Chou Associates Management’s 2018 Annual Report

Chou Associates Management is a Toronto, Canada-based hedge fund, launched back in 1986 by a renowned value investor, Francis Chou. The fund manages around $400 million in assets, as of December 31, 2018. Recently, it released its 2018 Annual Report – a copy of which you can download below.

In the report, Chou Associated Management posted a loss of 15.2% over the past year for its Chou Associates Fund (Series A), compared to the S&P 500’s loss of 4.4% for the same period. It also disclosed a loss of 5.5% over the period of five years, during which the S&P 500 gained 8.5%, and revealed which companies were mostly responsible for the last year’s poor performance, what were the new additions, etc.

“The main negative contributors to the Fund’s performance in 2018 were the equity holdings of Goldman Sachs Group, Citigroup, DaVita, Resolute Forest Products, and the 1.75 lien term loan of EXCO Resources.

The equity holdings of MBIA Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Sanofi contributed positively to the Fund’s performance during the year.

The Canadian currency depreciated against the US dollar, which also positively affected the Fund.

During the period, the Fund reduced its holdings of Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group, MBIA Inc., Sanofi, Sears Holdings Corporation, and Ascent Capital Group.

The Fund also sold the equity holdings of Nokia OYJ, Overstock.com, and the bonds of Westmoreland Coal Company and the term loan of Dex Media.

New additions during the year included the equity stakes of Allegiant Travel Company, Bausch Health Companies Inc., and Spirit Airlines Inc.”

For more details you can download a complete copy of Chou Associates Management’s 2018 Annual Report here:

AR 2018 ENG(1)