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EM Chat: What stocks are Buffett, Ackman and Soros buying?

HOSTS Alec Renehan & Bryce Leske|21 February, 2021

In this episode, Alec brings a ‘What The ?’ to the table for Bryce to puzzle over, and we break down 13Fs… What are they? Forms that the SEC requires to be filed quarterly by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management. Bryce and Alec look under the hood (or flip through the pages) of some of their favourite investors, to see if they can get some insights into what the smart money is doing.

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Bryce Leske: [00:01:26] Welcome to another episode of Equity Mates, a podcast that follows our journey of investing, whether you're an absolute beginner or approaching Warren Buffett status. Our aim is to help you break down your barriers from beginning to dividend. My name is Bryce and as always, I'm joined by my Equity Mates Ren. How are you going? [00:01:42][16.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:01:42] I'm very good, Bryce. I'm looking forward to this episode. Yeah, that's good. I'll let you get in. That is very good. No further update. Yes. [00:01:52][9.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:01:52] So last year we decided to go full time with Equity Mates so that we can bring you better content more often across more channels. It was a huge leap for us, but it's thanks to you, our amazing community, that we could afford to do this. A huge thank you to everyone who has already supported us through our support page Equity Mates dot com slash support. If you are keen to support, please head there and you can leave a little bit of a donation or a recurring payment. But we just wanted to give a shout out to the first five community members from Equity Mates who have supported us. So a massive thank you to Sally, Robert, Colace, Stewart, and Liam. You were the first five who graciously supported Equity Mates. So a big thank you. This year is going to be a big one for us and we're hoping we can keep creating the content that we are. [00:02:44][51.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:02:44] Yes, yeah, yeah. And I thank you guys and thank you to everyone else who has supported after. And yeah, we really appreciate it. And we can't wait to bring more Equity Mates content. [00:02:56][11.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:02:57] Absolutely. So that's Equity Mates Dotcom's support. We also will be hopefully getting some cool merch soon. [00:03:03][6.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:03:04] Let's not make promises. The fingers crossed, fingers crossed. This podcast has become a graveyard of promises. Well, I mean, some of them eventually play out eventually. [00:03:17][12.9]

Bryce Leske: [00:03:17] Yeah. Hey, we're here for the long term. So, yeah. Let me talk about long term. I didn't say when the march would come. Depends what our time horizon. [00:03:24][6.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:03:25] Yeah. And also we might be loose on the word cool. Neither of us were quickly realizing in twenty, twenty one how poor our design skills are. There's been a number of moments where we've been like we control, but that's why we're in finance, that's [00:03:43][18.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:03:43] why we're in finance. So when I kicked off a segment last week called What the and it's obviously worked because you've come this week with what I have. [00:03:53][9.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:03:54] I have. So let's play the intro here now. Everyone follow GameStop. Yes. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm pretty confident that you are aware of the short squeeze that happened. Well, the saga isn't over yet because someone is now suing the guy that started it all. And no, it's it's not one of the big hedge funds that lost billions of dollars and had to be bailed out. It's just some random dude who lost a whole bunch of money. He is now selling the YouTube handle is roaring Kittie. The Reddit username was deep f ing value. This guy who sort of figured out what to do and got everyone on Wall Street bets and across the world to follow him into it. This there's this random dude in Washington State who's now suing him because he lost at least a few hundred thousand dollars. So like a fair bit of money, but it's like you can't sue him on the back of that. [00:04:53][59.2]

