Hedge Fund Links ~ 5/27/16

The 2016 rich list of the world's top earning hedge fund managers [ii alpha]

3 lessons from hedge funds' rise and (partial) fall [Morningstar]

John Burbank sees US recession, China devaluation within year [Bloomberg]

Some recent thoughts from David Tepper [Forbes]

Is stock shorting smart if you aren't Jim Chanos? [Barrons]

Tudor cuts fees on some funds [Bloomberg]

UBS prime brokerage crowded positions report [LadyFOHF]

Concerns grow over hedge fund bunching effect [eFinancialNews]

Hedge funds aren't what they used to be [Marketplace]

Calling the bottom for the hedge fund industry [CNBC]

We asked an expert why hedge funds still exist [Vice]

Insurance industry falling out of love with hedge funds [Bloomberg]

Hedge funds hold onto last year's favorites [ii alpha]

Goldman Sachs explains why hedge funds aren't magic anymore [Yahoo Fin]

Rise of the billionaire robots [The Guardian]

Money managers seek AIs 'deep learning' [FT]

Hedge funds may lose 25% of assets, Blackstone says [Bloomberg]

One hedge fund goes against industry titans on big China banks [Bloomberg]

What We're Reading ~ 5/25/16

How to make better investment decisions [Morgan Housel]

Why active management fell off a cliff - perhaps permanently [Reformed Broker]

Falsification: how to destroy your best ideas [Farnam Street]

Importance of ROIC: reinvestment vs legacy moats [Base Hit Investing]

Position sizing in value investing [Journeys of a Bumbling Trader]

8 big ideas from super investor Philip Fisher [Safal Niveshak]

JD.com (JD): a multi-decade compounder [Value Venture]

The race to 5G: inside the fight for the future of mobile [Tech Republic]

An inside look at Google Fiber [Recode]

The story of Facebook's biggest setback in India [The Guardian]

The most important investors of all time [The Irrelevant Investor]

On hero worship in investing [Clear Eyes Investing] 

The battle between startups & incumbents: distribution vs innovation [Andreessen Horowitz]

Why we still don't see a China hard landing [Mark Mobius]

The business of too much TV [Vulture]

Baby lull promises growing pains for economy [WSJ]

Luxury brands go on a diet [Bloomberg]

Berkshire Hathaway Acquires More Phillips 66

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding its stake in Phillips 66 (PSX).  Per the filing, Berkshire was out buying PSX shares on May 19th, 20th, and 23rd.

They purchased 824,630 shares in total at weighted average prices ranging from $76.70 to $78.63.  After these buys, they now own over 76.37 million Phillips 66 shares.

We've previously highlighted how Buffett has been buying PSX across multiple quarters now.

Per Google Finance, Phillips 66 is "an energy manufacturing and logistics company with midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing and specialties businesses. The Company operates its business through four segments: midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing and specialties. It gathers, processes, transports and markets natural gas, and transports, fractionates and markets natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. The Chemical segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. The Chemicals segment consists of its 50% equity investment in Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem). The refining segment buys, sells and refines crude oil and other feedstocks into petroleum products (such as gasolines, distillates and aviation fuels) at 14 refineries, mainly in the United States and Europe. The Marketing and Specialties segment purchases for resale and markets refined petroleum products (such as gasolines, distillates and aviation fuels), mainly in the United States and Europe."

JANA Partners Reduces Walgreens Boots Alliance Position

Barry Rosenstein's hedge fund firm JANA Partners has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).  Per the filing, JANA sold 6 million shares on May 16th at $77.29.

After this transaction, JANA still owns over 4.57 million shares of WBA.  This was previously their second largest position.  They originally acquired shares in the third quarter of 2013.

Per Google Finance, Walgreens Boots Alliance "is a global pharmacy-led health and wellbeing enterprise. It operates through three segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, which consists of the Walgreens business, including the operation of retail drugstores and convenient care clinics, in addition to providing specialty pharmacy services; Retail Pharmacy International, which consists of the Alliance Boots pharmacy-led health and beauty stores, optical practices and related contract manufacturing operations, and Pharmaceutical Wholesale, which consists of the Alliance Boots pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution businesses. Its portfolio of retail and business brands includes Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare, as well as global health and beauty product brands, including No7, Botanics, and Soap & Glory. Walgreens Boots Alliance, through its subsidiary, Liz Earle Beauty Co. Ltd, offers the Liz Earle skincare brand."

