James Chanos is the President and Founder of Kynikos Associates, a value oriented hedge fund that focuses on short selling. The Silfen Leadership Series recently hosted Mr. Chanos at Columbia Business School. Chanos discussed his variant views on China which have recently garnered a great deal of media attention.
Click here to view the lecture titled The China Syndrome.
I am extraordinarily fortunate to be able to count Guy Spier of Aquamarine Fund as one of my personal mentors. In 2006 Guy, along with Mohnish Pabrai of Pabrai Funds, won the annual charitable auction for lunch with Warren Buffett. This year’s lunch took place yesterday in Manhattan.
Obviously one can learn much by studying Guy as an investor. One can learn even more by observing how Guy absorbs various mental models and incorporates them into not only his investment style, but also into every aspect of his being. I believe that Guy exemplifies the term intellectual curiosity. In a recent interview with Betty Liu of Bloomberg, Guy discusses some of the lessons he took away from his lunch with Warren Buffett.
Warren Buffett also mentioned Guy and Mohnish in his interview with Betty Liu.
Click here to read an article Guy penned for Time Magazine after his lunch with Mr. Buffett.
I recently discovered a great PBS Site for an NBR series called “Your Mind and Your Money.” I highly recommend taking some time to read and watch the interviews they have posted. One interview in particular features Columbia Business School Professor and Legg Mason Chief Strategist Michael Mauboussin.
(You can view the transcript here.)
While it has been a while since I have posted a new entry, I continue to add interesting articles, websites, blogs, and other useful resources.
Each year, approximately 20 Columbia MBA students are accepted into a semester long seminar called: Advanced Investment Research – The Analyst’s Edge. The Class was developed and is taught by John Griffin and David Greenspan (MBA ‘00) of Blue Ridge Capital. I can honestly say that spending a semester in this class, which was visited by David Einhorn, Bill Ackman, and Ian McKinnon, among others, created an experience that would be quite difficult to match.
Our final stock pitch was delivered in the boardroom of Tiger Management to legendary hedge fund manager, Julian Robertson. This was just another of the many once-in-a-lifetime experiences provided by Columbia Business School and The Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing.
Below is a 1998 interview of Julian Robertson by Charlie Rose:
(Hat Tip to MarketFolly.com)
Columbia Business School Alumnus and Applied Value Investing Professor Paul Sonkin, who runs Hummingbird Value Fund, is a well-known micro-cap investor. He is not only a co-author (with Bruce Greenwald) of Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond, but is also featured on pp. 276 – 291. Thanks to GuruFocus.com, I just came across an interview of Professor Sonkin with Robert Lenzer of Forbes.com from August 2009.
From the Tweedy Browne website:
December 14, 2009
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Christopher H. Browne. Chris died on Sunday, December 13th from a heart attack.
Chris joined Tweedy, Browne after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969, and became a partner of the Firm in 1974. Chris was the second generation of Brownes to work at Tweedy, Browne, following in the footsteps of his father, Howard Browne. Earlier this year, Chris formally took a step back from his daily involvement and became a senior advisor to the firm. His tenure at Tweedy spans some 40 years during which time Tweedy, Browne evolved from being a rather small investment advisor to a global investment manager for individuals, institutions and family groups from all over the world.
Chris made an immeasurable contribution to our Firm during his 40-year tenure at Tweedy, Browne. We will miss his wit, his charm and loving, warm personality. He will be deeply missed.
William H. Browne
Thomas H. Shrager
John D. Spears
Robert Q. Wyckoff, Jr.
Chris Browne was a legend in the world of value investing. Much has been written about him in recent days. I had the privilege hearing Mr. Browne speak in Professor Greenwald’s class not only once, but twice. As printed on the Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing website:
Browne was a long time advisor to the Heilbrunn Center and was always supportive of the idea of an academic center for the value investing approach. He was a founding member of the Heilbrunn Center Board of Advisors in 2002, and served for 7 years as a trusted advisor to the program.
The only addition I have to what has already been written is that the following article is an absolute must read for anyone with an interest in value investing.
Our hearts and prayers go out to both Chris Browne’s family and Tweedy Browne.
See: Value Investing and Behavioral Finance by Chris Browne
See: “A Career Spent Finding Value” by Jason Zweig, WSJ, Deceber 16, 2009]
UPDATE: To see videos of Chris Browne guest lecture in Professor Greenwald’s Value Investing Class click here and scroll to the third speaker.
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