Portfolio 2026

[John Hjorth]

5 hours ago, SharperDingaan said:

... Needless to say, the instructor was a big-4 tax partner, and took an exceedingly dim view ... when I came in at the top of his class. Ultimately, the bastard refused to hire me for a tax internship, but we remained friends for years; learnt advanced o/g futures and derivatives from one of his people at a strip club. 

 

SD

 

 - It's 6:00 AM here, - great start on my Christmas! 

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

@LC and I are reminding you that you - to us - are missing out on your personal business opportunity of your lifetime : To write your memoirs based on your posts here on CofB&F. 

[SharperDingaan]

May the taxman take your money every 2 weeks, and may you settle up once/year. Play for all the tamales, and may the better thief win  ..... appeals at sooo many levels  but sadly, not the CPA way...

 

Derivative strip, straddle, and tripod strategies are instant recall, and much better learnt .. when you learn them in the right setting. An afternoon, and a few rounds of beer well spent ... that quickly repaid itself many times over!

 

SD

Edited December 24, 2025 by SharperDingaan

[Spekulatius]

On 12/22/2025 at 7:55 AM, Parsad said:

 

You're right not to brag!  What do you benefit from it, if you did?  You feel good for a second and may inadvertently make your friends and family envious.  Which isn't good for them or you.

 

The money is there because you worked hard, lived below your means, had foresight and enjoyed a bit of luck.  It is there to serve you...how you live, what you do with it and how you respect it. 

 

Your enjoyment should come from the freedom it provides you...the lack of restless nights...the ability to know that you can take care of yourself and your family.  THAT is reward enough.  Cheers!

I totally agree. I would never mention our net worth to anyone other than my wife. There simply is no upside sharing it with anyone outside the family, in particular if you do well. All it could potentially get you is envy.

[dealraker]

I'm much more in the model of finding out something as to others net worth and then deciphering how they got there.  I'm more interested in Greg's posts because he's not working which means he's had success.  Parsad's stating of "I no longer have to do this...or that..." is significant because I know he's got net worth enough to pass on certain things.  Reds particularly seems completely immune to markets, something that makes me greatly interested in his non political posts.

 

For nearly 50 years, and particularly the last 30 online, I've experienced people claiming 20%...or 50% annual gains yet there cost of living concerns or great fears of market reversals.  It has been decades since market reversals concerned me and if you are relentlessly claiming huge returns I'm a bit overwhelmed by huge fears of market levels, something may not be lining up at least in my view.

 

But anyway it may relate to learning styles.  Parsad mentions he follows no one, I base nearly all my decisions on others commentary and views - my best skill is knowing who to follow and business models.  Marco's posts are in that field for me, I'm delighted to read his posts, as is Viking's.

 

I'm far less interested in big claims of short term annual returns, actually I find them annoying.  I have done some short term trading as of recent times, but it is trivial and more of stimulation than an attempt to build wealth.  Selling the pop is something I've watched others do for years, people who I know who have done this do not have an ending "value" in life that I am envious of.

 

I also enjoy business, I've shared family business things.  But some of course have zero interest in this, there's more of focus for those of us maybe seeking the business models Marco seems to be presenting.  Cyclical growth businesses interest me a lot, particularly if a good capital allocator is at the helm.

 

I guess we have a "market" of learning styles and views.  I'll be more discreet LOL which just means I'll post little.  I'm so much the person that others around me have shown, models I've envied and followed.  

[ICUMD]

Lots of strategies,  but hard to evaluate claims of returns without knowing holdings, turnover and timing. 

 

For me,  my portfolio is a concentrated set of holdings that I plan to never sell.  Took me a while to curate the companies and learn my tolerance for market corrections.

 

My portfolio now is 'paying me back' by buying back my time and that is an amazing thing. In a sense,  it has finally reached criticality.  

[SharperDingaan]

Lots of ways to invest, but whatever the choice …. it has to fit the investors disposition. An everchanging construct as circumstance, expertise, experience, risk tolerance, and age changes over time.  Rich or poor.

