Stoller Capital invests for "Family & Friends" in publicly listed securities and private placements across a variety of asset classes. Inspired by Warren Buffett's original investment partnership, investments are made with a research-intensive value focus emphasizing long-term compounding and tax efficiency.
Connect on LinkedIn…in the same place, in the same stocks and the same partnerships. According to Morningstar, most Mutual Fund Managers have little or no personal investment in the Funds they manage. We “eat our own cooking” and have our investable liquid net worth in the Fund alongside yours. As one person summarized our approach, “Every day, you are investing and managing your life savings, and letting me come along for the ride.”
Stoller Capital is an investor, not an asset gatherer. Virtually every Wealth Manager or Fund Sponsor makes their money doing the same thing: gathering assets and selling product, and generating fees — getting fired if they don’t. Our structure is designed to avoid those conflicts of interest and we avoid investments that have them.
The portfolio is managed through fundamental research, selecting each individual security through a detailed process. Each company is evaluated on its merits as a stand-alone business, then only purchasing at an attractive price.
The Fund is only appropriate for investors with a patient long-term orientation who understand the market’s ups and downs are inevitable — and are in fact necessary and desirable for good investment results. They provide us the opportunity to be smart stewards of capital, allowing us to take advantage of mis-pricings, capturing benefits that compound over years.
“All Sensible Investing Is Value Investing.”Charlie Munger — Vice Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway
Value investors look to purchase investments at a significant discount to intrinsic value to account for the uncertainty inherent in any attempt to predict the future. Determining that a sufficient “margin of safety” exists between the price paid for an asset and a conservative projection of future value is the primary determinant for potential inclusion in the portfolio. Rather than being swayed by emotions, market sentiment, or short-term news, a thoughtful, deliberate value investor can assess if investments are priced below or above long-term intrinsic fair value and decide to buy or sell as appropriate.
“We are not against making money in the short term, we just have not found a safe and repeatable way to do so.”Tom Gaynor — Chief Investment Officer, Markel Insurance
When you purchase securities, you are not just buying pieces of paper meant to be traded, but a fractional ownership of a business or its obligations. The market price does not always accurately reflect the true intrinsic value of a company or an asset. The real intrinsic value is an estimate of the present value of all the cash flows which will accrue to the owner between now and the time of sale.
“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run it is a weighing machine.”Ben Graham — Columbia Business School, Professor to Warren Buffett
Value investing often involves investing in companies that have fallen out of favor with the public, that are ignored, or that may be suffering from a poor business cycle or recession. As Warren Buffett likes to say: “You are neither right nor wrong because the market agrees with you in the short term. You’ll be right if you have your facts and your reasoning correct.” Eventually the market revalues these companies when the economy or the industry’s prospects improve — having the discipline to hold securities for the long term and possessing an adequate margin of safety can create a significant edge over many institutional investors focused on the next quarter’s earnings.
As Managing Member since 2009, Steven Stoller is responsible for all investment decisions. He has been a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts, and is active in the Chartered Financial Analysts of Atlanta Society.
Steve has been quoted in Barron’s, Financial Times Deutschland, and Managed Money Magazine, and has been featured as a guest on WCFO (1160 AM) radio. He serves on the Endowment Investment Committee for Scripps College and is a past Trustee for The Atlanta Girls’ School, where he served on the Finance Committee.
Steve holds a Biochemistry degree from the University of California at San Diego and earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, four children, two dogs and two bunnies.