chemistry experiments for me, playing on their soccer fields at various sports camps, or simply enjoying a nice lunch with my father in the cafeteria or faculty restaurant, the Diamond Club. But when I went up there as a student after high school, I kind of hated school at the time...as I was a biology major, but my true interest lay elsewhere as you all know now. After he passed away, it became even more difficult, simply because everyone (faculty) knew me and everyday I could imagine my father coming around a corner...even though he never would again. Again, as many of know, I raised my brother after that, who was 9 when our father died and helped my mother who had become a young widow. I never had the opportunity to do anything for my father, but always ached to do something for him...never really had the financial ability before Corner Market Capital and spent many years building the business living frugally until it did finally work out. Finally, about two years ago, after finally having the capacity to do something substantial, as CMC and my personal investments did very well, I finally did what I needed to do for him...23 years later. It was one of the most important and personal things I had ever done and probably wouldn't have happened if I had not become friends with Alison who went from Crohn's to Cystic Fibrosis and then SFU! I haven't shared it with anyone until now: https://www.sfu.ca/science/support-science/donors/the-parsad-family.html The endowment will live on long after I'm gone and I plan on doubling its size every 5 years. Interestingly enough, that photograph was taken at the Diamond Club where I would have lunch with my father on occasion, and where I signed the paperwork for the endowment. Life is a full circle! Dakshana - Well Mohnish is a friend, but that's not why I try and help them out. This is simply an organization that uses a Buffett-type approach...impacting one person will have a trickle down effect and eventually you'll have an exponential type compounding effect. It just made sense. I've donated small amounts so far, but will increase that over time and as the need increases at Dakshana. This is something Alnesh and I donate to through Corner Market Capital. Surrey Christmas Bureau and Surrey Food Bank - Surrey is the fastest growing municipality in all of North America. As such, the needs at the Christmas Bureau and Food Bank are relentless. While the organizations don't teach a man to fish, sometimes you just need to feed someone for a day...this is a sentimental choice, as our family is fortunate enough not to go hungry while others do, regardless of circumstance. I moved to the area four years ago and it's a dynamic city going through huge changes...I felt I needed to help the community. Adopt-a-School - Run by the Vancouver Sun, this non-profit provides funds to various elementary and high schools beyond government funds in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area. Many children go to school and don't have breakfast or lunch because their families are struggliing. As a student, that is an awful way to try and learn when your stomach is growling or you are tired from going hungry. Donations/gestures on a whim - the IHOP thing I did a couple of years ago is a example of that. Sometimes I might just pay for a young families dinner I see somewhere when dining with my family, or someone's coffee. A single Mom dying of cancer and needs funds to support her children when she's gone. A pay it forward type of gesture. I normally wouldn't really talk about these things, but I figure there are plenty of people on here who have the ability like myself to make a difference...maybe it will give them an idea or motivate them. I'm sure there are hundreds of other ways as well you could do this. I feel very, very grateful for my life and what I have now. I'm living the exact dream I always had in the back of my mind, but didn't know it existed until Buffet and Prem showed up. I've only started on this endeavour in the last few years, but it's a huge part of my life and being. I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you get as much enjoyment from it as I do! Cheers!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Cheers!

Yes, please do so...would be interesting to see. Cheers!

LOL! Now that's a lawsuit worth filing. Cheers!

Yes...as are Jim Carrey, Ryan Reynolds, Michael Buble, Dan Akroyd, Eugene Levy and unfortunately Nickelback! Cheers!

That's ok. Alot of the people who are now financially independent on here (or the predecessor message board) were in their 20's or early 30's 10-15 years ago. This is the right forum. When I started Corner Market Capital 11 years ago, I was 35 years old, after raising my brother and getting him through university. I was living off my limited investments and working on the side while building the business. Today I am financially independent! I am very fortunate...I get to do what I love every day and work only with people I like to work with. The funny thing now is that I have no plans on ever retiring unless forced to do so due to circumstance or poor health. Young and poor is a good thing, as long as you never forget how hungry you were going forward. It will help you to succeed and get to where you want to be! Cheers!

Yes, that would probably be more representative of how the wealth is distributed. For the most part, I would say that the older you are, the larger your nestegg...even on this board. At the same time, there are a number of fairly youthful members on here who are quite wealthy at a relatively young age via investments, entrepreneurship, professional occupation or just damn luck! Cheers!

This forum is one of the few that can actually back up the financial numbers. Those numbers actually are from a very limited subset...if you saw the actual spread across the members, I think it would be quite impressive. Cheers!

We've learned two important lessons in the last 8 years: #1 - Unless you're leveraged, don't try and understand macroeconomics and how it will affect your portfolio. #2 - Stick to Ben Graham and buying with a margin of safety, regardless of what is going on around you...then sell and hold cash when the investment reaches intrinsic value. Why? You may get lucky with #1 at one point, but then you may look foolish for years afterwards when you do get it wrong...we've seen this with many, many value managers. #2 isn't exciting, but it works very well! Cheers!

The comment was based on Wilbur supporting/defending Trump. Trump supporting Wilbur is the complete opposite concern. Very few people are as qualified or have the business common sense that Wilbur Ross does...only a handful of other people would be better. Cheers!

Have to tell you...if the rumours are true...I LOVE Trump's choice as Commerce Secretary! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-taps-billionaire-investor-ross-commerce-secretary-085157339--election.html

You guys are all over the place. He's got $10B in cash now, why the hell would he need equity hedges?! I've always said this, and I repeat it again...Fairfax hedges because they operate with a greater degree of leverage than Berkshire and some other insurers. They have debt and a relatively high asset to equity ratio. If bonds or equities fall, it can affect their level of statutory capital in the insurance subsidiaries and they would not be able to write business or invest that capital when opportunities are greatest. They had a ton of bonds and some equities, thus they needed to hedge in case both were impacted in some manner. Now they have a ton of cash...they don't need to hedge. For every other investor, you don't need to worry about macro or take out hedges. Buy low, sell high and hold cash. Simple! Less frictional costs than hedging and you don't have to worry about Brexit, deflation or some other event. Cheers!

I'm still hoping he's a closet Democrat and did all this simply to win. You gave up German beer! :( Cheers!

...But does that mean I have to give up his hotels?! I joke, I joke...because it still hurts! But he does have very nice hotels. Cheers!

I am in no way shape or form a Trump supporter but I believe the attitude expressed above is the most salient reason that gave rise to Trump and Trump-ism. The sort of attitude prevalent among American I guess I'll call them "elites" for lack of a better word whose sort of attitude is "let the smart people figure it out for the masses and we'll tell you what we've decided." The institutions of the elites in the United States - the government, academia, the media that seemingly only represents this elite worldview - seem to continuously expand their reach with the aim to dictate how people are supposed to think, their attitudes, how their resources should be spent, how much of their paycheck people are allowed to keep, etc. You can see it in people in the media's attitude about Trump, "How dare you even think about voting for him?" [i didn't vote for him, but that elitist attitude is grating.] So it is not surprising that a backlash to elitism took hold. In the 1980s, the music scene was dominated by Bon Jovi, Poison - hair bands - men with hairsprayed heads and skin tights pants. So in the early 1990s, grunge took hold. Quite literally the opposite. Rather than skintight leather tights, Kurt Cobain rocked shirts with holes in them. The elitist attitude that has taken hold in so many American institutions gave rise to Trump, just the way that hair bands gave rise to grunge. Incidentally, the original post was meant tongue in cheek...thus the "jackass"reference. But it was also meant to question why American's have chosen to self-flagellate themselves for the next four years. Cheers!