 

Realised or not, everyone made a decision as to be active or passive. The active often being those from the business world; the passive being those with little/no interest, best served via a generic index fund. Many from the business world, will be experienced in corporate finance capital allocation, and the discounting of higher-risk projects at 25%+. The minimum acceptable NPV of zero, results in a return well above the FFH CAGR, and collectively … that's a lot of projects.

 

Active simply means capital allocation to a security likely to return more than your threshold ROE, or CAGR if the holding period will be longer than 1 year. Typically, some kind of positive change is expected; higher sales volumes/prices, lower costs, M&A, share buyback, business climate, etc. Sell once you have your return, reinvest in the next project/security, and move on. Everyday corporate finance.

 

However, nothing prevents a sale and repurchase in response to changes in the business climate; commodity price changed 15%+, Trump tweeted disruption, etc. We just call it ‘trading’, if it occurs within a short period or there was a directional anticipation of disruption.

 

If it works out, that chosen security is generating a CAGR of 25%+. If intra-year volatility also enabled a 15% gain on its sale and repurchase, this year’s return is 40%. Even if you had a 15% loss upon repurchase, you are still up 10%. May Orange Boy never break his fingers! and may the markets always be both volatile and liquid!

 

On any given day, an active manager could blow up; but when the initial capital has long since been returned, it is no different to the return on a typical small business. The small business will sell for next to nothing, and the benefit is the profit/paid employment earned that year; post blow up the active managers shares are worth little, and the benefit is the dividends/gains paid out that year.

 

It’s not WEB, FFH, or index investing … so one cannot benchmark against them. The benchmark is the threshold CAGR chosen (25%) …  with anything above/below that as alpha paid to yourself. Not what the industry chooses to promote!

 

Merry Xmas

 

SD

Edited December 26, 2025 by SharperDingaan

[anshulp]

I always enjoy reading through these.

 

My top three have remained pretty much the same for the past few years but full port minus a couple tracking positions are:

 

Sygnity SA

Fairfax

GE Aerospace

Next Nav

Innovative Aerosystems

Firan Technology

Taiwan Semiconductor 

Bel Fuse

Strathcona

Old Republic

Apollo

KKR

WR Berkley

FG Annuities

Mako Mining

EL Financial

 

I also want to build a quasi long term index position in late 2026 with three components: a direct SP index (likely via Frec), EL Financial and CET.

[ValueMaven]

Berkshire (40%)

Cash (20%)

HEICO (20%)

Constellation Software (5%)

Fannie Mae $25 preferred (5%)

EchoStar (5%) 

Company ESPP - the rest 

[valueventures]

On 12/26/2025 at 5:00 PM, anshulp said:

I always enjoy reading through these.

 

My top three have remained pretty much the same for the past few years but full port minus a couple tracking positions are:

 

Sygnity SA

Fairfax

GE Aerospace

Next Nav

Innovative Aerosystems

Firan Technology

Taiwan Semiconductor 

Bel Fuse

Strathcona

Old Republic

Apollo

KKR

WR Berkley

FG Annuities

Mako Mining

EL Financial

 

I also want to build a quasi long term index position in late 2026 with three components: a direct SP index (likely via Frec), EL Financial and CET.

Great portfolio - I overlap on Fairfax, Strathcona, KKR, and Mako Mining. One holding that stuck out to me was Firan Technology, as I recently came across a good thread on it on X (despite seeing very little discussion on CoBF). Curious how you're thinking about this one in terms of time horizon, risk/reward, target return, etc. Thanks!

 

https://x.com/KairosPraxis/status/2001349601866190875

 

 

Edited December 28, 2025 by valueventures

[anshulp]

17 hours ago, valueventures said:

Great portfolio - I overlap on Fairfax, Strathcona, KKR, and Mako Mining. One holding that stuck out to me was Firan Technology, as I recently came across a good thread on it on X (despite seeing very little discussion on CoBF). Curious how you're thinking about this one in terms of time horizon, risk/reward, target return, etc. Thanks!

 

https://x.com/KairosPraxis/status/2001349601866190875

 

 

Thanks. 

I was very happy with the Flyht deal. I think Brad and the team can get their 15% a year target and view that as a good proxy for future returns. They do make nice tuck in acquisitions opportunistically which should continue.

