Spring 2010 Graham and Doddsville Newsletter

[mpauls]

http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/null?&exclusive=filemgr.download&file_id=7213933

 

 

Feature Interview: Mason Hawkins

 

Chief Executive Officer, Portfolio Manager, and Chairman, Southeastern Asset Management

 

"Parsimony is Extremely Profitable"

 

 

 

G&D: A lot of people talk about value investing, but what does value investing mean to you and how does that differentiate your firm?

 

Mason Hawkins: Graham provided the definition in the Intelligent Investor. An investment is one that promises safety of principal and an adequate return. By deduction, those that don’t are speculators. We believe that buying securities at large discounts to conservative appraisals provides the best route to above average compounding. We’re focused on nailing down our evaluations so we can use them to make significant long-term investment commitments when sellers are under duress or traders are consumed with ephemeral short-term issues.

 

Mason Hawkins founded Southeastern Asset Management in 1975, and today the firm manages over $30 billion in value investments. The firm built on its tremendous track record in 2009, with its Longleaf Partners Fund posting its best absolute annual return of nearly 54%