HWIC

[benhacker]

Sanj (or someone else who has a relationship with someone at Fairfax),

 

I don't know how long it has been like this, but I think many months.  The Fairfax website has links to the subsidiary companies.

 

There is a link to HWIC (http://www.hwic.ca/) which is underconstruction... last time I checked this was a long time ago and it was the same.

 

I would poke the webmaster but I can't find any emails on the site.

 

Not a big issue, but it seems odd for such a massive company to have broken links on their webpage for extended periods of time... saving on costs I guess. :)

 

Thanks in advance if you can help here (I don't mean to abuse anyone's relationships, but I thought the suggestion was worthy).

 

Ben

[Parsad]

I remember Francis had his website for many years, but didn't know what to do with it, so it said "Under Construction" for a very long time.  Next time I speak to someone at Fairfax, I'll ask them, but I'm guessing it just isn't a priority or they are still figuring out exactly what they want to say on there.  Cheers!

[FFHWatcher]

I see HWIC as private and proprietary and something that should not be shared with the general public, not even shareholders.  I wish they didn't have to disclose their holdings publicly.  Sanj and many others don't, why should Prem? 

I think the reality is that many shareholders and FFH followers simply try to steal their investment ideas and, in some cases, this has likely hurt FFH investment results. 

So my question regarding the HWIC website is, What are you hoping to find on a HWIC website that you can't find on the SEC website?  FFH probably shouldn't have a hyperlink on their website.  If that is your concern/beef, than I agree.  Get rid of it.

[benhacker]

FFHWatcher,

 

We can agree or disagree on what you are saying, but having a broken link on your page is not good in this day and age... as for with link or without, I don't care if they have a website or not.  Insurance filings give all the detail you want anyway... I just thought it was a simple issue to fix.

 

 

Ben

[FFHWatcher]

agreed.

but it sounds like we disagree on the other stuff...which is ok too. ;)

[ubuy2wron]

Does HWIC manage any capital other than Fairfax and Co. money?

[Parsad]

No, as far as I know, when they went in-house, they stopped managing outside capital.  Cheers!

[ubuy2wron]

No, as far as I know, when they went in-house, they stopped managing outside capital.  Cheers!

 

They should, Hamblin Watsa is possibly FFH's most valuable asset. They could be running a hedge fund with their track record ,while the conflicts may be a little difficult to sort out  but I for one would like to own the 2 and 20 income stream that Hamblin Watsa could easily ramp up. It is a much less risky  business than the insurance business as the hedge fund investor  maintains all of the risk and it would give Prem the ability to pay his incredible team salaries which I am sure they richly deserve. It also partialy solves the problem of valuation for FFH, paying a significant premium to book for FFH is a difficult proposition for value investors which has been FFH shareholder base for a long time.

[Packer16]

Prem talked about managing outside money the CFA conf in Dec and stated that he doesn't like the constraints that managing money for institutions that put you through the performance wringer.  He actually for a time managed institutional money.  He could follow Baupost and only manage wealthy family money along with the insurance investments and avoid the institutional derby.

 

Packer

[EdWatchesBoxing]

The HWIC web-site has been updated! Not many links, but no longer under construction. I just happened to check it out today. I don't know why this was such an exciting discovery for me.

 

http://www.hwic.ca/index.htm

[benhacker]

Given that this was broken for years, I'm going to assume that Sanj's note motivated them to at least put something up there.

 

Thanks Sanj...

 

Ben

[Parsad]

No sorry guys, I actually forgot all about it.  I don't particularly get concerned about those things, as this company has always taken care of things.  But they read the board and like to keep up with shareholder concerns, so I'm pretty sure they addressed it after some of your posts. 

 

Believe it or not, Fairfax actually runs without any input from me...really, it's true!  ;D  That Prem guy and all his staff actually do get around to getting some things done, instead of me cracking the whip time and again.  Cheers!