 

It's not much but sometimes they tout their wins in the Chinese programs, but I discount those to zero.  

 

 

Also out of curiosity since you own KKR any reason why APO isn't included? I view both good in tandem though APO future is more driven by Athene and KKR Strategic Holdings. 

[Hamburg Investor]

My portfolio:

FFH (45%)

MKL (12%)

BRK (11%)

BN, BAM (10%)

Protector Forsikring (9%)

DHR, including several spinoffs like FTV (6%)

Smurfit Westrock (2%)

Maschinenfabrik Hermle (a German Micro Cap with 800mn market cap. Hermle is a German leading manufacturer of high‑precision 3‑ and 5‑axis CNC milling machines and machining centres used in demanding industries such as medical technology, aerospace, automotive, tool and mould making, and optics) - 1%

Rational AG (a mid cap German company with 8bn market cap, Rational AG is a German company that develops, produces, and sells professional combi-steamers and multifunctional cooking systems for commercial kitchens worldwide, with a market capitalization of around €7.5–7.8 billion) - 1%

 

FIH (1%)

 

My top 6 stocks combined represent 87% of my stock portfolio. 77% of my portfolio lies in insurance companies willing to invest float into equity (with the exception of Protector, one could call them „insurance holdings“ or „insurance conglomerates“). 

Being a German private investor I pay over 26% tax on profits and dividends. That’s an important reason, why I try to limit turnover and find longterm compounders, sticking to those even in crisis (like FFH from 2013 to 2016/2020 or MKL today).

 

Trimmed my portfolio last year, as FFH grew to big as a percentage of my portfolio. Most of the trimming took place in October 2024. Invested the proceeds into Protector, which grew over 115% on average since than, even beating FFH big. That was my last bigger trade.

 

Edited December 29, 2025 by Hamburg Investor

[valueventures]

4 hours ago, anshulp said:

Thanks. 

I was very happy with the Flyht deal. I think Brad and the team can get their 15% a year target and view that as a good proxy for future returns. They do make nice tuck in acquisitions opportunistically which should continue.

 

It's not much but sometimes they tout their wins in the Chinese programs, but I discount those to zero.  

 

 

Also out of curiosity since you own KKR any reason why APO isn't included? I view both good in tandem though APO future is more driven by Athene and KKR Strategic Holdings. 

Thanks! Not really any specific reason for not owning APO. I read some fund letters a while back that were invested in KKR, and also bought it since I knew it would likely be added to the S&P 500 soon (which turned out to be correct). APO is still on my watchlist, but I've found other ideas that I've liked more.

[whiskybravo]

Portfolio:

JOE 45.5%
PROT.OL 43.5%
Cash 11%
 

Up 57% in 2025.  Both companies have positive future outlooks so I intend to hold.  That’s the plan, but as Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Not directly comparable and more risky, but PROT has outperformed FFH YTD and over the past 2,5, and 10 years and since it went public in 2007.  At 4.25B usd market cap decent chance of continued out performance.

[Milu]

1 hour ago, whiskybravo said:

Portfolio:

JOE 45.5%
PROT.OL 43.5%
Cash 11%
 

Up 57% in 2025.  Both companies have positive future outlooks so I intend to hold.  That’s the plan, but as Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Not directly comparable and more risky, but PROT has outperformed FFH YTD and over the past 2,5, and 10 years and since it went public in 2007.  At 4.25B usd market cap decent chance of continued out performance.

I like to think I am a reasonably concentrated investor with my 8-10 positions, but just 2 is a whole new level. I always get curious to learn more when I see interesting edge cases like yours.
 

Is your investment portfolio a substantial portion of your net worth? How long have you been investing and have you typically held just a couple of stocks?

Edited December 29, 2025 by Milu

[SharperDingaan]

1 hour ago, whiskybravo said:

Portfolio:

JOE 45.5%
PROT.OL 43.5%
Cash 11%
 

Up 57% in 2025.  Both companies have positive future outlooks so I intend to hold.  That’s the plan, but as Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Not directly comparable and more risky, but PROT has outperformed FFH YTD and over the past 2,5, and 10 years and since it went public in 2007.  At 4.25B usd market cap decent chance of continued out performance.