Bryce Leske: [00:04:53] No, no. It's classic America. [00:04:55][1.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:04:55] Yeah. Yeah. [00:04:56][0.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:04:56] Well, that is a bit of a what, though, because I don't see how this will play out in favor of the guy who's lost a heap of money. But, you know, the stock market is a risky thing. He took a risk and he lost out. [00:05:08][11.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:05:08] And I don't mean to be cynical, but the roaring kittie made, what, like fifty million dollars if he sold. But is he made a fair bit of money. He's got a lawyer. Oh, he's got the money to live himself. [00:05:20][12.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:05:21] So. So speaking of the United States, today's episode is all about 13 FS. And who is buying? What if you're confused by what all that means? We will dig into it a little bit shortly in one moment. But I just want to make mention of a segment that we're doing and all of our expert interviews at the moment and also across our Sociales, and that is the fund manager of the year, if you and in capitals, because it's a lot of fun. [00:05:53][31.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:05:55] We, as we said, were not created. And this is a Price Leskie special. [00:06:00][4.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:06:01] We just want to be tracking all of the fund managers and expert investors that we speak to week on week and giving you guys the opportunity to actually participate in, I guess, voting for who you think was the best interview for throughout the year. So if you keep an eye on our Sociales each week, you'll be saying that we put up a poster of who the fund manager was. Bit about their bios, some of their favorite stocks or their watch list that we spoke about and some of the favorite quotes that ran and I got from the interview with the idea at the end that we can present one of them with the inaugural Equity Mates fund manager of the year. So please do keep that in mind when you're listening to the podcast as to who your favorite fund manager [00:06:45][44.4]

Alec Renehan: [00:06:46] was and with the idea that in a few years, a long term time. When I did hit [00:06:54][8.4]

Bryce Leske: [00:06:54] the market, [00:06:54][0.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:06:57] the idea is in a few years, you know, when the fund manager of the year is the biggest award in finance, you'll have a black tie gala dinner where all the Equity Mates can come and it'll be like the Oscars for finance. [00:07:08][11.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:07:09] So Big Ben will be hosting at his place and it's going to be amazing. So, yeah, it's going to be up to you guys, though, the community to make that happen. So please keep an eye on our socials and keep in mind who your favorite fund manager was and will vote throughout the year. And then we'll probably vote at [00:07:27][18.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:07:28] the end of the year, to be honest. Let's not make more work for us. [00:07:30][2.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:07:31] So before we kick into it, a very quick word from our sponsors and then we'll get stuck in. When you are all about getting fit, you've bought the garment, you bought the golf membership, you bought the gym membership, and you're on the mind MasterChef. And even in lock down last year, you bought those resistance bands of Instagram that from memory didn't even come. [00:07:52][20.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:07:53] No, look, they didn't come. But all of that effort really was canceled out by the numerous menu log orders that were a real staple of my lockdown experience. [00:08:03][9.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:08:04] Well, we've just entered into a new financial year, so I think it's time you get money fit with Virgin Money, our latest sponsor. [00:08:11][7.0]

Alec Renehan: [00:08:12] That's right, Bryce, with a high-interest savings, account bundled with a seriously rewarding everyday transaction account, you can manage your money easily on the go smash your savings goals, and be rewarded for it. [00:08:24][11.9]

Bryce Leske: [00:08:24] And with the Virgin Money Go transaction account, you can earn rewards on your everyday spending with zero monthly fees. Sounds like just what you need, right? [00:08:33][9.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:08:34] Yeah, the FBI. Twenty one get it didn't quite work, but if my twenty-two get reward money fit might be to go [00:08:42][8.4]

Bryce Leske: [00:08:43] back to your own bait virgin money terms and conditions and monthly criteria apply. Now let's get back to the show. So, again, as we said, the title of this episode is Who's Buying What, an introduction to 13 FS. Now, if you are purely investing here in Australia, then you've probably never heard of 13. [00:09:02][19.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:09:03] Well, I would say most people. Well, a lot of people investing in the states haven't heard of them either. But they are a little Lifemark. [00:09:09][6.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:09:10] They are a little life investing. So what are 13 deaths? [00:09:14][4.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:09:15] So any fund manager in the states or maybe anyone that's just investing in the states, but definitely all the big US fund managers, anyone with over 100 million dollars in assets under management, they have to file with SSA, the government regulator over there, Securities [00:09:35][19.8]

Bryce Leske: [00:09:36] and Exchange Exchange Commission. [00:09:37][1.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:09:38] Yes. That they have to file quarterly what they're holding, what they're investing in, and then that's made public. [00:09:45][7.2]

Bryce Leske: [00:09:46] And so the 13 F is the name of the report that they filed quarterly. [00:09:49][3.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:09:50] Exactly. Exactly. And so we as everyday punters can go [00:09:55][4.8]

