Peter Cundill was a famous, deep value investor from Canada who passed away a few years ago.
One of the things that stuck with me from There’s Always Something to do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach by Christopher Risso-Gill was the idea of Cundill’s annual November sojourn.
Encouraged by the miserable onset of winter in Canada, and later in London after he’d relocated, around this time each year Cundill would initiate a simple two-step process:
- Find out which country had the worst performing stock market since the start of the year
- Book a plane ticket and spend a few weeks there, looking for cheap stocks
It’s easy to talk about embracing ‘blood on the streets’ – another altogether to actively seek it.
November is usually fully booked on my calendar – it’s the time of year that I visit Sydney to catch up with the team. But the process is a worthy one to emulate as best we can. Each November, I’m going to undertake step 1, then put aside any queasy initial reaction and take a quick look at every stock listed in the country, ‘starting with the As’ to quote Buffett.
The biggest loser for 2015? That would be Greece.
‘Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean Sea.’ Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek.
Forager Funds will be holding a presentation in both Sydney and Melbourne during November – to find out more and to register, please visit the links below:
I noticed you guys took a substantial position in MainstreamBPO (MAI). You must be pleased with the early share price performance.
Hi Tom. Not really, I’d prefer the business puts some results on the board and then the share price follows. We’re going to have to hold this for a least a few years (it is very illiquid) so short term moves don’t really help. We think it is an interesting place though, and that the float was surprisingly attractively priced, so we’re expecting a good long-term outcome.
Good hunting Gareth i look forward to hearing how your investigation goes. You should make an exception in Greece’s case & visit some of there resorts provided there listed on the sharemarket & get a feel for the business i am sure some of these would still do well if Greece were kicked out of the Euro cheaper for tourists.
Not to be confused with Peter Cundall, the celebrity gardener.
….and environmentalist. What a character.
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