 

As a fellow poster who also has similar high weights on occasion .... just make sure that you systematically take dollars off the table. If it blows up tomorrow, you both get to live another day and ideally keep most of what you have made to date. Congratulations.

 

SD  

[whiskybravo]

57 minutes ago, Milu said:

I like to think I am a reasonably concentrated investor with my 8-10 positions, but just 2 is a whole new level. I always get curious to learn more when I see interesting edge cases like yours.
 

Is your investment portfolio a substantial portion of your net worth? How long have you been investing and have you typically held just a couple of stocks?

 

34 minutes ago, SharperDingaan said:

 

As a fellow poster who also has similar high weights on occasion .... just make sure that you systematically take dollars off the table. If it blows up tomorrow, you both get to live another day and ideally keep most of what you have made to date. Congratulations.

 

SD  

My cash position covers 10-15 years of my current level of spending.  As the stocks appreciate I will sell to maintain a 10% cash level.  Hopefully that level will, in the not too distant future exceed my required spending until judgement day.  I may even be at that level now, lol…I try to stay healthy.
 

I am in my mid sixties and have been investing for myself for over 30 years.  I have always been comfortable with risk and have concentrated portfolios.  I have to have exceedingly competent and exceedingly trustworthy management, as well as a company with a likelihood of high future returns.

 

PROT could blow up (I don’t think it will), but JOE has a very significant margin of safety.  But hey anything could happen.  That’s where the multi year cash comes in.  I have a fully paid condo in New York and a home in Italy.  Worse case scenario, we could live in Italy for effectively nothing.

 

 

[anshulp]

3 hours ago, valueventures said:

Thanks! Not really any specific reason for not owning APO. I read some fund letters a while back that were invested in KKR, and also bought it since I knew it would likely be added to the S&P 500 soon (which turned out to be correct). APO is still on my watchlist, but I've found other ideas that I've liked more.

Fair enough. I think they pair well. 

[adventurer]

14 hours ago, whiskybravo said:

Portfolio:

JOE 45.5%
PROT.OL 43.5%
Cash 11%
 

Up 57% in 2025.  Both companies have positive future outlooks so I intend to hold.  That’s the plan, but as Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Not directly comparable and more risky, but PROT has outperformed FFH YTD and over the past 2,5, and 10 years and since it went public in 2007.  At 4.25B usd market cap decent chance of continued out performance.

Your portfolio-structure has been my goal for some time now (I set myself a limit of 3 businesses). But you nearly have more investing experience in years than I even live. And I am still in the position of having to average into stocks. Currently FFH. FFH becomes too expensive now though. Monthly buys are not possible anymore at these prices. And so I was thinking about JOE and PROT.OL to use for cost averaging instead. I think they both have a long way ahead. In time and valuation.  

Congratulations on your portfolio. Very much admired. From a structure as well as risk tolerance standpoint. 

Edited December 30, 2025 by adventurer

[whiskybravo]

1 hour ago, adventurer said:

Your portfolio-structure has been my goal for some time now (I set myself a limit of 3 businesses). But you nearly have more investing experience in years than I even live. And I am still in the position of having to average into stocks. Currently FFH. FFH becomes too expensive now though. Monthly buys are not possible anymore at these prices. And so I was thinking about JOE and PROT.OL to use for cost averaging instead.

Congratulations on your portfolio. Very much admired. From a structure as well as risk tolerance standpoint. 

 

When I was in my twenties and early thirties I was working hard training to be a doctor and eventually a radiologist. By age 34, I had at last a good income in a secure profession. I saw colleagues working into their seventies, so I knew that I could have a good income basically in perpetuity.

 

My father was an engineer and bought and held stocks.  When I was 37, my parents passed away and left five children an inheritance of 400K each.  With my profession secure, I felt like my inheritance was house money.  I had no knowledge of investing, but buying stocks was subconsciously ingrained in me by my father’s example.

 

I learned of Buffett and started to educate myself.  I would try to understand any company that I invested in as fully as I could.  That was the only way that I could feel comfortable holding.  So for my temperament I was never able to own more than a few stocks at a time. And I always felt that I had my overall downside protected.  

