Ruane Cunniff (Sequoia Fund) Investor Day Transcript 2016: Rolls Royce, Valeant & More

Ruane Cunniff Goldfarb, managers of the Sequoia Fund, recently released the transcript from its investor day.  In it, they talk about many of their investments.

Their top ten holdings as of the end of the second quarter were:  Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/B), TJX Companies (TJX), MasterCard (MA), Alphabet (GOOG/L), O'Reilly Auto (ORLY), Mohawk Industries (MHK), Fastenal (FAST), Rolls Royce (RR.L), Constellation Software (CSU.T), and Dentsply Sirona (XRAY).

They outline their thinking on Rolls Royce and also address the Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) saga, which they no longer own.

Embedded below is the transcript of Ruane Cunniff's 2016 Investor Day:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

What We're Reading ~ 10/14/15

The psychology of risk and reward [Farnam Street]

The (non) velocity of money [Reformed Broker]

The CFA vs MBA decision [A Wealth of Common Sense]

Latest market commentary from Byron Wien [Blackstone]

The king of online gambling [Forbes]

Thoughts on Fastenal (FAST) [Base Hit Investing]

A look at Air Products & Chemicals (APD) [Bear of Burrard Street]

Stock picks from Marty Whitman's successor [Barrons]

Why interest rates could stay lower for longer than previously thought [Market Anthropology]

The social network illusion that tricks your mind [Technology Review]

Venture capital and the internet's impact [Stratechery]

Move over Louis Vuitton, here's LFX [Bloomberg]

Secrets to building a mighty network [Backchannel]

Sequoia Fund Investor Day Transcript 2015 (Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb)

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb recently released their Sequoia Fund investor day transcript for 2015.  While the event took place back in May, it's still interesting to get their insight on their investments given their long term focus.

Sequoia Fund's investment management team discussed their thesis and outlook on numerous portfolio companies, including Valeant, Google, Mohawk, Idexx, Fastenal, Rolls Royce, TJX, O'Reilly, and many more.

At the end of the second quarter, Sequoia Fund's top holdings were:

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX): 28.7% of portfolio
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/B): 10.6%
TJX Companies (TJX): 5%
O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY): 4.3%
Fastenal (FAST): 4.2%
MasterCard (MA): 3.2%
Precision Castparts (PCP): 2.7%
Mohawk Industries (MHK): 2.5%
Idexx Laboratories (IDXX): 2.3%
Google (GOOGL): 2% 

This really is an interesting read in its entirety given their candidness about assessing their positions.

Embedded below is Sequoia Fund's investor day transcript for 2015:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Sequoia Fund's 2014 Year-End Letter

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb is out with its 2014 year-end letter for its Sequoia Fund.  They returned 7.56% for the year and run a pretty concentrated portfolio of large bets.  At the end of the year, their largest holdings were: Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Berkshire Hathaway, TJX, Fastenal, O'Reilly Automotive, Mastercard, and Idexx Labs.

Their letter also outlines their latest thinking on the above companies, as well as some of their new positions like Richemont, Cabela's, and Constellation Software.

Embedded below is Sequoia Fund's 2014 annual report:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Sequoia Fund Investor Day Transcript 2014

Today we wanted to highlight the transcript from Sequoia Fund's investor day earlier this year.  This is old (6 months ago) but is still worth reading due to the in-depth color they provide on their investments and the fact that they're long-term shareholders so most of the positions still remain in their portfolio.

Positions they talk about include Valeant Pharmaceutical (VRX), Allergan (AGN), Google (GOOGL/GOOG),  Mastercard (MA), TJ Maxx (TJX), Omnicom (OMC), IBM (IBM), Ritchie Brothers (RBA), Fastenal (FAST), Costco (COST), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/B), O'Reilly Auto (ORLY), Rolls Royce (LON:RR), Precision Castparts (PCP), and more.

Embedded below is the Sequoia Fund's Investor Day Transcript: 



You can download a .pdf copy here.

And given their long-term focus, we'd also point you to Sequoia Fund's 2013 investor day transcript as well as Sequoia Fund's 2012 annual letter if you haven't read those either.

Ruane Cunniff Goldfarb: Sequoia Fund Annual Letter 2012

Catching up on a few more notable 2012 annual letters, we turn next to the Sequoia Fund run by Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb.  An investment of $10,000 at inception in 1970 has grown to over $2.89 million as of the end of 2012.  They returned 15.68% in 2012.


Key Takeaways

- They currently don't see many compelling investment opportunities.  Began 2012 with 21% cash position, ended the year with 16%

- "In the fourth quarter of 2012, we were modest net sellers of equities for the first time since 2008, in response to specific situations at several of our portfolio holdings."  They exited Target (TGT) and Becton Dickinson (BDX).

- "Valuations for stocks are heavily influenced by interest rates, and particularly by the risk-free rate of return on 10-year and 30-year United States Treasury bonds. Relative to the current return on Treasury Bonds, stocks continue to be quite attractive.However, the current risk-free rate of return is not a product of market forces.  Rather, it is an instrument of Federal Reserve policy."


Top Holdings At 2012 Year-End

1. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX): 11.6% of assets
2. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): 10.9%
3. TJX (TJX): 7.5%
4. Fastenal (FAST): 5.6%
5. Mohawk Industries (MHK): 4.0%
6. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX): 3.2%
7. Advance Auto Parts (AAP): 3.1%
8. Precision Castparts (PCP): 3.1%
9. Rolls-Royce (LON:RR): 3.0%


Embedded below is Ruane Cunniff's annual letter from the Sequoia Fund where they go into detail about some of their positions and overall market views:




For more on this fund, late last year we posted up why Ruane Cunniff likes Valeant Pharmaceuticals.