Bryce Leske: [00:09:55] online, investors and punters try. [00:09:57][1.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:09:57] It is a good call. We as everyday investors can go online and see what some of the biggest investors in the world are holding. And, you know, it's a great way to see what you know. We obviously can read all the quotes and their books and stuff, but then you can say what they're holding. So you can see how what they're talking about Aline's, you know, in reality with their strategies. And you can find like I've found a number of companies that I never would have heard of. And it's just a really cool way to sort of get an insight into what's going on. [00:10:33][35.8]

Bryce Leske: [00:10:33] Yeah, a lot of people, particularly smaller fund managers as well, use them to sort of see where the smart money is going. You know, if Warren is continuing to buy Apple or if, you know, George Soros is still incredibly long, the British pound or whatever it may be, or short the pound or whatever it was, these are an excellent way to get an understanding of what these big funds are holding and where they're at in terms of building a portfolio. But I think the surprising thing, and we'll get to it a little bit later on, is that is that you know, you think there are these amazing with investors who have come across all these companies we've never heard of, but some of them are holding portfolios that look very similar to you. [00:11:18][44.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:11:18] And you and I are in it now. I know that you know, these are only fund managers that have over 100 million dollars. So because they've got so much money, they really have to invest in the biggest companies. But it just dispels this idea that the only way you can make money is by, you know, specky silver stocks, mining explorers and, you know, unheard of biotech companies that have grand plans to take over the world. Like, don't get me wrong, people make a lot of money in that space. But these major fund managers aren't digging up names that you haven't heard of most of the time. You know, the recurring companies are you know, the Microsoft, Apple's Amazons, but also just like Chappellet, Hilton hotels line companies that are everywhere, [00:12:10][51.9]

Bryce Leske: [00:12:10] Facebook, Amazon, Montecristo. [00:12:12][1.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:12:13] Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, Wal-Mart features Home Depot like companies that are Procter and Gamble, like big companies that everyone's aware of a lot of us use or have used in the past. And so for me, that's something that I'm like, you know, it's worth taking that away when you're looking at these. Yeah. [00:12:36][22.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:12:37] You don't have to be breaking yourself to find the next ten bagger. [00:12:40][3.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:12:41] Yeah, well, yeah. I think also the next ten bagger may be a company that you are more familiar with it. Yeah. Yeah. But before we get into that, so we've pulled out a bunch of the most famous investors in the world and some of the biggest things that they're holding. And we'll go through the two points before we do that. First of all, a word of caution about these thirteen ETFs. Yes. And then secondly, where we can actually find them. Yes. [00:13:05][24.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:13:06] So a word of caution. Firstly, the SSA recognized that the reliability and accuracy of these filings are somewhat dubious, given that no one actually analyzes and scrutinizes these reports at the SCC, which I find completely banned, you know, bamboozling. What was [00:13:25][19.0]

Alec Renehan: [00:13:26] Bernie Madoff? [00:13:26][0.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:13:26] Yeah, Bernie Madoff, who is perhaps one of the greatest fraudsters in financial history, was involved in markets for twenty years or something crazy. [00:13:34][8.0]

Alec Renehan: [00:13:35] For people unfamiliar, it was just a giant Ponzi scheme. He would bring in new investor money to pay out investors that wanted to cash out. He was seen as one of the best investors on Wall Street, but he was just a Ponzi scheme. [00:13:47][11.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:13:47] Massive Ponzi scheme filing thirteen. Right and center, according, you know, as he should, telling everyone what he's holding every quarter, every quarter, this is what's in my portfolio, total lie, and yet no one has picked it up. So it's one of those which I find absolutely astounding. [00:14:05][17.2]

Alec Renehan: [00:14:06] This is a bureau I know this is a long term structural problem I have. And I'm not I'm not going to get into it too far. But this is just to give you an idea of how undermanned the SSA and the Department of Justice in the US are because they've just been gutted for funding for decades, they have publicly said that sometimes they release press releases saying that they're going to be closely watching a certain area of the market or a certain type of conduct, knowing full well that they don't have the resources to do it. But just hoping that the press release scares people into not doing it. But that is publicly stated. [00:14:40][34.1]