Trian Fund Buys More Bank of New York Mellon

Nelson Peltz's activist firm Trian Fund Management has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding its stake in Bank of New York Mellon (BK).  Per the filing, Trian acquired 20,700 shares of BK on May 16th at a weighted average price of $39.6531. 

After this transaction, they now own over 31.84 million shares of BK.  As we've previously highlighted, Trian was buying BK around these levels last year as well.

Per Google Finance, Bank of New York Mellon is "a provider of financial products and services in domestic and international markets. Through its two principal businesses, Investment Management and Investment Services, it serves institutions, corporations and high net worth individuals. For institutions and corporations, it provides investment management, trust and custody, foreign exchange, fund administration, global collateral services, securities lending, depositary receipts, corporate trust, global payment/cash management, banking services and clearing services. For individuals, it provides mutual funds, separate accounts, wealth management and private banking services. BNY Mellon’s investment management businesses provide investment products in different asset classes and investment styles."  Read more: http://www.marketfolly.com/search?q=bk&max-results=20&by-date=true#ixzz49amsK8Mj

Capitalize For Kids Investors Conference 2016

On October 26th and 27th, Capitalize for Kids will present their 3rd annual Investors Conference at Arcadian Court in Toronto, in partnership with the Sohn Conference Foundation.  More than 20 world-renowned money managers will be presenting their highest conviction ideas in front of 400 of the most prominent family offices, pension plans, and institutional investors in North America.

All proceeds are allocated to help solve the toughest challenges in children's brain and mental health.  Limited tickets and exclusive packages available.  You can find out more and register at: https://capitalizeforkids.org/

Confirmed Speakers

Ed Garden, Trian Fund Management

Jeffrey Smith, Starboard Value

Bruce Richards, Marathon Asset Management

Cliff Asness, AQR Capital

Brad Dunkley, Waratah Advisors

Tom Russo, Gardner Russo & Gardner

Tom Wagner, Knighthead Capital Management

Michael Gentile, Formula Growth

Ted Goldthorpe, Apollo Investment Corp

Nat Zilkha, KKR & Co

Jonathan Lewinsohn, Centerbridge Partners

Aaron Cowen, Suvretta Capital Management

Honourable Michael Wilson, Former Minister of Finance for Canada


Embedded below is the flyer for the event:



You can click here to register for the conference.

Hound Partners Files 13G on Infoblox

Jonathan Auerbach's hedge fund firm Hound Partners has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Infoblox (BLOX).  Per the filing, Hound now owns 6.2% of the company with over 3.6 million shares.

This is an increase over the 1.93 million shares Hound owned at the end of the first quarter, when they first showed a new long position in the name.  The latest filing was made due to activity on May 10th.

Per Google Finance, Infoblox "provides enterprise and service provider-class solutions to automate management of the critical network infrastructure services. The Company provides network control, network automation and domain name system (DNS) security though appliance-based solutions. The Company's solutions combine real-time Internet protocol address management (IPAM), automation of network control, change and configuration management processes and DNS-based infrastructure security in purpose-built physical and virtual appliances. The Company's functions include delivering critical network protocol services, such as dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), network change and configuration management, and network infrastructure security. The Company offers four product families: Core Network Services, Infrastructure Security, Cloud Network Automation, and Network Change and Configuration Management.."

Steadfast Capital Files 13G on Windstream

Robert Pitts Jr.'s hedge fund firm Steadfast Capital has filed a 13G on Windstream (WIN).  Per the filing, Steadfast nows  5.1% of WIN with over 4.92 million shares.

The filing was made due to activity on May 9th and this is a newly disclosed long.

For more from this hedge fund, head to see what other stock Steadfast recently disclosed a stake in.

Per Yahoo Finance, Windstream "provides network communications and technology solutions for consumers, businesses, enterprise organizations, and carrier partners in the United States."

New Q1 2016 Hedge Fund Wisdom Issue Released Today

The new Q1 2016 issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter is now available.  Subscribers, please login at www.hedgefundwisdom.com to download it!

