The portfolio’s largest position remains a gold exchange-traded fund sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management. J.P. Morgan and ICBC Standard Bank provide physical custody of the gold bars in vaults in London and Zurich. Equity participations trade at twelve times expected net profits over the next year, while market capitalization is less than the portfolio’s stated … Read more
The oil and gas industry loosely operates in three separate spaces: upstream, midstream, and downstream. Upstream exploration and production companies find and extract oil and natural gas, while downstream companies process hydrocarbons and turn them into valuable products like fuel and petrochemicals. Upstream and downstream companies make money in slightly different ways. Still, each tends … Read more
FRP Holdings is a real estate developer in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. FRP’s largest real estate asset comprises five properties in southern Washington, D.C., in various development stages. The company also leases mining royalty land that generates almost $12 million in annual revenue from fourteen properties in the southeastern U.S. In May 2018, the Company … Read more
Markel is a diversified financial holding company that operates in three distinct segments: Insurance (60% of 2023 revenue), Investments (5%), and the Company’s private equity division, Markel Ventures (35%). In 2023, Markel generated a total of $14.3 billion in revenue and $1.6 billion in adjusted operating income (11.1% margin), and on December 31, 2023, book … Read more
E-L Financial Corporation is a Toronto-based life insurance holding and investment company controlled by the Jackman family, which is now in its third generation of stewardship. They are beneficiaries of one hundred years of compounding with the 2023 centenary of the “E-L” piece – Empire Life Insurance Company, based two and a half hours north-east … Read more
Altius Minerals is the world’s premiere non-precious metals royalty company. Altius manages two complementary businesses: royalty investment and project generation. Royalty investment is the acquisition of royalties in producing mines. A royalty is a type of financing in which the investor buys the right to earn a percentage of a mine’s production. The royalty holder … Read more
FRMO Corporation is the publicly traded investment vehicle of Murray Stahl and Steve Bregman. FRMO Corporation owns a significant stake in Horizon Kinetics, an asset management company controlled by Stahl and Bregman, and various other smaller investments. The company was originally incorporated in Delaware in 1993. In 2001, FRMO spun off its operations, and Stahl … Read more