This month, we are excited that investment guru Tom Gayner has agreed to take questions from GuruFocus readers. Tom is president and chief investment officer of Markel Corporation (MKL, Financial). Markel Corp. is an international property and casualty insurance holding company with a $328 book value. Tom invests the company’s $2 billion float.
To ask Tom your own investing question, post it in the comments section below. We will send all of the questions to him and post his responses shortly.
Tom’s Philosophy and Return History
In his role, he oversees the investment of the $2 billion float of the insurance company. He achieved a 10-year cumulative return of 101.6 percent compared to the S&P’s return of 16.4 percent.
As a dedicated value investor, Tom views a stock as part of a business, whose worth he determines by the present value of future cash flows. He also goes by what he calls his four north stars: 1) record of profitability and good returns on total capital, 2) talent and integrity in management, 3) favorable reinvestment dynamics, 4) a fair or better purchase price.
He believes that investors rarely obtain perfection in the stock market, but that his buy/sell decisions or non-decisions often involve compromise and tradeoffs.
Guided by this philosophy, Tom was able to steer Markel through the severe financial crisis of 2008 and lead it to a much better position in a few short years. In spite of a 34 percent loss that year, Markel’s 2008 shareholder letter said, “While [disappointing, disastrous] could be used to sum of Markel’s 2008 results, we believe another word should also be added in the mix, ‘opportunity.’”
The next year, he made a return of 25.7 percent, just shy of the S&P500’s 26.5 percent return. In 2010, he made a 20.8 percent return, beating the S&P 500’s 15.1 percent return by 5.7 points.
Tom’s top holding is CarMax Inc. (KMX, Financial). He has held the stock for at least four years and owns 5,204,332 shares as of June 30, 2011. Over the past five years, it has advanced 27.26 percent.
His top 10 holdings are:
Tom invests over 34 percent of Markel’s portfolio in financials, 24.2 percent in consumer services, and divides the rest among various asset classes. In the second quarter, his portfolio contained 85 stocks, and he bought only three new ones:
You can learn more about Tom’s portfolio here or read the following GuruFocus articles on him:
Markel Corp. – Conservative Value
Markel’s Tom Gayner with Strong Warning on Bond Bubble
2010 Markel Corp Annual Meeting Notes
To ask Tom your own investing question, post it in the comments section below. We will send all of the questions to him and post his responses shortly.
To ask Tom your own investing question, post it in the comments section below. We will send all of the questions to him and post his responses shortly.
Tom’s Philosophy and Return History
In his role, he oversees the investment of the $2 billion float of the insurance company. He achieved a 10-year cumulative return of 101.6 percent compared to the S&P’s return of 16.4 percent.
As a dedicated value investor, Tom views a stock as part of a business, whose worth he determines by the present value of future cash flows. He also goes by what he calls his four north stars: 1) record of profitability and good returns on total capital, 2) talent and integrity in management, 3) favorable reinvestment dynamics, 4) a fair or better purchase price.
He believes that investors rarely obtain perfection in the stock market, but that his buy/sell decisions or non-decisions often involve compromise and tradeoffs.
Guided by this philosophy, Tom was able to steer Markel through the severe financial crisis of 2008 and lead it to a much better position in a few short years. In spite of a 34 percent loss that year, Markel’s 2008 shareholder letter said, “While [disappointing, disastrous] could be used to sum of Markel’s 2008 results, we believe another word should also be added in the mix, ‘opportunity.’”
The next year, he made a return of 25.7 percent, just shy of the S&P500’s 26.5 percent return. In 2010, he made a 20.8 percent return, beating the S&P 500’s 15.1 percent return by 5.7 points.
Tom’s top holding is CarMax Inc. (KMX, Financial). He has held the stock for at least four years and owns 5,204,332 shares as of June 30, 2011. Over the past five years, it has advanced 27.26 percent.
His top 10 holdings are:
- CarMax (KMX)
- Berkshire Hathaway B
- Fairfax Financial Ltd.
- Brookfield Asset Management
- Diageo PLC ADS
- Exxon Mobil Corp.
- Walt Disney
- WalMart Stores
- United Parcel Service Inc.
Tom invests over 34 percent of Markel’s portfolio in financials, 24.2 percent in consumer services, and divides the rest among various asset classes. In the second quarter, his portfolio contained 85 stocks, and he bought only three new ones:
- Oracle Corp. (ORCL, Financial)
- Lennar Corp Cl A (LEN, Financial)
- Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. (BRP, Financial)
You can learn more about Tom’s portfolio here or read the following GuruFocus articles on him:
Markel Corp. – Conservative Value
Markel’s Tom Gayner with Strong Warning on Bond Bubble
2010 Markel Corp Annual Meeting Notes
To ask Tom your own investing question, post it in the comments section below. We will send all of the questions to him and post his responses shortly.
