thowed

Blake - if you haven't read it I'd recommend all the Adam Smith books, starting with the Money Game - wise and funny.

SNAP!

Big Acquisition for BRO! https://www.reinsurancene.ws/brown-brown-to-acquire-risk-strategies-one80-parent-accession/ I suspect @longterminvestor will have a better take on this than me. But at first glance looks like they're buying a good company for a high price. Market doesn't seem too bothered though.

OMG, Boss Hogg. That's pretty on point.

(from best ideas for 2025 thread). Added a tiny bit.

Yep, I think both will do well, but Lumine likely to be lumpier, as smaller and more niche so acquisitions less frequent (but will probably move dial more). Both lumpy to a degree of course, Topicus did so much stuff at start of year after a quieter 2024.

@rogermunibond Agree, though Mendelson's explicity said not for sale in a recent earnings call. Of course, doesn't mean they can't change their mind in future, but imagine it wouldn't be for a while.

Thanks for the reminder - I picked both volumes up dead cheap online some years ago, and dipped in, but should have another look. As you say, crack line-up of contributors and lots of lessons it's always good to remind oneself of.

No knowledge of any of this but Culper Research have put out a short report on Archer (ACHR) today.

Ha, I wish I'd known this when I started investing. Probably because I'm naturally cautious, I missed a number of years of having decent returns because I listened to the 'smart people' warning of terrible things that would happen (and this being post 2008 - at that point their records looked better than many). They don't look so smart now. Obviously I can't predict the future, but I have learned from this board that there's always something to do (as per Peter Cundill), though you may have to dig around. If I was to advise my younger self, I'd say - put a chunk of money into a S&P500 tracker every month, and see if your otherwise cautious outlook is outperforming it. Natural hedge for the pessimist.

JFC - yeah, that worked out really well last time. It's easy to posture about this stuff from across the pond. Those of us who had family who died in WW2 may see it a bit differently.

Everything down - presuming this is just down to disappointing AON results, which I am now going to read.

NVO in Europe.

I feel that this is the political sweet spot - more collaboration to push things through, and less crazy extremists. Also I firmly believe that you should always wish for a strong opposition, as it keeps the governing party on their toes. It is a shame that this is a rarity around the world rn.

@schin Ha, ha, amazing. I remember her from when I was a kid - I think she came over to the UK to promote a book or something, and it was obviously quite a thing for us prudish Brits!

Thanks - was just thinking the same. Good reminder of how charts can be a useful tool... IF you know the contextual history that goes along with the timespan.

Lovely stuff.

This is a great point that I hadn't considered, thank you. And even more so, given the cash level, which is obviously looking better and better, but less so if the above is true. And from experience with people in the UK (and elsewhere) we should never underestimate how difficult succession is, even when it's been prepared for. It can work, and part of me think it's actually obvious in advance when the right person is in place.

Thanks for this. I didn't know he was still alive. I know little about him except by reputation, but have followed his daughter Ruth, as she is invested in, and on the board of, some great European mittelstand industrials (& Exor, I think).

Very interesting. I quite love these cos (though own very little due to valuation). I'll need to look up how they compare with MAG7 - as until recently they hadn't done as well, so I suspect it's a case of what doesn't go up as much, doesn't go as much.

@frommi Out of interest, do you do these ITM, a fair bit OTM, or a spread? Many thanks.

Off top of my head, no - I hope to hold long-term, and hope that BIAL and other stuff once they've IPO'ed will continue to grow, and you can't really find these assets elsewhere. However, given that it we don't know just how long the IPO will take, perhaps if there were other opportunities (e.g. .... add to FFH), it would be worth taking a near-double now. How would you feel?

@Charlie Thank you! Always enjoy his letters, but when it's an Annual, it's easy to forget to check for them.

Just did my votes for the Annual Meeting. I didn't realise quite how many Directors there were! Can anyone justify this? Feels like quite a lot of costs for an investment fund. I say this as a general fan and holder of FFH and FIH.