Bill Nygren Comments on Ally Financial

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Jan 08, 2016

Ally (ALLY, Financial) was founded nearly a century ago as General Motors Acceptance Corporation. Its purpose then was to provide financing to GM dealers and retail customers. Today, Ally’s business is largely the same except that it is no longer owned by GM and now serves dealers and customers of many other automobile manufacturers, such as Ford, Chrysler and Toyota. Since Ally’s initial public offering in spring 2014, its shares have fallen over 20% while the S&P 500 has returned over 15%. Over this period, some investors have grown concerned that the business is at a cyclical peak, as U.S. auto sales are near record levels and credit losses are below long-term averages; as a result, some believe Ally’s earnings have nowhere to go but down. We believe cyclical pressures will be offset by continued internal improvements, such as funding cost reductions (as “legacy” liabilities are replaced with lower cost borrowings) and improving their capital structure. With Ally’s stock trading at just 80% of tangible book value, we believe Ally is a compelling addition to the Oakmark Fund.

From Oakmark Fund's fourth quarter 2015 commentary.