Fitzroy: Back in the Saddle

Fitz here.  Many thanks to all of you who sent in concerned messages.  I apologize for the continued silence. There are several reasons but certainly no excuses.  It really comes down to my own personal foibles and inability to manage a publishing schedule, travel and the fact that I had to refuse a board directorship of a public company.  Why did I have to refuse the position?  Because I write a financial newsletter which covers an overlapping industry.   I had to make a very hard choice between staying with Without Borders or joining the board of the company and taking an active part in growing an exciting business.  Eventually, I made the decision to stick with Without Borders after a dinner in London with one of our subscribers.

He is the kind of person I would likely never met if it were not for the newsletter.  Dignified and multi cultural, this subscriber shared a similar ethos and was living an extraordinary life although he would never describe it as such.  When we had dinner he had no idea I was struggling with the decision to close Without Borders or at least hand it over to someone else and walking away.   Yet he and several other subscribers that I have been fortunate enough to become close to over the last several years are the reason I chose to stay with the publication rather than go back to professional principal investing.

When it came down to it, interesting people are more important to me than a board seat or the day to day operations of a business- even one that is tailor made for my interests and unusual skills.  After our dinner, as we made our way into the icy streets of South Kensington, my mind was made up.  He was on his way to back to Hong Kong, where he is based, and I was shortly to return to South America.  It never should have been such a hard decision.

Let me also add that this was a recent development within the last few months and it only added to my already frail character when it comes to keeping a publishing schedule.  While I enjoy the puzzle that are the capital markets, I often struggle with writing a newsletter because one feels compelled to write something new and exciting even when the best advice is to simply do nothing.

My Scottish host had more to fret about than share prices!

Sometimes the most courageous action is to curl up in a ball and cower like a frightened puppy.

My personal style of investing is to buy things that are cheap and unpopular with a bias towards the weird and wonderful parts of the world where others rarely look.  Now everything is expensive.  Our portfolio has done well but the hair on the back of my neck is standing up and that little voice keeps whispering for me to get out of the market or to put on large short positions.  However,  as I´ve written before, I´ve been feeling this way for some time and so far I have been wrong.  I must admit that recently my conviction has been shaken and I needed time to step away from the noise for a while.  Thankfully, the worst snowstorm to hit the northern British Isles in 40 years provided the opportunity.    Information overload seems to have hit the markets and therefore even the most important information is continually met by a shrug and a yawn.  Frankly I still cannot make sense of it.

Over the last three months my travel has been steady and hectic. Trips included the scariest plane I have ever experienced over the coast of Brazil, a bout of intestinal flu that defies description, meetings with Irish separatists of all stripes on top of being snowbound without electricity for days in the UK.   Last week I was able to meet with the management of several of our listed portfolio companies. You will soon have the updates- yes I do realize you have heard that before.

You will also be getting caught up on my trips to Spain, Ireland and Bolivia in short order because a trip to Africa is looming where I will be investigating some interesting natural resource and agricultural companies.  I remain convinced these are the two most promising sectors for the next several years.

In parting, let me also say that although you may be rightfully frustrated with my prolonged absence it is probably to your benefit. I first started writing the portfolio review in mid October and was contemplating sell recommendations on companies that I thought had moved up too far too fast.  Fortunately for subscribers, my personal foibles have resulted in increased portfolio values as all of those companies have continued to climb.  Our portfolio, excluding the rise in our precious metals, is up 31.77% year to date. Maybe I should just bugger off after all?