Included in the brand new 82-page issue:

- Equity analysis of 2 stocks hedge funds have been buying: Find out why

- New consensus buy/sell lists: See the most popular stocks among hedge funds

- Latest portfolios of 25 top managers: See what Tepper, Mandel, Loeb & more are doing

- European market short positions disclosed when applicable

- Commentary on each fund's moves: We've been tracking them for 7 years


To Read the New Issue Immediately, Subscribe Below

1-year Subscription (4 issues): $299.99 per year

Quarterly Subscription: $89.99 per quarter

Want to pay by check or soft dollar account?  Email us: info (at) hedgefundwisdom (dot) com

Charlie Munger's Recommended Reading List

If you haven't noticed before, we've compiled a list of books recommended by top investors like Seth Klarman, Warren Buffett and many others on the right sidebar of the website.  This time around we'll look at picks from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's business partner at Berkshire Hathaway.

One quote from Munger always sticks out: "In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time - none, zero."  With that in mind, here's some of Charlie Munger's favorite books:


Charlie Munger's Recommended Reading List

  Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Probably the most frequent recommendation from Munger

   The Warren Buffett Portfolio: Mastering the Power of the Focus Investment Strategy by Robert Hagstrom
Has actually been recommended by both Munger & Warren Buffett

   Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In 
by Roger Fisher & William Ury
Learn how to negotiate and resolve conflict

   Judgment in Managerial Decision Making by Max Bazerman
Learn how to recognize and overcome your biases

   Getting It Done: How to Lead When You're Not In Charge by Roger Fisher
You need an edge in order to reach solutions and effectively work with others

  Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity by John Gribbin
A look at the study of complex systems

  Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company by Andrew Grove
Reveals his strategy at Intel

  Andrew Carnegie by Joseph Frazier Wall
Biography of an industrialist genius, philanthropist, and enigma

  Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow
Story of history's first billionaire

  In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
by Steven Levy
Recommended at the 2011 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

  Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco 
by Bryan Burrough & John Helyar
"One of the finest, most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980's" ~ New York Times Book Review

  Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire
by James Wallace & Jim Erickson
The title says it all

  Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald
The mind-boggling story of Enron

  Master of the Game  by Connie Bruck
Biography of a media mogul

  Models of My Life by Herbert Simon
Autobiography of a Nobel laureate looking at whether what he learned as a scientist helps explain other aspects of life

  Fiasco: The Inside Story of a Wall Street Trader by Frank Partnoy
A fascinating (and kind of crazy) look at the derivatives trading industry

  The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David Landes
Why some nations achieve success and others don't


This isn't a comprehensive list (after all, Munger reads a ton).  But we've tried to focus on the most relevant business/finance books as a good starting point.


Books About Charlie Munger

And if you want to read up on Munger himself, there are a few great books in that regard as well.  Be sure to check out:

Poor Charlie's Almanack Edited by Peter Kaufman

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin

Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin

Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
by Janet Lowe



And if you still want even more reading material, head to Seth Klarman's favorite books and Warren Buffett's recommended reading list.  Or, simply check out the right sidebar on the website for picks from other top investors.

Mauboussin's Talk at Google: The Success Equation: Untangling Skill & Luck

This week, we're posting up the various "Talks at Google" that focus on investing.  These typically feature authors of well known investment books.  Next up is Michael Mauboussin who talked about his book The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports and Investing.

Mauboussin is well known for his work on the more psychological/behavioral aspects of investing.  We've previously featured his talk about developing an investment process.

His talk touches on the concepts of the roles luck and skill play in success and failure and how you can provide a framework to analyze their contributions.

Embedded below is the video of Mauboussin's talk at Google:



Be sure to check out Mauboussin's book The Success Equation as well as his past work, Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition.

Jason Zweig's Talk at Google: The Intelligent Investor & The Devil's Financial Dictionary

This week, we're posting up the various "Talks at Google" that focus on investing.  These typically feature authors of well known investment books.  Next up is Jason Zweig who talked about The Intelligent Investor and his latest book, The Devil's Financial Dictionary.

The latter basically sums up his learnings across three decades as an investment journalist.  Yale professor Robert Shiller said of the book: "This is the most amusing presentation of the principles of finance that I have ever seen."

Embedded below is the video of Jason Zweig's Talk at Google:



If you haven't read his newest book yet, check it out: The Devil's Financial Dictionary.  And don't forget the instant classic as well: The Intelligent Investor.

SALT Conference Notes 2016: Griffin, Cooperman, Burbank, Chanos & More

The Skybridge Alternatives Conference, better known as the SALT Conference, is taking place in Las Vegas this week.  It's a multi-day affair with many speakers on a broad range of subjects.  We've condensed notes into primarily finance/investing thoughts from various hedge fund managers and investors below.


2016 SALT Conference Notes


Ken Griffin (Citadel):  Talked about how he built Citadel and the importance of culture at an organization.  'Avoid marrying a strategy' and instead focus on building a platform with the best people.  Business really taught him how to delegate and manage people.  On finding good talent: you've gotta be able to sell them on why they should leave and come to you.  You have to go out and find that talent instead of waiting for them to come to you.  The ones that 'knock on your door' aren't the best.  One interesting quote:  "Who is the number five manufacturer of personal computers?  Who cares?  We're in a more and more winner take all world."


Leon Cooperman (Omega Advisors):  He talked about a trend of investors moving from active to passive strategies and says that hedge fund performance can't really justify the fees these days, so fees need to come down.  He said that long-term (i.e. 'permanent') capital is doing good because they don't have to worry about lockups (citing Warren Buffett).  The other winner has been quant strategies.  Pitched the stock First Data (FDC) which recently IPO'd.  Says he's got around ~20% of his fund in structured credit at the moment.  Reiterated his belief that conditions for a recession are not present (a concept he's talked about for a while now).  Thinks the bubble is in fixed income.  Government bonds are a bad idea.  Likes Tetragon Financial, yields 7%, dividend coverage of 4x.  Buying a stock trading at half of book.


Kyle Bass (Hayman Capital):  Implied that investors need to lower their return expectations over the next few decades (5% global real return expectation).  Also agreed that fees for funds need to come down.  Says it's much harder to maintain investors than it is conviction.  Thinks we're in the early part of '07 in terms of credit/equity markets.  Says a hard landing in China is happening as we speak. Argues that China credit system is one of the biggest macro imbalances, something has to give sooner rather than later.  Hong Kong real estate is collapsing.


Roslyn Zhang (China Investment Corp):  Sovereign Wealth Fund.  Disappointed with hedge fund performance.  Compared Chinese retail investors to hedge fund herding.  Criticized those betting against the Chinese Yuan.  Argued that China's economy is still strong and that all of the building is due to the massive population; supply can be absorbed.


Sam Zell (Equity Group Investments):  Cost of regulation has gone up around 5x over the last decade.  Have been big investors in Brazil, Far East, Mexico. 


Ty Wallach (Paulson & Co):  Thinks specialty pharma stocks are oversold.  Specifically pointed out Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) bonds.  Bought at 80cents on the dollar and says the co still has $10bn in equity value.  Could sell one of the many companies they've acquired if they need to cover debt payments.


Jeff Smith (Starboard Value): Activist investor.  Says settled with Yahoo (YHOO), put four new members on the board.  Notes the parts of the company are worth more than where its trading.  Core biz with $4bn in revenue, huge stake in Alibaba, Yahoo Japan, add it all up and it's more than the current market cap.  Said 'we're friendly but no one describes us as passive.'


Scott Ferguson (Sachem Head Capital):  Sold out of Zoetis (ZTS).  We noted how Pershing Square was also selling ZTS recently.  Ferguson was the one that brought the idea to Ackman to begin with (he used to work at Pershing).  Talked about how to change leadership and achieve things on behalf of investors: "Money's a great way to effectuate things" i.e. severance for getting rid of a CEO.  Says things are easier for activists these days and companies are more likely to engage. 


Clifton Robbins (Blue Harbour Group):  Activist investor.  Owns 10% of Investors Bancorp (ISBC), says it's trading at a discount to peers.  Also talked about Xilinx (XLNX), a net-cash semiconductor play; says they have some ideas as to how to utilize the balance sheet.


Michael Lewis (Author of Flash Boys and The Big Short):  Said he was surprised that both Moneyball and The Big Short were made into movies.  Said Christian Bale was dead-on with his interpretation of Michael Burry after just spending some hours with him.


Richard Chilton (Chilton Investments): Sherwin Williams (SHW): makes premium paint and coatings.  Says the company's purchase of Valspar was years in the making and they can repay the price with free cashflow in about 5 years.  Thinks there's a lot of synergies and margin overlap.  SHW does higher margins in paint/consumer and VAL does better margins in industrial coatings.  "You can't buy paint online."


