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Best Special Situations Investors?


prunes

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Which professional investors would you say are the best at special situations investing of the type espoused by Greenblatt in his first book: merger securities, spin-offs, restructurings, etc.?

 

I know that Klarman would probably the first pick on most everyone's list. Who else?

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Elliott Associates. By a wide margin.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Management_Corporation

 

"NEWS CLIPPINGS ABOUT Elliott Associates suggest that it is a super-aggressive vulture investor. It picks fights with major corporations (Procter & Gamble), US federal court judges (in a high-profile asbestos case), and even entire nations (Peru). Anne Krueger, the first deputy managing director of the IMF, has denounced the fund, alleging that it has undermined the entire structure of sovereign finance.

 

Ask its investors about Elliott, though, and you'll get a very different story. Over the course of its 27 years of managing money, Elliott has never returned more than 25% in any given year; its compound annual return is a respectable 14.1%. The fund is so cautious that some investors left during the stock market bubble, seeking higher returns from more aggressive managers. They generally returned, chastened, after the bubble burst."

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The problem with John Malone is that you never realize if he is your side or across the table from you ( in which case you will be the loser). LUK, FFH and BRK,  their interest and yours are aligned. Malone will split the stock and merge later and cut you out.

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The problem with John Malone is that you never realize if he is your side or across the table from you ( in which case you will be the loser). LUK, FFH and BRK,   their interest and yours are aligned. Malone will split the stock and merge later and cut you out.

 

That's true - but it's fairly straightforward to watch where his money goes and try to figure out why.  In my experience, it pays to pay very close attention to what he does with HIS capital.

 

case in point, from last year:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/937797/000120919110018107/xslF345X03/c98135_4x0.xml

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An interesting character I came across - Michael Smith of Terra Nova Royalty (TTT). TTT receives royalties from investment in mines, commodities trading (commissions, financing). But, hard to get details on Michael Smith. He is a Canadian (?) with business involvement all over the world. Do you know more about him?

 

Smith ran MFC Bancorp, which was a merchant bank with offices in various locations, including Vancouver.  I was a shareholder about 10 years ago, but couldn't figure out exactly what they were doing back then, so I sold.  I thought they might have been fraudulent.  ;D 

 

Eventually, it became KHD Humboldt, which Mohnish was a large shareholder of.  And now Terra Nova Royalty.  Cheers!

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Guest misterstockwell

An interesting character I came across - Michael Smith of Terra Nova Royalty (TTT). TTT receives royalties from investment in mines, commodities trading (commissions, financing). But, hard to get details on Michael Smith. He is a Canadian (?) with business involvement all over the world. Do you know more about him?

 

Smith ran MFC Bancorp, which was a merchant bank with offices in various locations, including Vancouver.  I was a shareholder about 10 years ago, but couldn't figure out exactly what they were doing back then, so I sold.  I thought they might have been fraudulent.   ;D 

 

Eventually, it became KHD Humboldt, which Mohnish was a large shareholder of.  And now Terra Nova Royalty.  Cheers!

 

If you read the latest 20-F, it's like a poster child for potential fraud. The board is a complete joke, the CFO resigned, I think the CEO as well, and now Michael Smith is all of the above. From your comment, it must have been the same in 2000. Probably always has been the same. You have to be very trusting to own TTT! Even with all the cloudy activity, he has delivered to shareholders over the years.

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Sanjeev,

 

The TTT annual meeting is going to be in Vanouver.  Are you or any other board members planning on attending? I will not be able to make it to Vancouver.

 

 

Packer

 

I thought it was two days before Christmas in Hong Kong.  Are they having another meeting before next December?

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