Edited December 30, 2025 by whiskybravo

[Saluki]

My large positions (GOOG, JOE, FRFHF) havent' changed, but the smaller ones are different. My midsize positions (CPNG, NTDOY) are the same and KRKNF is now midsize. New ones this year (midsize) are PYPL and CROX, but I'll figure out the exact % later since I have stuff in 3 different brokerages. 

[benchmark]

20 hours ago, whiskybravo said:

Portfolio:

JOE 45.5%
PROT.OL 43.5%
Cash 11%
 

Up 57% in 2025.  Both companies have positive future outlooks so I intend to hold.  That’s the plan, but as Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Not directly comparable and more risky, but PROT has outperformed FFH YTD and over the past 2,5, and 10 years and since it went public in 2007.  At 4.25B usd market cap decent chance of continued out performance.

I'm curious on how did you find PROT and build the conviction? Do you buy it directly on Oslo exchange or you buy the ADR? 

[Value418]

27.5% Fairfax

19% SRBK

10.5% AJG

7% ELV

7% FITB

7% HCA

6% CNQ

6% NNI

3% TPL

3% TRRVF

Cash

 

[whiskybravo]

56 minutes ago, benchmark said:

I'm curious on how did you find PROT and build the conviction? Do you buy it directly on Oslo exchange or you buy the ADR? 

I read a Seeking Alpha article by Alexander Steinberg in 2024.  I then read their reports and listened to conference calls.  I was impressed with management, their underwriting discipline, growth prospects, and small size.  If they don’t get their rate they will pass on underwriting, just as Buffett has emphasized.  Investment wise, they don’t buy or control companies in the manner of Berkshire or Fairfax but their equity portfolio has a definite value approach.  They started in Scandinavia, successfully entered Britain (from scratch in 2016 to >40% of gross written premiums).  Now they are entering France, so significant growth still ahead.
 

It dipped about 20% in Summer 2004, but was starting to go up as I became confident. I opened an Interactive Brokers account and bought my position in Oslo late September to early November with a cost of 263.  Added kicker NOK up 12% against the dollar this year.  

[KJP]

5 hours ago, Value418 said:

27.5% Fairfax

19% SRBK

10.5% AJG

7% ELV

7% FITB

7% HCA

6% CNQ

6% NNI

3% TPL

3% TRRVF

Cash

 

 

Based on your allocation, I assume you're still quite bullish on SRBK.  Do you think it's sold within a year or so of the 3-year anniversary?  If so, at what multiple to TBV?  I sold out a few months back and moved the proceeds to PFSB because of its better profitability, bigger discount to book, and buyback, but I think Orbach knows what he's doing, so I still have an eye on SRBK.  

[Jan]

Portfolio 2026:

 

 

In 2025 I started investing. I sold trading until now:

- for gains: LDO, BABA (trimmed), Eurobank, Googl, FFH (trimmed), IBKR, RHM (trimmed and then loaded back up in the dip)

- for a loss: WLN (over 50% loss, ugh, still glad I sold)

 

Total money weighted return YTD in USD is up 22%. Leverage came down from 2.0 in september to 1.77 now. I learned so much in this year, also thanks to this board.

 

Intention for 2026:

Reduce leverage to 1.2 - 1.5 and simplify Portfolio for peace of mind

 

by selling opportunistically:

- RHM - bought only for trading

- JD - low margins and reduce china exposure a bit (PDD seems a better business)

- GRG and BRO - small positions in businesses I don't really know

- ACGL - cat risk profile is too similar to FFH (only trimming)

- general trimming as stocks appreciate

 

 

Last time I shared:

On 9/12/2025 at 10:20 PM, Jan said:

 

 

Portfolio started from scratch in 2025. Percentages add to over 100% together as I use leverage of around 2 in interactive brokers with portfolio margin right now. As a young investor with the possibility to inject more cash if needed/with time I am good with this leverage for now.

 

Some stocks are more long term holds, like FFH, ACGL, GOOGL, BABA, PRX.. others I plan to sell short/mid-term when good sell-opportunities arise: NVO, RHM, LDO, WLN... Where I live, I dont have to pay capital gains taxes. 

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by Jan