Farnam Street Investments’Q1 2019 Investor Letter

Farnam Street Investments is an investment management firm with 24 million in assets under management that was launched in 2010. Its founders were inspired by Warren Buffet’s investment style, which is based on the continuous questioning of the status quo, hence they wanted to start their own firm that would conduct the business similarly. The fund’s CEO is Jake Taylor, who has an MBA in Finance and Accounting from UC Davis. Recently, Farnam Street Investments published its Q1 2019 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. The letter discusses potential investment opportunities in Africa.

“I’m writing this letter after spending a few productive days in Toronto. The trip allowed me to learn more from Prem Watsa (aka “the Warren Buffett of Canada”), convene with other high-caliber investors, and check up on our various Fairfax investments.

Our quarterly letters tend to focus on the philosophical underpinnings of sound investment strategy. This letter will deviate and provide an in-depth rationale behind a recent investment: Fairfax Africa (Ticker: FFXXF).

“Wait, Africa? Jake, you live in California. Why are you investing in Africa of all places?!”

I teased this investment in last quarter’s letter. If you recall, Mr. Munger had given me the advice to fish where the fish are, and to look where others aren’t looking. I believe Africa qualifies on both fronts. The following will be a deep-dive explanation (read: statistical overload) on “Why Africa?”, “Why FFXXF?”, and “Why Now?””

You can download a copy of Farnam Street Investments’Q1 2019 Investor Letter here:

April-2019-Client-Letter

You can also see the list of our 2019 Q1 investor letters and download them on this page.