In his half-year letter, Rob discusses:
Business Owner's "Big Five" investments;
Why the portfolio looks different to traditional funds;
The unsuccessful investment in Ryman Healthcare: mistakes made and lessons learned;
And, whether the AI boom is a repeat of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s.
Rob describes a recent trip he made to China, Japan and the US and discusses what he learned.
As the trip started shortly after President Trump declared Liberation Day on 2 April, the trade war and tariffs were a recurring topic of the trip.
The postcard discusses the trade war, but it is not just about the trade war.
The trade war is in the news today but news cycles get ever shorter. It is important not to be so focused on the news that you miss the bigger picture.
As such, the postcard also touches on broader developments in China including AI, Electric Vehicles and the growing prominence of Chinese companies.
In his 2024 letter to co-investors, Rob discusses:
Panel Discussion at RV Capital's Annual Gathering in Engelberg on 12 January 2025 with Graham Rhodes, Yixin Li, Fred Lui and Sofia Hou.
Show Notes Li Lu Talk referenced by Graham: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nwdP3GR-H8-m94NUnlsM-g
Fred's letter on China: https://www.haydencapital.com/wp-content/uploads/Hayden-Capital-Quarterly-Letter-2021-Q2.pdf
Blog referenced by Fred: https://www.baiguan.news/
Rob's book recommendation: "The Battle of Bretton Woods" by Benn Steil
Amelie hosts the panel "Women in Investing" at RV Capital's Annual Gathering in Engelberg on 12 January 2025 with April Li, Cynthia Maasry and Franziska Reh.
Rob does a mountainside chat with Will Thorndike, private equity investor and author of "The Outsiders", at RV Capital's Annual Gathering in Engelberg on 12 January 2025.
Rob and Andreas' Q&A at RV Capital's Annual Gathering in Engelberg on 11 January 2025.
Rob does a mountainside chat with Will Lundin, CEO of International Petroleum, at RV Capital's Annual Gathering in Engelberg on 11 January 2025.
In his letter to co-investors for the first half of 2024, Rob discusses:
In mid-August 2024, Rob traveled to East Africa. He visited four cities (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kigali, and Kampala) in three countries (Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda).
In the postcard, Rob discusses what he saw and what he learned.
The main topics discussed are the region's cities, economies, and stock markets, corruption, freedom, Chinese and Western money, foreign aid, entrepreneurship, M-Pesa, and demographics.
This is a talk Rob gave at Bob Miles' Value Investor Conference in Omaha on 3 May 2024.
The talk is called Five Moat Myths and discusses five commonly held beliefs about moats that may be incorrect.
Rob first spoke at the Value Investor Conference in May 2014 when he discussed the topic of valuation in a talk called Mistakes of Omission.
Rob spoke the second time in 2017 when he discussed the topic of management in a talk called Identifying Managers with Talent and Integrity.
His original plan was to talk about moats in 2020, however, the small matter of a pandemic put paid to that idea. The good news is that four additional myths occurred to him in the intervening period (vs one he had originally intended to speak about).
The slides accompanying the talk are not visible on the video. They are not necessary to follow the talk, but they can be downloaded here.
Rob discusses a recent trip to the US and reflects on what he saw in the places he visited and what he heard from the people he met.
If you would like to leave a tip to cover the cost of the postage stamp on this postcard, please use this link.
Rob discusses his recent trip to China. He reflects on what he saw when travelling through four megacities and what he heard in conversations with friends, fellow investors, business people, and artists.
In his 2023 letter to co-investors, Rob discusses:
The perils of reading too much into recent experience
The current sentiment towards China
A new investment in PDD Holdings
Rob Vinall moderates the Capital Allocator panel at RV Capital's 2024 Annual Gathering in Engelberg on the 14th of January 2024.
The panel members are: Jason Matz: GHR Foundation Thomas Berchtenbreiter: BTV Beteiligungsverwaltung Sargent McGowan: UVIMCO (University of Virginia)
Amelie Vinall moderates a Women in Investing panel at RV Capital's 2024 Annual Gathering in Engelberg on the 14th of January 2024.
The panel members are: Alex Douglas: Investure Fatima Dickey: Lagoda Investment Management Sofia Hou: Investment manager from Boston
Rob Vinall moderates a panel at RV Capital's 2024 Annual Gathering in Engelberg on the 14th of January 2024.
The panel members are: Tim Liu: Meditation Capital Fred Saland: Oxylus Capital Joan Esteve Manasanch: Gesinter SGIIC
Rob Vinall and Andreas Lechner respond to the audience's questions about the development of the Business Owner Fund at RV Capital's 2024 Annual Gathering in Engelberg on the 13th of January 2024.
Rob Vinall interviews Wix COO Nir Zohar in front of a live audience at RV Capital's 2024 Annual Gathering in Engelberg on the 13th of January 2024
The topic of this memo is how hard it is to beat the market in the long term, why this is the case, and ten countermeasures an investor can take.