Fairfax India new issue

[nwoodman]

6 hours ago, rajpgokul said:

 

Thanks for posting this, what a masterclass. Hari navigates an incredibly complex web of infrastructure growth, regulatory frameworks, urban connectivity, and stakeholder diplomacy with the calm authority of someone who not only understands the system but is actively shaping it.

 

The interview really underscores why BIAL is the natural lead contender for the second airport. Such  diplomatic finesse, there’s a lot of nuance in what he’s balancing, and yet nothing feels reactionary. Just clear, long-term planning backed by competence and calm execution.

 

Plenty to digest here. I’ll definitely be rewatching.

[gfp]

Back at twenty dollars baby

[villainx]

IDBI news soon?  Or there's a bit of silent period after bids enter?

 

 

Edited July 28, 2025 by villainx

[mananainvesting]

India Inks Trade deal with UK, exports to UK to increase. Might bode well for BIAL over the long run. 

 

 

[This2ShallPass]

On 7/31/2025 at 6:47 PM, Haryana said:

Fairfax India had a great quarter mainly due to recovery in financial holdings IIFL and CSB.

https://www.fairfaxindia.ca/press-releases/fairfax-india-holdings-corporation-second-quarter-financial-results/

book value per share increased 10.4% to $21.43 at June 30, 2025 from $19.41 at March 31

BIAL only up $6.3M in valuation this quarter. GMR (closest peer) public valuation up 10%.

 

Are they being overly conservative in valuation or is this the real value?

 

[TwoCitiesCapital]

On 7/31/2025 at 8:47 PM, Haryana said:

Fairfax India had a great quarter mainly due to recovery in financial holdings IIFL and CSB.

https://www.fairfaxindia.ca/press-releases/fairfax-india-holdings-corporation-second-quarter-financial-results/

book value per share increased 10.4% to $21.43 at June 30, 2025 from $19.41 at March 31

 

Impressed that they got the price they did on repurchases, but disappointed at the size given what discount % that would have represented. 

 

 Maybe they're conserving cash until the results of the IDBI auction? 

[gfp]

9 minutes ago, TwoCitiesCapital said:

 

Impressed that they got the price they did on repurchases, but disappointed at the size given what discount % that would have represented. 

 

 Maybe they're conserving cash until the results of the IDBI auction? 

 

 

The stock is very illiquid so if they were being disciplined and only buying around that price or lower they didn't have much opportunity to buy more.  They were competing with me down there LOL

[Hektor]

What, if anything, does this mean for FIH?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/business/india-china-trump-tariffs.html

 

India, Once Trump’s Counterweight to China, Is Now Facing His Wrath

 

The world’s two largest democracies seemed to be enjoying their friendship. Now, President Trump has all but declared economic war.
 

[gfp]

19 minutes ago, Hektor said:

What, if anything, does this mean for FIH?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/business/india-china-trump-tariffs.html

 

India, Once Trump’s Counterweight to China, Is Now Facing His Wrath

 

The world’s two largest democracies seemed to be enjoying their friendship. Now, President Trump has all but declared economic war.
 

 

 

Give it a couple of weeks to when POTUS is back to not trying to pressure Russia and he will probably let this tantrum slip away with little fanfare.

[TwoCitiesCapital]

52 minutes ago, gfp said:

 

 

Give it a couple of weeks to when POTUS is back to not trying to pressure Russia and he will probably let this tantrum slip away with little fanfare.

 

I dunno - he's gonna have to distract from the Epstein stuff again when Congress is back in session in September. India might prove to be a nice distraction. 

 

31 minutes ago, Crip1 said:

Yeah, concur. Whatever comes out of this, the value of this asset will not be impacted on a long-term basis. The only thing that this does from an investment perspective is that it may allow someone who is trying to start or increase a position to get in at a better price. 

 

+1 

 

Indian economy is pretty insular as is. I wouldn't expect external forces to have much impact at this time. 

[Hsmpanl]

11 minutes ago, Haryana said:

Are you guys channeling what Watsa had analyzed on Trump 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8_yqpBGCmbo 

Nailed it

[gfp]

New Apple store opening in Bengaluru - 

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/21/apple-hebbal/

https://www.apple.com/in/retail/hebbal/

 

complete with limited edition Bengaluru wallpaper for your phone, iPad or mac.

 

-----

 

On another note, a friend pointed out to me that Bangalore historically has been very big in the types of industries most vulnerable to being disrupted by the early use cases of AI - employers like Infosys, Wipro, etc..

 

I haven't really given it much through but my friend is smart so I thought I would post it here and see if anybody knowledgeable has a point of view on the vulnerability of Bangalore's economy to this type of disruption.  I realize they are much more diversified nowadays but I'm not really familiar with what percentage of Bangalore's economy / employment is in this Infosys/Wipro low-hanging fruit so to speak.

[Xerxes]

14 hours ago, gfp said:

New Apple store opening in Bengaluru - 

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/21/apple-hebbal/

https://www.apple.com/in/retail/hebbal/

 

complete with limited edition Bengaluru wallpaper for your phone, iPad or mac.

 

-----

 

On another note, a friend pointed out to me that Bangalore historically has been very big in the types of industries most vulnerable to being disrupted by the early use cases of AI - employers like Infosys, Wipro, etc..