Bryce Leske: [00:14:40] That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. [00:14:41][1.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:14:42] So if you want to read more things like that, that was a thought. Start his article about six months ago. So sign up to for starters. [00:14:48][6.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:14:49] So you've got to take everything that comes in these reports with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, a lot of the fund managers, I'm sure, and I'm not accusing any of them but would like to try and keep some of their portfolio or pay a bit secret. But anyway, [00:15:03][13.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:15:03] I think I think there's enough scrutiny that for some of the bigger ones, like I'm sure there's some people [00:15:09][6.1]

Bryce Leske: [00:15:10] that, yeah. Hiding away what they're doing. And secondly, if if you're thinking of using this as a way to make your own investments, you've got to remember that these reports are filed usually up to 45 days after the end of the quarter. So if they've made investment decisions, either buying or selling during the quarter and then they're reporting it and that report comes out 45 days later, then, you know, whatever has occurred during you know, that quarter plus the 45 days, their reason for buying or selling may have been fully baked into the price of the stock by the time it comes to you actually making a decision for yourself. So there's a big lag on these reports. And just because it says Buffett's buying another billion dollars of Apple, you know, the prices probably jumped on the news of doing that and the fact that he's put a billion dollars in and, you know, you want to just be aware of that. [00:16:01][51.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:16:01] Yeah, yeah. The what, a quarter's 90 days. Yeah. Plus another forty five hundred thirty five days. That's more than a third of it. Yeah. Yeah. So there can be a big time line, but also I mean never blindly follow anyone into a trader made at a barbecue, two idiots on a podcast or a billion dollar fund manager who's printing what they're holding. Like if you don't do your own research and you don't understand the companies you're buying, you probably shouldn't be buying companies. You should be sticking to ETFs and manage funds like that. So it goes without saying that you've always got to do your own research. This is just a great starting point to build a list of companies. [00:16:43][41.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:16:44] And what these reports also don't tell you is the reasoning why these companies are buying or selling. It's purely just this is what they held and this is what happened. Yeah. So you have no idea the reasoning for what these companies are doing, but where can we find them? [00:16:58][14.4]

Alec Renehan: [00:16:58] Yeah. So primary source, the S.E.C. has a database where you can read them all Edgar database. So. Yeah, yeah. So if you go to the SSA website or if you Google that you can come across it, but there's a bunch of websites that then take this data and try and make it more digestible. I don't think anyone's nailed it. So I think if someone was looking for a business idea in finance, I think there's definitely a better way to present some of this information. But there's a bunch out there, um, holdings, channels, a whale with, um, a bunch more that take all this 13th data and then publish it on their website for people to people to look at. You can just if you just Google thirteen F filings, um, there'll be heaps of websites that come up to tell you about it. So the information is there. But yeah. Any budding entrepreneurs out there, um hit us up because maybe we can collaborate on doing it better. True. [00:17:58][59.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:17:59] Yeah. Look, I mean I was digging through the Edgard database and knowing obviously the funding situation over at S.E.C. I'm telling you, it's not an easy website. It's not an easy website to navigate. [00:18:10][11.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:18:10] Maybe that's what our first political campaign hashtag fund, the [00:18:15][4.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:18:16] and what it doesn't tell you what the reports don't tell you is the change in position. They just file what they're holding. So to your point, [00:18:22][5.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:18:22] no, they are. OK, so they're the secondary website. [00:18:26][3.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:18:26] That's where you [00:18:27][0.4]

Alec Renehan: [00:18:27] need to go. That's yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:18:28][1.4]

Bryce Leske: [00:18:29] You need to go to the secondary ones to find it. So before we jump into, I guess, the more interesting part of this, [00:18:36][6.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:18:36] so different suspense for so long. But before we actually tell you what some of the biggest fund managers in the world are holding, you're going to have to sit through another. [00:18:44][7.8]

