How Long Have you been a Continuous Shareholder of Fairfax Financial?

[mananainvesting]

How Long Have you been a Continuous Shareholder of Fairfax Financial? 

[cwericb]

First shares purchased in 2007 @ $217. Still have them.

[wondering]

I first bought in 2004 @ 175 Cdn after the 4 hurricanes in Florida.  I thought the bad news was already discounted in the prices.  The stock went down further to 106 or so, I bought again.

 

I have made subsequent purchases since then.

[Viking]

I first bought shares in Fairfax back in 2003. Since then I have been an active trader of the shares. I was largely out of the shares from around 2012 to 2018 (as I did not like what they were doing with their investment portfolio at the time). I started buying shares again in 2019 but sold everything (all my stock holdings) in early 2020 when it was clear to me that Covid was going to be a massive problem. I bought Fairfax stock again in October 2020, and backed up the truck in November when we got new a vaccine had been approved for Covid. I have had a pretty concentrated position in Fairfax since late 2020. This the longest I have ever continuously held a stock (let alone a concentrated position).

[John Hjorth]

Almost 11 years, [voted 11 - 20 years here], [FFH.TO] bought the first shares in April 2013, added again in October 2016 [, an add, which pretty much turned out to be a mistake, that now has been autocorrected by the company].

 

I have considered several times to give up on it during the lean years and to move on. Today, a pretty happy camper here, but non-core position [In the ~3 per cent bunch].

 

Thank you to Lars [ @Viking ], @Dazel , @Crip1 and all the others contributing massively to the FFH classroom on the school here called CofB&F.

Edited Monday at 10:48 PM by John Hjorth

[Hsmpanl]

Bought for first time today, hope the party is still in its early days.

[Daphne]

I first bought FFH in 1993-94 at about $40 and sold at about $400 around 1998. Got back in around 2002 at about $165 and still own most of those shares.

[RockNation]

Purchased my first shares in 2015, but would trade in and out over time, while watching what was happening. I would not swing hard until I had a little more clarity on the plan at Fairfax, but it was certainly always interesting to watch. Buying over the last few years combined with favourable business/investment developments (resulting in increasing stock price) have turned Fairfax common stock into the largest asset I own by far though. With intentions for this to remain the case unless the situation deteriorates and the thesis changes, or valuation gets completely out of control…I don’t anticipate this to be the case though to be concerned about in the near term. 

I often wonder more so; how many long term holders sold out instead of hanging on ? Or.. how many sold off shares after the first double, only to realize after that it pays so well to be patient and do the work to understand your position. I bet there is a lot of market participants that have had an interesting long term relationship with Fairfax. (Myself included)

[John Hjorth]

3 minutes ago, RockNation said:

... I bet there is a lot of market participants that have had an interesting long term relationship with Fairfax. (Myself included)

 

Personally, @RockNation,

 

I'm one of those shareholders thinking about Fairfax as a business as a whole, based on a thesis of owning a good business for the long term is the way to build wealth. For the future, let's see.

[Masterofnone]

I lurked and lurked on this board but sat on my hands for a long time. First purchased in March of 2021 and built up the majority of my position before the tender offer. Then after the tender, astonishingly, Mr. Market didn't believe that the $500/share offer was an actual bullhorn in the streets announcing that Fairfax was cheap, He kept selling me shares at or below the tender price. No additional adds until the Muddy Waters favor. So perhaps the best actual execution of any investment in my 25+ years in the market.

[sholland]

I traded in and out in 2008 for a big gain.

I traded in and out in 2013ish for a modest gain.

Thanks to reading Viking’s posts it’s been a continuous holding since November 2023.

While I am at it I want to thank @Viking for posting his book!  I enjoyed reading it over the course of 5 days last week, and it prompted me to increase my position.

 

All of my positions started out as 10% positions.

[TwoCitiesCapital]

First purchased in 2010. Sold in 2018/2019.

 

Repurchased in size in 2021. 

 

Unfortunately, there's not a 3-4 year option on the poll so not sure what to answer for 'continuous' ownership 

[mananainvesting]

1 hour ago, TwoCitiesCapital said:

First purchased in 2010. Sold in 2018/2019.

 

Repurchased in size in 2021. 

 

Unfortunately, there's not a 3-4 year option on the poll so not sure what to answer for 'continuous' ownership 

I would just go with 4-5 years, if it is closer to 4. if it is closer to 3, go with 1-3. cheers

[Santayana]

In since 2007 thanks to Ericopoly who also introduced me to this forum back in the Yahoo days.  Sold most (along with everything else) in February 2020, started rebuilding the position in late 2020 and now hold more than ever.

[Crip1]

21 hours ago, John Hjorth said:

Almost 11 years, [voted 11 - 20 years here], [FFH.TO] bought the first shares in April 2013, added again in October 2016 [, an add, which pretty much turned out to be a mistake, that now has been autocorrected by the company].

 

I have considered several times to give up on it during the lean years and to move on. Today, a pretty happy camper here, but non-core position [In the ~3 per cent bunch].