John Lykouretzos (Hoplite Capital):  Takes a bit of an issue with the 'oligopoly' theme of airlines, saying it's still a competitive industry with margin pressure.  Bearish on the industry.  Main threats: excess capacity, union labor wage hikes, and of course higher oil prices.  Says that low cost carriers (LCC's) have basically destroyed the chance for legacy airlines to become a true oligopoly.  Thinks American Airlines (AAL) is the most compelling short play there.  Has some of the highest costs & exposure to rising oil.  High leverage.  Weakest FCF generation of the group.  Thinks that Southwest Airlines (LUV) can still add capacity even at higher oil prices (~$80 or so) and still generate high IRR.


John Burbank (Passport Capital):  Says China won't let outside companies 'win' especially Facebook.  "It's a hard place to win if you're not Chinese."  (While he didn't mention it, just look at Amazon's failed venture there as well).  Burbank owns Tencent (700.HK) with short Chinese Renminbi as partial hedge.  Thinks it isn't as much of a crowded trade as Facebook (FB) is.  His slide also said "Short FXI: Hedge out 'Old China' country-specific risk with China large cap ETF."


Jim Chanos (Kynikos Associates): Still short Cheniere Energy (LNG), calling it a 'pipe dream' and very expensive to peers.  Trades at 11-12x EV/EBITDA using "base case" 2021 EBITDA of $2.1bn.  Peers trading between 5-7x 2020 EBITDA.  Also commented on Alibaba (BABA) saying their accounting is dubious and that you don't really know what they're earning, calls it some of the most questionable he's ever seen. Chanos also recently talked about some of his short positions at the Sohn Conference.


For other recent hedge fund manager thoughts, head to our notes from Sohn Conference New York 2016.

Howard Marks' Talk at Google: The Most Important Thing

This week, we're posting up the various "Talks at Google" that focus on investing.  These typically feature authors of well known investment books.  Next up is Oaktree Capital's Howard Marks.  He is the author of The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor.

Marks often shares wisdom in periodic memos that we always post on the site (you can scroll through his past letters here).  His thoughts are widely read (even by the likes of Warren Buffett) as they constantly feature enlightenment on various investing topics.

He is known for his belief of investing as part psychology and part finance.    In this talk he shares his wisdom as well as origins and inspirations for the book.

Embedded below is the video of Howard Marks' Talk at Google:



You can read Howard Marks' book The Most Important Thing here.

Kerrisdale Capital's Short Thesis on Dish Network: Calling Charlie's Bluff

Sahm Adrangi's hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital recently raised $100 million to short 1 stock.  That stock has been revealed as Dish Network (DISH).  They outlined their thesis in a presentation called "Calling Charlie's Bluff."

The title refers to DISH CEO Charlie Ergen, a noted poker player.  While most would think of Dish Network as simply that, a satellite television provider, Ergen has essentially bet the company on wireless spectrum by acquiring a ton of it with the view that there are multiple options to monetizing it.

Kerrisdale's argument is that the most likely buyers/partners for that spectrum (the major wireless carriers) don't really need as much of it these days and as such its value has decreased.  Combine this with DISH's core TV product that is in decline, and Kerrisdale thinks that DISH shares can trade between 58-80% lower.

Embedded below is Kerrisdale Capital's 31-page thesis on their short of Dish Network:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Passport Capital Updates Hortonworks Stake

John Burbank's hedge fund firm Passport Capital has filed an amended 13G with the SEC regarding its stake in Hortonworks (HDP).  Per the filing, Passport now owns 12.7% of the company with over 7.18 million shares.

This is up from the 1.7 million HDP shares at the end of 2015.  The latest filing was due to activity on February 29th.

Per Google Finance, Hortonworks is "a provider and distributor of an enterprise-grade Hadoop solution called the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP). The Company's platform integrates with data center technologies to enable data architectures and enables its customers to collect, store, process and analyze existing and new data types in a way that augments rather than replaces their existing data center infrastructure. It provides support subscription offerings and related professional services around the HDP, which is its open source software distribution of Apache Hadoop and associated projects. Its products include Hortonworks Data Platform and Hortonworks Sandbox. Its range of professional services are training and consulting. It caters to vertical markets, including online services, education, financial services, Government, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, industrials/manufacturing, media/entertainment, retail/ecommerce, technology and telecommunications.."

