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Chou America Funds!


Parsad

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Chou's been mentioned every so often.  I just looked at the Chou America's site.  There are few links to articles like:

http://chouamerica.com/pdf/leader.PDF

"His primary occupation is as a senior executive with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. in Toronto and runs his funds, which began as an investment club, more-or-less on the side."

 

And

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/my_money/investing/mutual_funds/article.jsp?content=20060228_111027_964

"He has only a grade 12 education and used to labor as a Bell Canada repairman. He has never worked for a big bank or a mutual fund company."

 

So how does a guy go from being a Bell Canada repairman, to getting a senior executive position at Fairfax, and running one of Canada's most successful mutual funds?  Does anyone know the details of that jump?  did he just show his investment club returns to Watsa and get offered a job?

 

I'm really curious.. His MF in the US is still very small..

 

http://chouamerica.com/pdf/Chou.Equity.SOI.093010[1].pdf

net assets of 582K?

 

It doesn't have a ticker yet, not sure if I can get it in any of my broker accounts, plus fees are pretty high due to its small size.  But I'll definitely keep an eye on it..

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Wikipedia has a good writeup on Francis. 

1981 - Started investment club at Bell based on Ben Graham investing

1984 - got a job as a retail analyst at Gardiner Watson where he met Prem.  Turned Prem onto value investing.

1985 - Prem and partners bought Markel holdings - Francis was an original investor. 

1986 - Francis came on staff and continued running his club turned mutual fund

 

Bargainman,  Many of the best value investors have non-financial, eclectic backgrounds.  Prem and Francis both recognize this. 

 

As per Francis' fees he adjusts his fees downward when perfomance is poor. 

 

A. - not an investor - just a groupie.   

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So how does a guy go from being a Bell Canada repairman, to getting a senior executive position at Fairfax, and running one of Canada's most successful mutual funds?  Does anyone know the details of that jump?  did he just show his investment club returns to Watsa and get offered a job?

 

Because he is one of the most ethical people in the industry, and probably the most honest person I've ever met! 

 

Francis has a CFA.  He worked with Prem at Gardiner Watson and was the one who told Prem about insurance float and Buffett.  He's probably one of the most trusted friends and advisors of Prem and Fairfax Financial.  He also incidentally was one of the guys behind the credit default swap investment at Fairfax.  Please read the attached articles to get a better idea of the backstory.  He's one of the brightest guys I've ever met as well and a dear friend.  Cheers! 

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Guest misterstockwell

Assets of 582K? I just sent a client there with 200K. I didn't know he would be the major shareholder! No wonder the assets are low though. When you call, they know absolutely nothing about the fund. There is no ticker. There is no availability at the brokerages.  Poorly administered for sure.

 

Chou's been mentioned every so often.  I just looked at the Chou America's site.   There are few links to articles like:

http://chouamerica.com/pdf/leader.PDF

"His primary occupation is as a senior executive with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. in Toronto and runs his funds, which began as an investment club, more-or-less on the side."

 

And

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/my_money/investing/mutual_funds/article.jsp?content=20060228_111027_964

"He has only a grade 12 education and used to labor as a Bell Canada repairman. He has never worked for a big bank or a mutual fund company."

 

So how does a guy go from being a Bell Canada repairman, to getting a senior executive position at Fairfax, and running one of Canada's most successful mutual funds?  Does anyone know the details of that jump?  did he just show his investment club returns to Watsa and get offered a job?

 

I'm really curious.. His MF in the US is still very small..

 

http://chouamerica.com/pdf/Chou.Equity.SOI.093010[1].pdf

net assets of 582K?

 

It doesn't have a ticker yet, not sure if I can get it in any of my broker accounts, plus fees are pretty high due to its small size.  But I'll definitely keep an eye on it..

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest misterstockwell

Well, between my client and myself, I think we have significantly increased the assets of the Chou America Funds in the last few weeks.  ;D

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Well, between my client and myself, I think we have significantly increased the assets of the Chou America Funds in the last few weeks.  ;D

 

haha. I saw that. The fund had about $525,000 in assets and now it's right around a million.

 

 

Do you guys think that Chou may not focus on his American funds as much as his Canadian funds? That is one think that concerns me a bit.

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Come to the FFH annual meeting this year, especially the one that Sanjeev organizes.  Meet him, talk to him, ask him questions or just phone him up.  He takes calls, as far as I know.  From what I have seen, he has more integrity and character than any other investment manager I have met (I used to be a financial advisor in another life).  I have used him personally for at least 5 years.  Met him several times.  My largest and pretty much only fund I hold (Chou Associates).

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haha. I saw that. The fund had about $525,000 in assets and now it's right around a million.

 

 

Do you guys think that Chou may not focus on his American funds as much as his Canadian funds? That is one think that concerns me a bit.

 

Raising capital isn't as easy as some people think.  Francis has no real presence in the U.S., thus why would an investor choose his fund over some other guy who pours tonnes of money into marketing and already has hundreds of millions in a fund.  It doesn't matter if he's a better manager! 

 

The capital eventually does go to where it is utilized most efficiently and successfully.  No doubt Francis will be managing a lot of money in the U.S. over time.  It's just going to take the U.S. public some time to wise up a bit!  Cheers!

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Guest valueInv

Has anybody signed up and sent $ through the website? I would like to invest but it makes me a little nervous to use a site I'm not familiar with.

 

Thanks,

James

 

Same here, waiting to invest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chou America Funds are now available through Charles Schwab.  Cheers!

 

Fund                        Beta Symbol        Nasdaq Symbol        Cusip

 

Chou Eqty Oppty            CHOEZ                  CHOEZ          170431100           

 

Chou Incm Oppty FD      CHOIZ                  CHOIZ          170431209

 

 

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Chou America Funds are now available through Charles Schwab.  Cheers!

 

Fund                         Beta Symbol        Nasdaq Symbol         Cusip

 

Chou Eqty Oppty            CHOEZ                  CHOEZ           170431100           

 

Chou Incm Oppty FD       CHOIZ                   CHOIZ           170431209

 

 

 

Bravo!

 

Let us know when the Chou funds are available through Fidelity.  We would like to offer them through our selective 401K options.  :)

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Guest valueInv

Chou America funds also available for purchase at Scottrade under "funds trading without a symbol." Also, transaction fee is cheaper at Scottrade than Schwab at $17 a trade.

Perfect!!

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For those of you planning on doing a purchase through Scottrade, be aware that there is presently a problem with their website. If you click on "Trade" once you've located the fund under "Funds Trading Without a Symbol" nothing happens: a trade window does not open. I've reported the problem to my branch to have the web site fixed, however, in the interim you'll have to do the trade through your local branch. Make sure they charge you the internet rate for the trade.

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  • 1 month later...

any know if the expense ratio is going up after July 1st?

 

"As stated in the current prospectus, the Fund’s annual operating expense ratio (gross) is 5.22%.  However, the Adviser has contractually agreed to waive a portion of its fees and reimburse certain expenses through July 1, 2011"

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