 

Thank you to Lars [ @Viking ], @Dazel , @Crip1 and all the others contributing massively to the FFH classroom on the school here called CofB&F.

 

First and foremost, though it is appreciated, I do not deserve in the slightest to be mentioned with Viking or Dazel in terms of what they have brought to this board. They are both all-stars, bordering on deities.

 

Held FFH since before 2000, like 1998 or so, though I can’t recall exactly when I first bought in. After the first purchase, I made a few big decisions, some good and some less than good:

• Substantially increased my stake during the short attack right after the NYSE listing. Had it not been for Cardboard and BSilly0 on the Stockhouse board, I am not sure I’d have held on. (Good)
• When Fairfax hedged the whole investment portfolio, I held on. The Fairfax investment thesis back then was more about their investment acumen than the quality of the insurance underwriting. Hedging meant that they had to substantially outperform the market in order for this to make sense. I should have realized that this was not a good strategy and pared back my position. (Less than good)
• Increased the position in 2021 (Good)
• Sold some when they did the Dutch Auction with the full intention of buying back once the price dropped afterwards. Problem is that when it dropped 10% I got greedy and waited for it to drop more…it didn’t. (Idea: Good. Execution: Less than good)

 

-Crip

[Hamburg Investor]

Bought my first shares in 2013. Held them and added until 2018. It became my third biggest position until than (10% or so).
 

Than had to reduce my portfolio in May 2020 (I needed money for buying our home) by nearly a third and reduced every stock but Fairfax (it went just too cheap) and even added a tiny bit. In April 2023 I added (and reallocated ) big at 900 CAD and it became my biggest position by far from around 10% to around 30%.
 

This year Fairfax Financial grew to over 50%. Reduced it in October to 40%; today it‘s around 42%. 
 

It was a drag long term but it never felt wrong even in the bad years. I regularly look at my stocks, but when doing that I always felt FFH being a longterm winner, like I think about BRK and MKL. Mkl was one of my best performing stocks since 2011; that changed in the last years. BRK was my first stock, when „really“ beginning to invest (2007). It‘s interesting to watch that movie - sometimes one really outperforms the others than the other. Sometimes insurance stocks were really unloved; now that changed a bit. One does bad investments, the other looses traction in the insurance business, one buys Apple bug and wins, than sells a lot of businesses on the stock market… But over the long run the different strategies all seems to win; of course float helps. And having a value investor as manager helps.

[Viking]

1 hour ago, Hamburg Investor said:

It was a drag long term but it never felt wrong even in the bad years. I regularly look at my stocks, but when doing that I always felt FFH being a longterm winner, like I think about BRK and MKL. Mkl was one of my best performing stocks since 2011; that changed in the last years. BRK was my first stock, when „really“ beginning to invest (2007). It‘s interesting to watch that movie - sometimes one really outperforms the others than the other. Sometimes insurance stocks were really unloved; now that changed a bit. One does bad investments, the other looses traction in the insurance business, one buys Apple bug and wins, than sells a lot of businesses on the stock market… But over the long run the different strategies all seems to win; of course float helps. And having a value investor as manager helps.

 

@Hamburg Investor, you make a great point - "sometimes one really outperforms the others..."

 

Investing is like driving a car on the freeway. Some days, you get stuck in a bad traffic jam. Other days, it is clear sailing. 

 

These days with Fairfax, it certainly feels like Prem and crew has an open lane, the gas pedal pressed to the metal, with a lot of open road ahead. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Viking

[cwericb]

4 hours ago, Crip1 said:

 

First and foremost, though it is appreciated, I do not deserve in the slightest to be mentioned with Viking or Dazel in terms of what they have brought to this board. They are both all-stars, bordering on deities.

 

Haha. I must disagree. In reading this board (and its predecessors, there are certain posters who really know what they are talking about and ask the right questions. Back in 2006-7 when I was reading everything I could find about Fairfax you, Crip1, were one of the posters that I followed closely and who's posts convinced me to buy Fairfax in the first place.  Thank you all!

[ValueNation]

I have been a long-time lurker and followed many of you and your posts, and have held FFH for more than a decade. I was very close to bailing out during the pandemic, but thanks to this blog and Prem's $150 M bet with his own money, decided against it. I am very glad I stuck with it, thanks in no small part to the excellent analysis and debate on this forum. If it weren't for this, I don't think I would have had the confidence to add to my position during the Muddy Waters blip. It is close to 30% for me now, and I am quite comfortable at that level. Even with all the uncertainty facing markets in 2025 (especially in Canada) FFH seems like a safe position to have. Thanks for all the great posts!

[Buffett_Groupie]

On 1/13/2025 at 7:04 PM, Daphne said:

I first bought FFH in 1993-94 at about $40 and sold at about $400 around 1998. Got back in around 2002 at about $165 and still own most of those shares.

First bought FFH at $498/share in 1998 when you sold yours as I must have bought yours  and the rest is in the clip, enjoy