Bryce Leske: [00:18:47] OK, so who's buying what we've pulled out some of the biggest hedge fund managers in the world, some of the biggest investors, and some of the ones that we're interested in and pulled out their top holdings. Yeah, and we're going to, [00:18:59][11.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:19:00] you know, chat about some of them to put a time stamp on these. Most of these are from the final quarter of calendar year 2020. So the quarter ending the 31st of December. Twenty is one days were filed. So, you know, we're recording this on the 18th of February and they're already, what, six weeks out of date. But still, they're a great insight. Let's start with the big dog, Warren Buffett. [00:19:24][24.2]

Bryce Leske: [00:19:25] Yes. Can't go past [00:19:26][0.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:19:26] Waza. Yeah. Now, five biggest holdings, Apple number one. One hundred and seventeen billion dollars of Apple. Bank of America, number two, Coca-Cola number three, American Express. [00:19:41][14.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:19:42] Kraft owns still pretty old school, isn't it? [00:19:45][3.0]

Alec Renehan: [00:19:45] A very old school. [00:19:46][0.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:19:46] But except Apple, [00:19:46][0.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:19:47] all companies that you recognize. The thing that really stood out from all two things that stood out for me. First of all, he's holding an apple. One hundred and seventeen billion. His next biggest holding 30 billion. [00:19:57][9.8]

Bryce Leske: [00:19:57] Yeah. And I mean, for a guy who said that he wasn't interested or didn't understand technology, it wasn't in his circle of competence. [00:20:05][7.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:20:05] Let's not get into like his Apple now consumer product. And is it a brand, not a technology. [00:20:09][4.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:20:10] I wasn't going down that path, but I know he took some pretty big positions back in 2016. Yeah. And or seventeen. And yet, obviously paying big dividends, literally. [00:20:19][9.5]

Alec Renehan: [00:20:20] The second thing for me is that he sold 57 million shares of Apple trading. Nothing. Yeah. Taking a bit of profits off the table. Still, you still has the majority of his position held. But anyway, we've got a lot of fund managers to talk about, so let's not get bogged down. What was one that stood out for you? [00:20:40][20.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:20:41] I can't go past Bill Ackman. Yeah, so he's Pershing Square Holdings, [00:20:45][4.5]

Alec Renehan: [00:20:47] not least because we're trying to get him on the show, try [00:20:49][2.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:20:49] to get him on the show. If anyone has his number, please let us know. What I liked about Bill's is that it is very concentrated, very concentrated. You look at, for example, George Soros and he's got about forty holdings in there. Bill has seven holdings. He's got Loews, Chipotle, Mexican Restaurant Brands International, the Hilton, Agilent Technologies, Starbucks, and Howard Hughes. That's it. Seven stocks are incredibly concentrated. So he's obviously got a high conviction on these stocks. [00:21:24][35.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:21:25] And for people unfamiliar with restaurant brands, they own Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons. So like three fast food joints, [00:21:32][7.1]

Bryce Leske: [00:21:32] either he loves fast food because he's got Chipotle and restaurant brands or he's saying something that is exciting him in this space. [00:21:40][8.0]

Alec Renehan: [00:21:41] Yeah, I don't know what would have to ask him when we get him on the show, but yeah, like, again, just very standard brands logos. Everyone is familiar. Chipotle, like everyone in the states, will know Burger King from restaurant brands and another big brand Starbucks, you know, like Hilton Hotels, not companies that sort of outside our circle of competence, not not like, you know, crazy biotechs that he's got like thirty days in his office, you know, doing all this complicated stuff. It's like these are companies with pretty obvious moats or strong economic positions that aren't beyond the like aren't beyond us or every everyday retail investor to analyze. [00:22:25][44.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:22:26] The other thing that I found interesting about his portfolio for the quarter ending December twenty twenty was that any moves he made were either were all a sell move. So, you know, we're running very hot into December. So either he's keeping his portfolio, I guess, balanced, or he's just trimming profits. So no buying action for Bill leading up to December, just taking some profits from the companies that he does own. Mhm. So what else rent. [00:22:57][31.5]

