Boyar Research reports
Boyar research, who has been providing independent research since 1975 is a sponsor of this year’s London Value Investor Conference. Boyar has generously agreed to provide VID readers with complimentary research reports. Please click on this link to download a complimentary report. One of the free reports is on BNY Mellon which is a dominant custody bank and investment service provider as well as the 6th largest asset manager globally. BNY Mellon shares have rallied 75% since Asset Analysis Focus last profiled the company in February 2012. Yet BK shares still trade at a reasonable 16x 2014E EPS and 1.2x book value. Importantly, Boyar believe BK is still drastically under-earning both versus its closest peers (margins ~300 bps below State Street) and versus upside in a higher interest rate environment.
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report
This year, on the 50 year anniversary of Buffett’s investment in Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger has also contributed to the annual report by spelling out his vision for Berkshire for the next 50 years.
1966 Buffett Partnership letter
Buffett starts by writing “Our war on poverty was successful in 1965. Specifically, we were $12,304,060 less poor at the end of the year.” This is a good letter which details Buffett’s views on a number of issues such as diversification, the likelihood of a repetition of the partnerships 47.2% gain during 1965 plus Buffett also makes some comments on the textile mill they had started to buy in to a few years previously – which was of course Berkshire Hathaway.
Neil Woodford – BBC Hardtalk 30 minute interview
This Stephen Sackur BBC interview with London Value Investor Conference speaker Neil Woodford covers a variety of topics including the reasons for Neil’s stunning success as a fund manager, the skill sets that he thinks are important for managers and entrepreneurs, his thoughts on the Eurozone; plus Neil also comments on the lack of value for money that the fund management industry is providing to clients because many funds are “taking fees for active management and returning passive yields”.
Berkshire Hathaway in the post-Buffett world
This Economist book review of Larry Cunningham’s Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values focusses on what might happen to Berkshire once Buffett stops tap dancing to work. The book itself will be of interest to many, although the article does an excellent job of summarising how the culture at Berkshire is shaped by Buffett’s values and why many shareholders hope that this will continue long after Buffett has departed.
Seth Klarman on energy stocks
Klarman recently said in his letter to investors that “Baupost wasted no time in redirecting additional investment team members into the energy area to sift through the carnage.” The Bloomberg article details changes in Baupost’s portfolio including in their positions in Antero, Cheniere and Micron Technologies.