Concentrated Investing - by Allen C Benello & Michael Van Biema & Tobias E Carlisle (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors chronicles the virtually unknown--but wildly successful--value investors who have regularly and spectacularly blown away the results of even the world's top fund managers. Sharing the insights of these top value investors, expert authors Allen Benello, Michael van Biema, and Tobias Carlisle unveil the strategies that make concentrated value investing incredibly profitable, while at the same time showing how to mitigate risk over time. Highlighting the history and approaches of four top value investors, the authors tell the fascinating story of the investors who dare to tread where few others have, and the wildly-successful track records that have resulted.

Turning the notion of diversification on its head, concentrated value investors pick a small group of undervalued stocks and hold onto them through even the lean years. The approach has been championed by Warren Buffett, the best known value investor of our time, but a small group of lesser-known investors has also used this approach to achieve outstanding returns.

• Discover the success of Lou Simpson, a former GEICO investment manager and eventual successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway
• Read about Kristian Siem, described as "Norway's Warren Buffett," and the success he has had at Siem Industries

Concentrated Investing will quickly have you re-thinking the conventional wisdom related to diversification and learning from the top concentrated value investors the world has never heard of.

From the Back Cover

If you've studied value investing, some of the names in this book may be familiar, but the majority probably won't be. Nonetheless, they are a who's who in concentrated value investing, each with their own unique story, skillset, and philosophies that have gained them tremendous wealth and accomplishment while flying below the radar--until now. Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors takes you inside the ledgers and playbooks of this select group of history's elite value investors to uncover their secrets for the new generation of wealth builders.

Turning the practice of diversification on its head, concentrated value investors purchase a small group of undervalued stocks and hold them through the highs and lows of the long term. You will read a lot about the juggernaut of value investing, Warren Buffett, who amassed the legendary Berkshire Hathaway with this approach. But this motivating book shows you he wasn't the first or only one. This eye-opening examination will have you re-thinking conventional wisdom on asset allocation and emulating such concentrated value investors as:

• A former GEICO investment manager whom Buffett has named "a cinch to be inducted into the investment hall of fame"
• Kristian Siem, who grew Siem Industries at 25.6% annually over the past twenty-five years by following two key principles
• Edward Thorp and the formula he trusted to risk $662.5 million on to collect just $2.5 million in a rare opportunity

Trends, momentum, volatility, and volume all change day to day and create opportunities to pick up the undervalued stocks that grow into fortunes, as you'll see in Concentrated Investing.

Review Quotes

"...this is an original approach to both value investing and diversification, and brings a new perspective to some familiar topics." (Money Week, May 2016)

About the Author

ALLEN C. BENELLO, CFA, is the chairman of White River Investment Partners, LLC, a private investment firm in San Francisco.

MICHAEL VAN BIEMA is the founder and managing principal of van Biema Value Partners, LLC, and coauthor of Value Investing.

TOBIAS E. CARLISLE is a partner at Carbon Beach Asset Management, LLC, and author of the books Deep Value and Quantitative Value and the Greenbackd.com blog.