Ten years ago, I wasn't running a fund. I started a message board with 9 of my friends so that we could just talk about Berkshire Hathaway...I didn't know Francis...I didn't know Prem...and I barely knew Mohnish...and I certainly didn't know all the wonderful people that have come and gone on here.
And just to be curious, as I'm not aware of the answer, what was you full-time job back then Sanjeev, before the fund?
When I started the message board, I was a supervisor for Loblaws! I quit that year and started working as a mutual fund and insurance dealer because I wanted to get into the financial industry after meeting Buffett. I had no idea how, and I quit university after my father died when I was 21, so that was my stepping stone into the business. But over the next few years I was really frustrated with the incestuous relationship between the dealers and brokers in the industry. They do a complete disservice to the investor!
It wasn't until 2006 when I started the fund...the best thing I ever did. And it would never have happened if I didn't have lunch with Prem, who said just start the fund with whatever money you have saved and can raise...build a track record! But that lunch only occurred because we contacted Fairfax regarding the short attack in 2003, which we only noticed because a handful of us Fairfax shareholders had gathered on this board and were wondering what the hell was going on! Very funny how little things can make a big difference in someone's life and how interconnected they all are!
That first time I went to Fairfax's office was incredible! Francis and JoAnn just spent the whole day taking me around to everyone's office, and then I was allowed to sit with each person in their office and ask questions for about 20-30 minutes. You name them, I spent time with them that day...Fairfax executives, vice-presidents, Hamblin-Watsa principals and analysts. I also got to see their archive room, where they have an actual part-time librarian who catalogs and organizes all of the historical annual reports Prem has accumulated through the years...thousands and thousands! I saw the trading desk where Frances Burke constantly executes their trade orders directly from. In the middle of all that, I had a nearly two-hour lunch with Prem in the boardroom...Indian food! I barely ate anything because I was so busy asking him questions and listening to what he had to say.
Every year, I would go visit the office and spend some time there. I remember one year I was supposed to meet Francis for a while, so JoAnn arranged for us to meet him in the smaller boardroom at Fairfax, since he had already left his vice-president position and was now solely at the Chou Funds. We sat there and talked for about four hours making little cappucinos from the automated coffee machine Fairfax has in their kitchen!
Francis, my friend Dr. Ajay Desai, our director Andrew Cooke (whose father JoAnn originally worked for before joining Fairfax), Alnesh and myself...four hours plus just sitting there and talking about investing! JoAnn would come in and check up on us every half hour and see if we needed anything. She was fantastic! That's why I do the dinner in her memory now, and why we raise money for "The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada". You've got me reminiscing. Anyway, so that's a bit of that. Cheers!