 

I haven't really given it much through but my friend is smart so I thought I would post it here and see if anybody knowledgeable has a point of view on the vulnerability of Bangalore's economy to this type of disruption.  I realize they are much more diversified nowadays but I'm not really familiar with what percentage of Bangalore's economy / employment is in this Infosys/Wipro low-hanging fruit so to speak.

Bangalore is the aerospace hub of India, with Western OEM presence and supply chains running through it. 
 

Not exactly to-be-disrupted by AI material.
 

More atoms in aerospace than bytes. 

What is its concentration vs other industries I don’t know. 

[gfp]

6 hours ago, Xerxes said:

Bangalore is the aerospace hub of India, with Western OEM presence and supply chains running through it. 
 

Not exactly to-be-disrupted by AI material.
 

More atoms in aerospace than bytes. 

What is its concentration vs other industries I don’t know. 

 

That's great.  I was more concerned about the customer service / business process outsourcing / call center stuff.  Maybe Wipro and InfoSys type of companies have evolved successfully with the AI / data center revolution and will actually be a positive for Bangalore.  A white American sitting in New Orleans isn't going to be able to figure it out that's for sure.

[treasurehunt]

On 8/22/2025 at 6:21 PM, gfp said:

That's great.  I was more concerned about the customer service / business process outsourcing / call center stuff.  Maybe Wipro and InfoSys type of companies have evolved successfully with the AI / data center revolution and will actually be a positive for Bangalore.  A white American sitting in New Orleans isn't going to be able to figure it out that's for sure.

 

I am hardly an expert here, but since no one has responded to you yet, I'll chime in. I have friends and relatives who work in these companies in Bangalore and this is based on what I have heard from them.

 

First off, these companies - Infosys, Wipro, HCL, TCS, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra, LTIMindtree etc - employ upwards of 500K in Bangalore. There was a recent report that tech employment in Bangalore has exceeded 1 million, and most of the 1 million are likely software jobs. These folks are also relatively well paid, so they have a disproportionate impact on the city's economy.

 

Now, Bangalore is a huge city, with a population of over 14 million. It's also pretty diverse, with a lot of employment in aerospace, biotech, finance etc. But if the software consultancy industry gets decimated, I think that will really hurt. Maybe in time, the other industries can make up for it.

 

How are these companies doing right now? Not great. There have been some layoff announcements, and the rate of hiring of "freshers" has dropped off. I don't think there is a clear plan on how to deal with AI (not surprising, because the impact of AI is probably not entirely obvious). If AI turns out to be really disruptive in the short term, Bangalore's economy and BIAL by extension, will probably get hit.

 

[Hoodlum]

Ben Watsa provided an interview on his experiences with his Marvel Capital Fund.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-marval-capital-ben-watsa-india-trump-trade/

 

Here is a Gift link if the above is paywalled.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/88b464f77c2863c66a9326ee3eb93664ae337885ca5483f02881b645ad033c36/4IRMTNUZN5BVLKOF6OHWZVQOEE/

[investmd]

1 hour ago, Hoodlum said:

Ben Watsa provided an interview on his experiences with his Marvel Capital Fund.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-marval-capital-ben-watsa-india-trump-trade/

 

Here is a Gift link if the above is paywalled.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/88b464f77c2863c66a9326ee3eb93664ae337885ca5483f02881b645ad033c36/4IRMTNUZN5BVLKOF6OHWZVQOEE/

+ 1

 

Does anyone know the fee structure at Marval Guru Fund? Online it is listed as 0% likely meaning it's not disclosed. At $400M in AUM, are they charging 1-2%? or ? 

[thowed]

Thanks, @Hoodlum.  Very interesting.  

[thowed]

As a sidebar, I see that a member of the Marval INVESTMENT ADVISORY COUNSEL MEMBER team is Pierre Lassonde's son.  Does anybody have any knowledge of him.  I think Ben's proved his worth, otherwise could end up being a gang of Finance Nepo Babies!

[SafetyinNumbers]

1 hour ago, investmd said:

+ 1

 

Does anyone know the fee structure at Marval Guru Fund? Online it is listed as 0% likely meaning it's not disclosed. At $400M in AUM, are they charging 1-2%? or ? 

Class A fee structure:

management fee 1.5%

performance fee 20%

hurdle rate 6%

with a high-water mark

Class I fee structure:

management fee 0%

performance fee 25%

hurdle rate 6%

with a high-water mark

[gfp]

2 minutes ago, SafetyinNumbers said:

Class A fee structure:

management fee 1.5%

performance fee 20%

hurdle rate 6%

with a high-water mark

Class I fee structure:

management fee 0%

performance fee 25%

hurdle rate 6%

with a high-water mark

 

I figured it was something very similar to that but knew someone here would have the exact answer.  According to my trusty artificial intelligent assistant -

"

The two fee structures charge the same dollar fees when the annual gross investment return is 36%.

• Below 36% (but above 6%), Class A charges more.

• Above 36%, Class I charges more.

"

[Buffett_Groupie]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-marval-capital-ben-watsa-india-trump-trade/

[Hsmpanl]

Nice little drawdown has this in an attractive buying range again. @gfp you buying more here? Lmk so I can coattail you...

[gfp]

Just now, Hsmpanl said:

Nice little drawdown has this in an attractive buying range again. @gfp you buying more here? Lmk so I can coattail you...

 

I ran out of money hsmpanl - ain't got a square to spare in a tax deferred account and I don't want to own FIH in a USA taxable account

[villainx]

3 hours ago, Hsmpanl said:

has this in an attractive buying range again.

 

Was just thinking the same.