Two recent articles by Francois Rochon

[VersaillesinNY]

Nice French-Canadian investors who have found their yardstick in the Graham-Buffett-Fischer-Lynch approach.
Francois Rochon was an “early” investor in Fairfax from 1996-1999 and again in 2002.
He is a friendly guy and a great networker who has met Prem Watsa, Francis Chou and more recently legendary investor Peter Lynch.

From its track record, we can appreciate talented skills in analyzing and picking the right companies in order to build a concentrated portfolio. AUM seems to be $80 M about three years ago, definitely higher now. The fund’s management fee is undisclosed.

Like many of us, Giverny seems to get ideas from Berkshire. Here are some companies (past & present) in both “partnerships” portfolios:

=> Wells Fargo, M&T Bank, Union Pacific, BNSF, Wal-Mart, P&G, BYD and American Express.

The second important idea generator for Giverny is Sequoia Fund. Here are some companies (past & present) in both equities portfolios:

=> Valeant, Precision Castparts, O’Reilly Automotive, Fastenal, Mohawk, Omnicom, Google and Wal-Mart.

I’m not taking away Rochon’s credit for cloning the right companies at the right time and outperforming the indexes over the long term. Rochon and his team are also innovators who have generated their own investment ideas:

=> Berkshire, Fairfax, Bank of the Ozarks, Disney, Buffalo Wild Wings, Resmed and many more.

As a fund trying to grow AUM, Giverny doesn’t publicly disclose:

- its current top 5-10 positions
- its returns net of fees
- its cash level

Therefore, it’s difficult to evaluate the percentage of Giverny’s portfolio originated from in house ideas versus cloning strategy.

In this business you have the innovators, the imitators, and the swarming incompetents.
Bill Ruane

[Liberty]

I would just mention that one could do a lot worse than following the lead of the Sequoia Fund - I have enjoyed their analysis of many companies over the years - though I see Valeant a little differently than they do now.

Care to elaborate on your views of Valeant?

[Liberty]

I would just mention that one could do a lot worse than following the lead of the Sequoia Fund - I have enjoyed their analysis of many companies over the years - though I see Valeant a little differently than they do now.

Care to elaborate on your views of Valeant?

Not really.  If you don't have anything nice to say....as the saying goes.

Actually, it is not that I don't have anything nice to say, I absolutely admire what they have built and what the value that Mike Pearson has created.  But I have other thoughts too that aren't positive, so I'll just leave them alone.

But negative thoughts is exactly what I was looking for.. 

[AzCactus]

I'm sure there's already a thread for Valeant.  At this point its probably pretty long.  Let's not get derailed.  lol

[Liberty]

I'm starting to do some research on Giverny and Rochon. Always looking for good places to invest my capital if I ever decide to stop managing it myself (in part or all), or maybe for my wife's. Seems interesting so far.

Anyone knows what's the minimum investment in their fund?

Sounds like you can only invest through a National Bank account. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

[Liberty]

I'm sure there's already a thread for Valeant.  At this point its probably pretty long.  Let's not get derailed.  lol

There is and Liberty, you are a smart and thoughtful investor and I guarantee you have thought more about Valeant than I have and thus it is more squarely in your circle of competence than mine.

No worries if you don't want to discuss it. I'm always looking for more info in case I come across a line of thinking or a piece of info that I hadn't considered before, which might make me change my mind.

Just promise that if you have something groundbreaking, you'll private-message me or post it in the Valeant thread

[Liberty]

I've known some people from his firm for several years too.

They have their niche. They invest mostly in great companies managed by great people for a fair to good price and sometimes keep the shares for a very long period of time. I know that everybody is unique when there no "next something" or "next someone", but even if they are not the same, their investment style reminds me the one they have at Sequoia Fund.

I would feel good to put some part of my family's money in their fund. There is not a lot of investment firms in wich I have that level of trust and confidence!

Cheers!

Partner, has your thinking on the firm changed in the years since you posted the above? Same question for Sanjeev or anyone else who wants to share their current opinion on Giverny. Thanks.

[Partner24]

Liberty,

I've known them since 12 years now. My very good opinion about them have not changed over the years because they keep their discipline, determination, their investing style in good and bad years, their candor and desire to keep getting better by learning from past mistakes. Those are great qualities for investors and these can easily be put to test especially in the money management business. They are in an industry filled with "sharks", big egos and volatile clientele that sometimes reach for the savor of the day. So it would be easy to lose the focus and they do not.

Their long term investing results have not been achieved because of chance. To me, they are the testimony of who they are.

Cheers!

[Liberty]

Thank you Partner24, I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

[peter buffet]

Minimum for investment with Giverny is 250 000 CAD.