Alec Renehan: [00:22:58] Uh, Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets. Um, the subject of the book blockage. Yes. And the guy who had to quit Twitter because he was troubled by GameStop supporters too much. Um, he runs a fine point seventy two. His biggest holdings, alphabet, Facebook, AMD, Advanced Micro Devices, Visa and Microsoft. [00:23:26][28.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:23:27] Again, nothing surprising. [00:23:29][1.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:23:30] Companies that, you know, we either hold or that we've spoken about on the show. I'm sure most of the Equity Mates community I've looked at or have heard about. Yeah, just obviously, you know, holding those five companies for the last few years would have had given an incredible growth. Yeah. But it's kind of restoring in a way, yeah, it's [00:23:50][20.9]

Bryce Leske: [00:23:51] like, hold on. Why aren't we billionaires? Speaking of billionaires, everyone should have or may have heard of Ray D'Alessio. He runs Bridgewater Associates, the biggest hedge fund. [00:24:02][11.3]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:02] Let's call it on the. Should have. [00:24:04][1.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:04] Should have. Yes. [00:24:05][0.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:05] Should have. No, no, no. Let's call it on that. [00:24:07][1.7]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:08] You mean you should have [00:24:08][0.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:09] heard of it? No, I'm saying don't tell people what they should have heard. [00:24:11][2.1]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:11] Yeah, that's what I said. Or could have. Yeah. Ray D'Alessio, he's written a number of books and he's obviously very well regarded in the investing community. [00:24:20][9.5]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:21] Founded the biggest hedge fund in the world. [00:24:22][1.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:23] Yeah. And has written principles which I would recommend reading. But look around. This is a very interesting portfolio. And if we were talking about reassuring, this is this [00:24:31][8.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:32] is very honestly, if I was an investor in his hedge fund, I would be [00:24:36][4.1]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:37] spewing. Yeah, well, you're paying fees. [00:24:39][1.8]

Alec Renehan: [00:24:40] Well, tell the people what's it stake. Don't hold them in suspense. [00:24:43][3.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:24:43] So his portfolio, his largest holding is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Then he has the Vanguard International Equity Index ETF. Then he has a gold index tracker, SPDR Gold, and then he finally gets into some single stocks, closing it out with Wal-Mart and Procter and Gamble. So you've got to retail in four Seija companies there, but really the top three holdings and what you would be paying fees on for him to manage is essentially three ETFs, which I think is pretty phenomenal, really. Hmm. You have one of the world's most regarded investors in his top three positions are ETFs. So when if he can do it, we can do it. [00:25:34][50.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:25:35] So I think I think the thing that we didn't mention above that is worth saying is if this is this is really only American stocks. Yeah. So, as we joke about the S&P 500 index is his biggest holding. He may have a bigger foreign holding. Yes. Yeah, yeah. [00:25:52][17.6]

Bryce Leske: [00:25:53] But still, regardless, Americans, one of the biggest stock markets in the world, he's got plenty to choose from and is choosing the ETF that follows the S&P 500. So he's obviously pretty bullish on and on what's going to be happening there. Any more from Yuren? [00:26:08][14.7]

Alec Renehan: [00:26:08] Yeah, I've got hey, how long have we got? [00:26:10][2.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:26:11] Not enough time for you to talk. [00:26:12][1.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:26:14] So one that I have looked at for a few years now, Seth Klarman, one author of one of my favorite investing books, Margin of Safety. He has a portfolio with stocks that are a little bit more surprising. But for me, for me, the thing is that they don't he doesn't change his positions much. So eBay is his biggest position and it's been his biggest position for a while. Then a few other companies that I'm less familiar with, Liberty Global Intel Corp., QR, though, and Fox Corp. um, but I was looking at and it just like I was getting flashbacks because some of those companies have just been the same in his portfolio for a while. So I think the other thing that I start to realize when I look at these 13 FS is the time horizon. You know, they report quarterly, but the time horizons that they hold those investments is generally a lot longer. And so you can you start to get a feel for the pace that these guys invest at [00:27:15][61.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:27:17] one for me and George Soros. And I like this one just because it's got Palantir in there, he would have died. Maybe he would have done incredibly well off that it's unchanged and also up about one hundred and something percent since launching its IPO. He's obviously very bullish on the housing market in America as well. That has been firing. He has a huge holding in D.R. Horton, which I to look up, and is one of the or is America's largest homebuilder. So, yeah, interesting from George there. But as I said, the biggest stand out for me from him was just the size of his portfolio, 40 or 50 holdings, pretty massive. [00:27:59][41.9]

