Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
Today, we're running a replay of my 2019 conversation with legendary investor Chuck Akre. Chuck founded Akre Capital Management in 1989, which now manages approximately $14B dollars. We discuss his investing style and his “three-legged stool” for evaluating companies. Please enjoy this great conversation.
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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
[00:00:00] Welcome to Invest Like the Best
[00:01:06] First Question – Advantage of being in Middleburg, Virginia
[00:02:11] What a day looks like for Chuck
[00:03:06] Why imagination is more important than knowledge
[00:03:38] Difference between curiosity and imagination
[00:04:38] The origins of the Nirvana Three-Legged Stool concept
[00:10:14] First leg of the stool, extraordinary business and ROE’s with a focus on Bandag
[00:14:36] How his evaluations of value have changed over the last 10-15 years
[00:16:10] A look at recent businesses that he’s bought and why they are interesting
[00:19:56] Why they keep things simple
[00:21:35] Second leg of the stool, the people involved and characteristics of managers he has invested in
[00:23:20] Role of capital allocation in the people he focuses on
[00:29:34] Third leg of the stool, reinvestment
[00:21:09] How does he think about diversifying across an investment area
[00:33:32] Great businesses wrapped in a bad balance sheet
[00:37:35] What would cause him to sell
[00:38:52] What does he look for in people
[00:43:27] How curiosity has impacted his interest in land conservation
[00:43:51] Advice for investors, especially younger ones
[00:46:14] Kindest thing anyone has done for him
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