Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio)’s Markel Gayner Asset Management Corp. sold shares of the following stocks during the first quarter of 2020.

UnitedHealth Group

The guru closed the UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) position. The portfolio was impacted by -2.44%.

The American health insurance provider has a market cap of $269.55 billion and an enterprise value of $296.71 billion

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The return on equity of 24.8% and return on assets of 7.95% are outperforming 57% of companies in the healthcare

When it comes to stock picking, we always favor defense over offense, even in the most rapidly-growing regions across the globe. GDP across the Southeast Asia region is expected to increase at mid-single-digit CAGRs for the foreseeable future. Underlying drivers include an expanding middle-class, increasing trading intra-region and externally (e.g., with China), a booming Internet economy and urbanization.

In this article, we share three picks of quality businesses that have built a competitively advantageous position in their respective domains, and that may benefit from the economic development in the region.

Singapore Exchange

Singapore-based Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX:S68) is Asia’s leading

Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) Co. LLC recently disclosed its portfolio updates for the fourth quarter of 2019.

The firm was established in 1920 by Forest Birchard Tweedy as a dealer in closely held and inactively traded securities. Over its 100-year history, it has evolved into an investing company that seeks long-term capital growth in companies around the globe. Its Benjamin Graham-style value investing approach focuses on undervalued securities that have strong growth potential, above-average dividend yields and an established dividend history.

Based on the above

California-based WD-40 (WDFC) manufactures household and multi-use products, including its namesake brand, which contributes to over 85% of its total sales.

The iconic WD-40 Multi-Use (nearly 80% of fiscal 2019 revenue) had been the company’s sole product for more than four decades. WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try” and has become a truly household name in the U.S. For the latest twenty-some years, the business evolved and expanded its offerings through both research and development activities and the acquisition of several brands worldwide, based on the core concept of “creating positive lasting memories.”

With approximately 500

The fast-moving consumer goods (referred to as “FMCG”) business is one of our favorite investable domains, as it produces small-ticket, everyday-use and nondurable items, the sales of which are repeatable, predictable and even non-cyclical in most cases.

You may find that this particular group has the most well-recognized, long-lasting brands as well as the most consistently high returns. However, that does not mean less competition (either within the group or from external forces), or a more promising growth prospect for all FMCG players equally. This is the primary reason why we remain highly selective in terms of picking long-term winners

Unilever plc (UL)
As Unilever is struggling to find growth opportunities in their developed markets in Europe and North America, their focus has shifted to emerging markets in Southeast Asia and South America. While underlying sales declined slightly in their developed markets, 5.1% growth in their emerging markets helped to boost the company to 2.9% underlying sales growth overall. Unilever CEO, Alan Jope, has worked to enhance their E-commerce capabilities since taking over at the start of 2019. Jope has also encouraged their divisions to work on increasing their local footprint with the 70-20-10 strategy. This attempts

New Jersey-based Church & Dwight (CHD) is a leading U.S. consumer product business founded way back in 1846. The company mainly engages in the manufacturing and marketing of cleaning, hygiene and personal care products, such as baking soda, detergents, shampoos, pregnancy tests, toothbrushes and condoms. It sells its products domestically (82% of fiscal 2018 sales) and internationally (18%).

The main reason that we had Church & Dwight join our "Wonderful Business" universe is its predictability. The company has both an enduring competitive advantage and a consistent secular growth engine.

At Urbem, we appreciate easy-to-understand business models that sell

The MS Global Franchise Fund (Trades, Portfolio), which is part of Morgan Stanley (MS), released its third-quarter portfolio last week, disclosing it established one new position and exited another.

Managed by a nine-person team, the New York-based fund invests in high-quality companies around the world in order to achieve long-term capital appreciation. It looks for companies that have resilient business franchises and growth potential.

Based on these criteria, the fund opened a position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) and closed out of its Clorox Co. (CLX) holding during the quarter.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

The portfolio managers

"Our portfolio strategy includes growing existing brands and discovering new high-potential acquisitions that align with our values and offer a long-term outlook for success. To maintain our leadership position, we nurture and preserve each brand’s distinctive identity and purpose. At the same time, we leverage our global distribution, creative resources and operational expertise across all our brands." - Fabrizio Freda, President & CEO of Estee Lauder

New York-based The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of quality skincare (44% of fiscal 2019 sales), makeup (39% of 2019 sales), fragrance (12%

According to the GuruFocus All-In-One Screener as of Monday, the following stocks were trading near their 52-week highs while having low price-earnings ratios. The screener identified stocks that deliver a higher value in earnings thanks to the low price paid to buy. These companies also have a good dividend yield.

Citigroup Inc. (C) is trading with a price-earnings ratio of 9.59, which is higher than 69% of companies in the Banks industry. The stock gained 13% over the past 12 months and is now trading 0.69% below its 52-week high.

The financial services

According to the GuruFocus All-in-One Screener, the following stocks have outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 Index over the past 12 months.

Novartis AG (NVS) has a market cap of $201.233 billion. It has outperformed the S&P 500 by 17.52% over the past year.

Shares were trading with a price-earnings ratio of 17.81. According to the discounted cash flow calculator, the stock is overpriced by 173% at $86.35. As of Monday, the price was 22.52% above the 52-week low and 7.27% below the 52-week high.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company has a profitability and

According to current portfolio statistics, the MS Global Franchise Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s six high-conviction trades with the largest equity portfolio weight as of March 31 are in Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RB), Microsoft Inc. (MSFT), Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), SAP SE (XTER:SAP) and Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR).

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through a distinct, disciplined investment process that selects stocks with financial metrics associated with strong franchise businesses. Such metrics include high returns on invested capital, strong revenues, high gross margins and low capital intensity.

As of