Alec Renehan: [00:28:00] The thing is, you know, they may run multiple funds within the holding company. And so it's not like all of those stocks may be held under the same strategy. Um, you know, it might be multiple different things. Yeah. Yeah. Um, the last one for me, Joel Greenblatt, author of the little book that beats the market. I highly recommend if you haven't read it, runs the fund, Gotham Asset Management. I'm just going to read you his top five holdings. There is. Yeah. So top five holdings. Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Facebook. Yeah. [00:28:43][43.4]

Bryce Leske: [00:28:46] Nothing surprise. But also, yeah, again, to reiterate what we've been saying, it doesn't feel like there's a magic formula here in terms of [00:28:54][8.6]

Alec Renehan: [00:28:55] is that pun intended? He used the metaphor. Yeah, but I think the thing is, if you look at what strategies he runs, his biggest fund is like an index fund where he basically tries to replicate the S&P 500 index and then puts his little touches here and there. So that's why they're the biggest five. So just if you're going to look at these filings, just make sure you then look at the strategy that's behind the filings. Yeah. [00:29:27][32.0]

Bryce Leske: [00:29:28] So there you have it. That is that brings us to the end of our episode on who is buying, what, 13 ETFs. If you are interested in finding out more about 13 ETFs, we will put some of the links to the websites that we've used to get this information. And you can go and have a dig and have a look at what some of the biggest fund managers in the world are doing. As we said, don't use this as your own one and only means to take your investment ideas, do your own research. But I think the main message for me right now is that you know, you see these guys who you think are, you know, incredibly smart, which they are, and going out and finding all these hidden gems among all the stocks out there. But at the end of the day, they're buying just what you and I are buying. And unfortunately, we're not the billionaires like that. [00:30:20][52.1]

Alec Renehan: [00:30:20] And I don't know why they charge fees on billions of dollars of assets under management. [00:30:26][5.5]

Bryce Leske: [00:30:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I look, I think it's encouraging. At the end of the day, if we were to look at their portfolios and find all these companies that we've never heard of or that they've done, you know, massive amounts of investigation to find, then, you know, you might think, OK, well, this is not for me. But the fact that some of them are just holding your classic ETF is reassuring. [00:30:45][18.5]

Alec Renehan: [00:30:46] Yeah. Yeah, that is a strange one at S&P 500 ETF and International Equities ETF and a gold ETF. Yeah, it's like that's a core portfolio, like that's a separate portfolio. [00:30:57][11.3]

Bryce Leske: [00:30:59] So that brings us to the end. But just a reminder that Equity Mates doesn't stop here. You can email us at contact@equitymates.com. You can follow us on social channels or visit equitymates.com for more information. If you're stuck for podcast recommendations as well, please remember that we have to get started investing podcast for all those beginner Buffett's. And we have two that have just launched comedian versus economist and Meet pay love both very well worth listening to. So go and check them out. But Ren, always a pleasure and we'll chat next week. [00:30:59][0.0]

[1693.0]

More About

Meet your hosts

  • Alec Renehan

    Alec Renehan

    Alec developed an interest in investing after realising he was spending all that he was earning. Investing became his form of 'forced saving'. While his first investment, Slater and Gordon (SGH), was a resounding failure, he learnt a lot from that experience. He hopes to share those lessons amongst others through the podcast and help people realise that if he can make money investing, anyone can.
  • Bryce Leske

    Bryce Leske

    Bryce has had an interest in the stock market since his parents encouraged him to save 50c a fortnight from the age of 5. Once he had saved $500 he bought his first stock - BKI - a Listed Investment Company (LIC), and since then hasn't stopped. He hopes that Equity Mates can help make investing understandable and accessible. He loves the Essendon Football Club, and lives in Sydney.

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