Tracking Thomas Gayner's Markel Portfolio – Q1 2018 Update

• Gayner’s portfolio decreased from $5.30B to $5.26B during the quarter.
• Markel dropped Monsanto Company. Moody’s Corp and Factset Research were both reduced by ~30% as well.
• Berkshire Hathaway at ~12% of the portfolio is by far the largest position.

Thomas Gayner’s Markel Investment Portfolio decreased marginally from $5.30B to $5.26B 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). The top-five stakes are Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B), CarMax Corporation (KMX), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), Marriott International (MAR), and Diageo plc (DEO).

Markel Corporation (MKL) is currently trading at around 1.7-times Book Value (BV) at $1147 per share - BV is around $670.

Positions being built actively include Oaktree Capital Management (OAK), Watsco Inc. (WSO), Blackstone Group (BX), and Brown Forman (BF.A).

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights the changes to the portfolio as of Q1 2018. 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.  

Tracking Charlie Munger's Daily Journal Portfolio – Q1 2018 Update

• Charlie Munger’s Daily Journal Portfolio continues to have just four positions.
• The portfolio has been largely untouched since their first 13F filing for Q4 2013.
• The overall portfolio value decreased ~7% in the quarter.

Charlie Munger’s Daily Journal portfolio value decreased ~7% this quarter from $173M to $160M. Since their first 13F filing in Q4 2013, there has only been one change to the holdings: POSCO was reduced significantly in Q4 2014. After accounting for this sale, the portfolio value has remained remarkably steady over the last four years. To know more about Charlie Munger, check out the book Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.

Regarding the origins of this portfolio in 2009, Charlie Munger said the following during Daily Journal’s (DJCO) AGM Q&A: “In addition to Daily Journal's businesses, we have a great bundle of securities and want to dispel again that this is not some minor version of Berkshire. We have a bundle, because we bought them at a time when we preferred to own them to holding cash and had a lot of extra liquidity on hand that came to us by accident. The chances of more gains like what we have done in the last four or five years is zero. Oh, well we will have a big gain next quarter, because of a deferred tax reduction from the Trump tax code change, so we will look like a genius for one more quarter, I suppose.” The cost-basis of the positions acquired at the time was $63.4M and it has quadrupled since.

Below is a look at the holdings:

Wells Fargo (WFC): WFC stake forms ~52% of the entire portfolio. The stock was at $45.40 EOY 2013 during their first 13F filing and is now at $52.44.

Bank of America (BAC): BAC is another large stake at ~43% of the portfolio. The stock was at $15.57 during their first 13F filing for EOY 2013 and is now at $30.07.

US Bancorp (USB): USB is a 4.41% of the portfolio position. The stock is at $50.78, around 25% higher compared to the EOY 2013 pricing of ~$40

POSCO (PKX): The minutely small 0.48% portfolio stake was sold down by ~85% in Q4 2014 at prices between $64 and $73. The stock is now at $83.12.

The spreadsheet below show Charlie Munger's Daily Journal US stock holdings as of Q1 2018. Please visit our previous updates to get an idea on how the portfolio has progressed:

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 .