Notes From Invest For Kids Chicago Conference 2017: Balyasny, Zell, Litowitz & More

The 9th annual Invest For Kids Chicago conference recently concluded and featured top investors sharing investment picks to benefit charitable organizations.

Last year's conference picks returned 22.9% in an equal-weighted portfolio over the past year.  Here are this year's picks: click each link to go to that speaker's presentation.


Invest For Kids Chicago Notes 2017

- Dmitry Balyasny (Balyasny Asset Management): long Hertz (HTZ)

- Sam Zell (Equity Group Investments): On retail real estate 

- Alec Litowitz (Magnetar): Presentation

- Amos Meron, (Empyrean Capital): long Seritage (SRG)

- Rajiv Jain (GQG Partners): long Sberbank (SBER.RU)

- Rick Reider (Blackrock): long emerging markets debt

- Jimmy Levin (Oz Management): Long Chinese banks

- Mathew Klody (MCN Capital): short Domino's (DPZ)

- Seth Singerman (Singerman Real Estate): long Washington Prime Group (WPG)

- Bart Stephens, Blockchain Capital: bullish bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain

Mathew Klody Short Domino's: Invest For Kids Chicago Presentation

We're posting up notes from the Invest For Kids Chicago Conference 2017.  Next up is Mathew Klody of MCN Capital who pitched a short of Domino's (DPZ).


Mathew Klody's Invest For Kids Chicago Presentation: Short Domino's

“Disruptors can be disrupted”.  Finding more shorts than longs right now.  The market seems to be a function of momentum, not valuation.   Look at the golden child > fallen angel phenomenon: Under Armour, Michael Kors, etc.

Patience is key – wait for the inflection point.  There is a shift coming for food. Domino’s (DPZ) is seen as a “disruptor” with strong comps/growth.   DPZ now has a demanding valuation and high leverage: >30x earnings, >20x EV/EBITDA, and 5.6x leverage.

Saturation? Management keeps moving the goalposts.  Declining international comps might be a sign.  Overexpansion? Pizza Hut finally turning the corner? Both would be a threat to DPZ.  Management uses high levels of debt to fund equity buybacks at ever higher prices.



For more from this event, check out the rest of the presentations from Invest For Kids Chicago 2017.