Liberty Media Formula One: Masterclass In Capital Allocation

The Dichotomy Of Markel's Strategy and Results

Boston Omaha: Evolving Capital Allocators

BAM! Brookfield Asset Management's Focus on First Principles

Bank Failures: Sails Set, Flags Flying, and All

Markel, BRK, and A Special Announcement (Issue #93): For those who are new or are not familiar with me, I am a rising Junior at Babson College. This summer I will be working at VELA Investment Management as an Investment Analyst Intern meaning I will need to take a hiatus from this newsletter until mid-August. While I am very excited about this opportunity I will greatly miss writing this newsletter. During this hiatus please feel free to reach out to me at soreninvesting@gmail.com or on

Owners Not Bankers: HIFS Annual Meeting (Issue #92): “Think of ourselves as owners first, not bankers” - Patrick Gaughen, COO & President The managers at Hingham Institution For Savings (NASDAQ: HIFS, “Hingham”) are the first to admit last year was sub-optimal to say the least for the company. That being said a not good year for Hingham isn’t as bad as it seems. For example, the typical high 10s or low 20s ROEs for Hingham are rare in the industry. In this particularly poor year the company prod

Schools, Churches, and Banks: Takeaways From The Banking Symposium #2 (Issue #91): I had the opportunity to attend and be a part of John Maxfield’s Banking Symposium in Dallas. The Banking Symposium is a gathering of many of the top bankers in the US. It may sound like a conference but don’t be deceived. It is hard to put into words the full value of the event and the form of how it took place, so here is my best attempt at some of the highlights and takeaways.

Digital Is Key To The Flywheel Of Banking (Issue #90): Digital Is Key To The Flywheel Of Banking A well-executed digital banking strategy can open up growth opportunities for banks and bypass the typical and capital-intensive means of expansion: new branches, large hiring waves, attracting and retaining loans

Brian Moynihan On Responsible Banking (Issue #89): Brian Moynihan Talk This week I had the opportunity to listen to a talk from Bank Of America CEO Brian Moynihan. From the Banking Symposium put on by John Maxfield and my experience studying Hingham Institution For Savings I have learned a lot about what makes quality banks and bankers.

How Deep Do You Swim? (Issue #88): Investing is like swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. What kind of investor are you? This is of course a metaphor for knowledge, research level, and complexity of markets that are being operated or invested in. Investing is often compared to biology, for example, ecosystems, jungles, and more. Today let’s compare it to the aquatic counterpart of these. Swimmers are dabblers they stay mainly on the surface and rarely venture to see much below them. They stay

Needham Bank IPO (Issue #87): Needham Bank (NASDAQ: NBBK — $555.52m) IPOed on Thursday ( December 28, 2023). There was a ~40% pop on the first day which means investors are clearly excited by the now public opportunity and it is not more expensive for the rest of us. In recent years the bank has grown revenue by ~28% annually and grew net income by 40% in 2022 on track for at least ~22% growth this year. This is very encouraging and I don’t know many other businesses doing the same much less a b

Ryan Reynolds Is The Ultimate Value Investor (Issue #86): First off I want to apologize on the delay in this post and the lack of a post last week. I generally pride myself on the consistency of producing something every week. The only excuse I can use for the most recent delay is that I have been quarantining with c*vid since Saturday. This means I have had the opportunity to absorb a lot of content. So in a bit of a change of pace just for this week, I am going to talk about how two TV shows a

SkyHarbour Following Boston Omaha's Path (Issue #85): If you are a Boston Omaha or SkyHarbour Group fan, you probably noticed SkyHarbour stock has been up ~49% over the last month and ~19% in the last week alone. Now this is not a speculators newsletter so let’s get into tangible ideas. For those not familiar SkyHarbour is a private aircraft storage leasing company. They went public through the Yellowstone Acquisition Company (SPAC) operated by Boston Omaha a conglomerate that operates in billbo

It's Time To Buy Banks (Issue #84): Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrated! Banking is a fascinating industry to analyze and follow, however, it is rarely a good time to actively buy bank stocks individually. This is why I only hold one direct bank stock in my portfolio (Hingham Institution For Savings).

