What are the super investors buying?
We have our heroes in our lives. For some, they could be our parents, siblings or someone in the public domain. As an investor, I have read several materials from & about some of the top investors. For ease of reference, let us call them "super investors". Heroes come in different shapes, sizes and strategies. As (an "aspiring") value investor, it would not be surprising that I started by reading up materials on Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Peter Lynch, Li Lu, Mohnish Pabrai, Nick Sleep, Guy Spier and the likes.
With heroes, it is not surprising that we will study them, watch their interviews and read their books. For some of us, we would even consider "cloning" their portfolios. Mohnish Pabrai admits that he is a "shameless" cloner. For me, let us not forget to do our own due diligence before we invest. We should not invest with the conviction of another. Without understanding the stock, do we know when we are to sell, hold or buy even more?
Peter Lynch said it best:
"what would we do when the price of the stock we bought dropped by 50%? What would we do when it dropped by another 20%?"
If we would buy the stock at $26 per share, would we not buy the share when it reaches $8 per share? Our research and understanding of the business will empower us to make such decisions. This would allow us to better manage our emotions, be it hysteria or panic.
31 March 2022 spells the end of Q1 of 2022. This also means that investing companies will need to update their 13F filing for Q1/2022.
Investopedia explains 13F with the following:
The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Form 13F is a quarterly report that is required to be filed by all institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management. It discloses their equity holdings and can provide insights into what the smart money is doing in the market.
13F is an update of the purchases and sales from the various investment managers from the last quarter. It is not the most updated but it does help me with the following pertaining to the previous quarters:
- Know what the investors are buying
- Know what the investors are selling
- Establish an estimated buying or selling price by the quarter (3 months)
- Know the "capital allocation" used
- Know any portfolio diversification or concentration
Here are some of the portfolio stats from Q4/2021 for super investors:
Some of the super investors and their portfolio size
Top 10 most owned stocks, most owned stocks by % and size of the stocks in various portfolios. This also shows the number of super investors who own these stocks (out of 78 super investors)
Top 10 buys from last 2 quarters and by %
Some stocks that are near 52 weeks low - does this imply good buying opportunities?
Conclusion
Personally, these buys or sales serve as "investing ideas" and I will view the list as a "filter". I need to do my own analysis of these stocks. However, if I am unfamiliar with industries like banking, I would not have sufficient knowledge and understanding to make "sound" investing decisions. Thus, I may stay away from some of these stocks as I do not have a strong understanding to qualify them. Blindly copying would not allow me to make future decisions when these stocks become volatile.
When Charlie Munger first bought $BABA shares, I managed to work out that he probably purchased this within a price range (around $226) during that quarter. This would be that Charlie Munger deemed his purchased price of $BABA to be at "fair value" (with a margin of safety applied). After qualifying the stock with my own research, I continue to buy the stock over the last few quarters. I did not stop reviewing their quarterly and annual earnings. This is important as we are biased ever since we became investors in the stocks we bought. This is part of my own due diligence to ensure that $BABA continue to have sound financial fundamentals. As $BABA continues to grow, innovate and build its moat over time, this gives me the confidence to continue my purchases since the price dropped from $226.
Time will prove me a fool or brave. For now, I will continue to channel part of my savings into $BABA. This is how I use the 13F filing of my favourite super investors to filter, research and invest.
List of 78 Super Investors and their Top 10 portfolios
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
please note these investors play with other people's money. they can move markets.
while we play with our own money. not even a drop in the ocean
Wondering if the list of participants in “Super investors” can be made even better or is this list pre-decided
Interesting finding
Great read