Tracking Thomas Gayner's Markel Portfolio – Q3 2018 Update

·         Gayner’s portfolio increased from $5.45B to $5.93B during the quarter.

·         Markel disposed W. P. Carey during the quarter.

·         Berkshire Hathaway at ~11% of the portfolio is by far the largest position.

Thomas Gayner’s Markel Investment Portfolio value increased ~9% from $5.45B to $5.93B 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), Walt Disney (DIS), and Marriott International (MAR).

Markel Corporation (MKL) is currently trading at around 1.6-times Book Value (BV) at $1080 per share - BV is around $670.

Positions being built actively include Analog Devices (ADI), Watsco Inc. (WSO), and Blackstone Group (BX).

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights the changes to the portfolio as of Q3 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.