Thrift Conversions Forum: Thrift Conversions is a very niche investment strategy so I wanted to create a place to have dialogue on the topic. I’ve personally invested and…

Nelnet is Evolving With Student Loans (Issue #83): Nelnet (NYSE: NNI — $3.20b) recently reported earnings so let’s dive in. Some of the largest revenue growth areas were the loan, investment, and bond interest. “While Nelnet’s earnings are affected by the anticipated runoff of our legacy student loan portfolio, we continue to be pleased with the growth opportunities in our core fee-based businesses”

The New Pro Home Depot (Issue #82): The Home Depot (NYSE: HD — $281.9b) is changing a core part of its business. Home Depot can categorize the major of its business into two columns, the consumer business and the pro business. Currently, the consumer business accounts for a larger portion of revenue, however, in the companies TAM and revenue projections they forsee pro becoming a larger part of their business.

Liberty Media Push For More Teams, Markel Buys Certa, Etc. (Issue #81): Andretti-Cadillac Work Their Way To Formula One Since the buyout by Liberty Media in 2016, Formula One has seen some massive changes. These changes include new race weekend structures (Sprint Races), additional grand prix, completely new rules, and more. The business has seen record-high attendance at races and through streaming & broadcasting. Now more teams are trying to get in on the action with Audi set to enter the spor

Boston Omaha's SkyHarbour To Chicago (Issue #80): Earlier this fall I wrote about some exciting developments at SkyHarbour Group (NYSE: SKYH — $287.59m) related to new ground leases and future developments in the works. For background SkyHarbour private aircraft storage REIT. They own and operate campuses around the country for main corporate jets, however, there are also This is a key part of the next level of growth for the company. The company just announced that one of the next development l

Boston Omaha's Link Media Gets More Funding (Issue #79): When I attended my first Boston Omaha annual meeting in November 2021 it was quite intimate which allowed for a deeper dive into what we as investors wanted to learn more about. The questions were on point, but I remember one that stuck out from the rest, it was something like, “I have a great appreciation for your strategy and operational ability, but it pisses me off when you do a private fundraising round at a below-market valuation…” I

Is John Elkann The Next Bernard Arnault? (Issue #78): When it comes to capital allocation there are a lot of important names that fly under the radar of the masses. Today I want to get into John Elkann’s conglomerate Exor. The company owns Ferrari, Juventus Football Club, and much more. I’m a big fan of Bernard Arnault and what he as created with LVMH Group and there seem to be many similarities here (although there are some different industries). John Elkann and Exor Group may follow in the res

Investing Is A Game Of Evolution (Issue #77): It is almost exactly the one-year anniversary of the introduction to Pillars in this newsletter. For that reason today I will be talking about evolution in investing. Investing is not a stationary topic. It is dynamic and built on experience. “It is a painting you get to paint yourself over a lifetime”

Research Decision Cycle (Issue #76): “After you buy a stock is when the real work starts” Ian Cassel Coffee Can Investing has been massively popularized by many of the greatest investors of our time. However, for most investors, it is a flawed method for analysis. Investments are made based on theses that are created through research before investing. These theses are essentially stories that need to be challenged, checked, and tested. After you buy a stock, research really matters not only beca

Valuation: Story Meets Numbers (Issue #75): “Valuation is a bridge between stories and numbers.” Aswath Damodaran Welcome To StoryBoard! Today is the official launch of a valuation tool that bridges the gap between stories and numbers. Connecting the two gives us as investors a chance to better understand the companies we are researching. All too often we focus on the numbers without adding meaning to them. Numbers for the sake of numbers are not useful in the analysis process, only numbers with