Tracking Thomas Gayner's Markel Portfolio - Q2 2016 Update

• Gayner’s portfolio increased marginally from $3.73B to $3.79B during the quarter.
• Markel substantially increased Alphabet Inc. while dropping Mattel Corporation and Federated Investors.
• Berkshire Hathaway at ~12% of the portfolio is by far the largest position.

Thomas Gayner’s Markel Investment Portfolio increased 1.85% from $3.73B to $3.79B during the quarter. The portfolio continues to have around 100 different positions although only around 50 are significantly large (more than 0.5% of the portfolio each). There were only a few substantial changes during the quarter:

1. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): The small 0.84% stake saw a ~30% increase during the quarter at prices between $668 and $767. Last quarter had also seen a ~25% increase at prices between $678 and $765. Gayner is actively building this stake. The aggressive activity indicates a bullish bias.

2. Mattel Corporation (MAT) and Federated Investors (FII): These two small positions (around 0.5% of the portfolio each) were sold this quarter.

A number of other positions also saw minor adjustments during the quarter. The top-five stakes are Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B), CarMax Corporation (KMX), Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), and Walt Disney (DIS). Markel Corporation (MKL) is currently trading at around 1.5-times Book Value (BV) at $931 per share - BV is around $600.

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights the changes to the portfolio as of Q2 2016. Please check out our previous update to have an idea on how the portfolio is progressing:

 To learn more about how to profit from a strategy of cloning hedge fund picks, check out our book Profiting from Hedge Funds: Winning Strategies for the Little Guy.