I am in no way shape or form a Trump supporter but I believe the attitude expressed above is the most salient reason that gave rise to Trump and Trump-ism. The sort of attitude prevalent among American I guess I'll call them "elites" for lack of a better word whose sort of attitude is "let the smart people figure it out for the masses and we'll tell you what we've decided." The institutions of the elites in the United States - the government, academia, the media that seemingly only represents this elite worldview - seem to continuously expand their reach with the aim to dictate how people are supposed to think, their attitudes, how their resources should be spent, how much of their paycheck people are allowed to keep, etc. You can see it in people in the media's attitude about Trump, "How dare you even think about voting for him?" [i didn't vote for him, but that elitist attitude is grating.] So it is not surprising that a backlash to elitism took hold. In the 1980s, the music scene was dominated by Bon Jovi, Poison - hair bands - men with hairsprayed heads and skin tights pants. So in the early 1990s, grunge took hold. Quite literally the opposite. Rather than skintight leather tights, Kurt Cobain rocked shirts with holes in them. The elitist attitude that has taken hold in so many American institutions gave rise to Trump, just the way that hair bands gave rise to grunge. So this was simply to spite the elite? Well done. Cheers!

...down there. Really! You're taking this all the way?! Wake up stupid...wake up! Finally America has become one big reality show! Even PT Barnum as President would make some sense! Cheers!

My apologies to Mohnish, as I did not see his previous email announcing his annual Lunch auction! It closed today for $14,100. His conference call auctions are still on: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Conference-Call-with-Mohnish-Pabrai/122182842311 All proceeds go to his charitable non-profit Dakshana. Cheers!

I think Buffett actually compounded at a faster rate when he was doing cigar-butts. Part (not all) of his conversion to quality was driven by the fact that he couldn't do cigar butts when he got to a certain size. I am sure that his "guarantee" that he could do 50% CAGR with smaller sums of money isn't based on compounding quality. Cigar butts is a perfectly sound way of investing, even if it hasn't worked recently (and few value managers have done well recently). If quality was the only way to go, we'd all do it, and quality would get overvalued. When Buffet closed down his partnerships, he gave a nod to his new strategy that would seek out long-term quality holdings. He said himself that he expected returns to be lower without a commensurate reduction in risk. Yup. You buy quality and the cash flow runway is much longer, although the annualized return might be lower than constantly buying cigar butts for a few years worth of puffs. Also hard to get people who have spent their lives building a business, to sell it to someone who will sell it to someone else or break it apart...thus Buffett buying businesses forever resonates with owners of the types of businesses he wants to buy...they want their legacy to live forever. Cheers!

The pleasure of working with permanent capital - from very patient, long term investors. You meet in at the office, every day, stating to your secretary: "No calls to me today about WFC, please - thanks!". In the middle of the day you take a nap on the couch in office, thinking about things in general. Then you get up in the middle of your rest, calling Mr. Munger: "Any ideas?" Answer: "No". Then you go to, or call T&T with the same question. Same answer. Then you you go back to the couch, trying to get some rest, but to no avail, because the couch is standing in a high bow, because of the cash pile below it. Problems [to the contrary of conditions] are issues, to which you are able make a difference. I'm [still] waiting. +1! That's about right for what happens at Berkshire. Cheers!

Interesting question proposed to Buffett & Munger 20 years ago by a young Bill Ackman on indexing. Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/20-years-ago-bill-ackman-asked-warren-buffett-and-charlie-munger-about-a-risk-the-market-faces-today-130457305.html

Agree 100%. IQ is a consequence of good infrastructure not the other way around, the IQ's of Indians will rise as the infrastructure and policies of India is improved. A good read on this stuff would actually be the 2016 Dakshana Annual Report that Mohnish writes. Each student he gets into an IIT is going to have a compounding effect on their families, siblings, communities and even Dakshana itself. He's providing the infrastructure and resources. It used to be referenced as routinely as washing one's hands that African-Americans were inferior to white Americans because they had a genetically lower IQ. Everything has proven this notion wrong over the last 100 years as the playing field was slowly leveled. Cheers!