London Value Investor Conference Agenda - Limited Ticket Availability

With just over two weeks to go until the fifth London Value Investor Conference on 26th May the final programme including presentation titles have now been announced.

On the morning of the 26th, delegates will gather in the networking area for breakfast from 7.30am, with the conference opening remarks beginning at 8.30am.  Shortly afterwards Gary Channon of Phoenix Asset Management will give the first presentation - titled "Running Winners".

There will also be more than 10 investment ideas presented in detail at the conference this year, with some interesting topics presented and discussed, plus extensive audience Q&A sessions with both Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital and Jean-Marie Eveillard of First Eagle.

There are still a limited number of tickets available for the conference but you need to book now if you want to attend - until Tuesday 17th May (or until tickets sell out).  MarketFolly readers can get a discount of £120 (inc VAT) by using the code MARKETFOLLY-MAY when booking.

Here is the full agenda for 26th May:

William Thorndike's Talk at Google: The Outsiders

This week, we're posting up the various "Talks at Google" that focus on investing.  These typically feature authors of well known investment books.  Next up is William Thorndike who talks about his popular book, The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success.

This book was recommended by Warren Buffett in his 2012 annual letter. The Outsiders basically looks at 8 CEO's that have excelled at capital allocation and shareholder value creation.

The book almost has a cult-like following in that investors have latched onto the fact that management is a critical part of any investment.  As such, investors are always trying to find the next 'Outsider.'  This book has also been referenced in numerous hedge fund letters over the years.

In his talk, Thorndike talked about certain CEOs who might potentially fit the mold in today's markets.

- Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com ~ AMZN): Though he admits to not studying the company too terribly in-depth, he believes Bezos is probably the best CEO example in tech given his 5-10 year focus on per share value.

- Nick Howley (TransDigm Group ~ TDG): Specialized aircraft components roll-up.

- Rales Brothers (Colfax ~ CFX): This is a re-up of the playbook they ran at Danaher, but with more cyclical businesses to start.

- Mark Leonard (Constellation Software ~ CSU.TO): Software

- Mike Pearson (Valeant Pharmaceuticals): He said it was still 'early days' in assessing this one, but obviously this one has kind of blown up.  It should be noted that Thorndike's talk was published on October 2015.

- ArchRe

- Mini Berkshire insurance companies: WhiteMountain, Allegheny, Fairfax, Markel

- NVR: Homebuilder


Embedded below is the video of William Thorndike's Talk at Google:



If you haven't already, be sure to pickup a copy of The Outsiders.

Pershing Square Offering Zoetis Block of Shares For Sale

Yesterday it was rumored that Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital was shopping an over 16.8 million block of shares of Zoetis (ZTS) and the NYTimes basically confirmed it. 

Bank of America and Credit Suisse are running the transaction which would net Pershing around $800 million.  After the sale, Pershing will still own around 25 million shares of ZTS.

Pershing's board member also stepped down at Zoetis recently.

Ackman has suffered a big blow with his investment in Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) which has left him reshuffling the rest of his portfolio a bit.  Part of his thesis on ZTS was that perhaps VRX might be interested in buying it.

This is the second stake that the hedge fund manager has trimmed recently.  He sold some Mondelez (MDLZ) back in March.

For more on this firm, we also posted up Pershing's latest presentation on their holdings.

ValueAct Capital Trims MSCI Stake Again

Jeff Ubben's investment firm ValueAct Capital has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding their stake in MSCI (MSCI).  Per the filing, they sold 91,800 shares at a price of $74.93 on May 5th.  After the sale, they still own over 3.67 million shares.

We posted about how ValueAct sold some MSCI back in March as well, as they previously owned over 6 million shares.

For more from this firm, check out Jeff Ubben's recent interview.

Per Google Finance, MSCI "together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a provider of investment decision support tools, including indexes, portfolio risk and performance analytics and multi-asset class market risk analytics products and services. The Company’s products include global equity indexes and environmental, social and governance (ESG) products marketed under the MSCI and MSCI ESG Research brands, its private real estate benchmarks marketed under the IPD brand, its portfolio risk and performance analytics covering global equity markets marketed under the Barra brand, its multi-asset class, market and credit risk analytics marketed under the RiskMetrics and Barra brands and its performance reporting products and services offered to the investment consultant community marketed under the InvestorForce brand."