My guest this week is Chris Bloomstran, the president and chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group. He became famous in investing circles a few years back for his incredibly detailed investigations of Berkshire Hathaway. While we do cover Berkshire towards the end of the conversation, we spend most of our time talking about what makes for a quality business. I loved some of his angles on the current landscape, including our discussion of companies like Richemont and Disney which are actively taking distribution back in house. Please enjoy our conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:18 - (First Question) – Largest investing error
4:52 – Defining quality investor and their investment strategy
11:48 – Incremental return on capital and other themes that they focus on with investments
15:33 – Importance of unique business models
22:58 – Ownership of the customer relationship
28:06 – Bringing distribution back in house
29:55 – Doing something unique with owned distribution
32:40 – His thoughts on growth and value
32:42 – Chuck Akre podcast episode
37:12 – History of his interest in Berkshire Hathaway and he characterizes the business
53:29 – How is Berkshire protected into the future
59:17 – Most important trends in adjustments
1:08:00 – Which sectors or industries would he focus on
1:10:02 – Most intriguing business he’s unlikely to own
1:11:44 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag