Work with me: One-on-One Investment Coaching

Disclosure: Long HIFS

The Big Picture

Hingham is slowly returning to its proper place among banks with above-average ROAs. We’ll need to wait a week to see the details in its 10-Q and call report, but the earnings release tells most of the story.

• Core ROA (excluding securities gains) was 0.97% for the 9 months ended Q3 2026, and core ROE was 8.79%. Standalone Q3 results show the sequential improvement to 1.04% and 9.15%, respectively.

• It all comes down to net interest margin. NIM bottomed at 85bps in Q1 2024 when spreads hit a low of just 13bps. Since then, lower interest rates have brought funding costs down, while loan repricing is driving asset yields higher. NIM has climbed an average of 14bps each quarter since Q2 2024 and sits at 2.23% as of Q3 2026.

  

• Baked into NIM is the quiet work Hingham has been doing to build a sustainable base of noninterest-bearing deposits.

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Work with me: One-on-One Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Tesla Partners with BRK to Charge Trucks

BRK Specialty Enters Poland

Tracy Britt Cool - Building a Berkshire for the Middle Market

Las Vegas NetJets Terminal

The Smart Phone Era -

Scenic Route Investing by Wagner Road

TTS Part 2 Continued: The Smart Phone Era

See footnotes for links to parts 1 and 2…

Read more

2 months ago · 7 likes · Andrew Wagner

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing again this week. Here’s another video from the archives.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

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Work with me: One-on-One Investment Coaching

What is a mutual conversion?

Of the roughly 4,000 banks in the United States today, 222 are mutual banks, according to the FDIC’s BankFind tool.

A mutual bank is unique in having its equity owned by its depositors. What that means in practice is that nobody really owns the bank. So when it converts from mutual to stock form, the IPO proceeds go back into the till.

For example: ABC Bank has equity of $50 million. It’s “worth” $50 million, so that’s how the IPO is priced. Investors write a collective check for $50 million, and it goes to the bank’s equity account, making it $100 million.

Two things immediately happen:

1. The price/book value goes from 1.00x to 0.50x

2. The bank has twice the capital ratio

The bank has more capital it can lever up and lend out, increasing earnings, and/or it can buy back stock after the first anniversary. On the third anniversary of the full IPO (banks often do this in two steps), the bank can be sold, creating meaningful gains.

Many investors, including Seth Klarman, Peter Lynch, Walter Schloss, and others, have profited from mutual conversions.

Below are 12 banks that came up on my screen, including 5 with the three-year restriction just lifted or about to be lifted and 7 upcoming.

Read more

Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Coke Takes Share From Pepsi (WSJ)

Berkshire’s PacifiCorp Contracting for Battery Storage

Reinsurance Pricing

New BNSF Bridge Across Missouri River

Copart Completes ACV Acquisition

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week.

Here’s an oldie but goodie. “10% [pre-tax] is the figure we quit on … it’d be sloppy to go below that.”

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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Adam

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Behind The (Pay)Wall

I need to keep this one behind the paywall for now.

This tiny bank with only ~$200 million in assets has low leverage (7.3x) and earns a return on equity of over 13%. That’s a return on assets of over 1.80%.

It has clean credit and a rock-bottom cost of deposits.

Oh, and it’s trading at 0.92x tangible book value. Its market cap is small at just a few tens of millions of dollars (being intentionally vague here).

Insiders own 45% of the bank.

Drumroll…

Read more

Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Buffett’s New YouTube Habit (WSJ)

Berkshire’s Shaw Carpet Has A New (Old) CEO

Berkshire’s Tungaloy and NTK Cutting Tools to Merge

JP Morgan Q4 Guide to the Markets

Rory Sutherland and Ryan Petersen of Flexport (YouTube)

GLP-1s and Beer Consumption

Scenic Route Q3 Recap

Scenic Route Investing by Wagner Road

2026 Third Quarter Recap

This quarter, I posted two more segments of my “Timelapse of the Tech Sector.” I would have done more, but I had to stop posting because I got bit by a dog. It was on my thigh, so I’ll be fine, but the recovery will still take more time (and it really hurts to sit…

Read more

19 days ago · Andrew Wagner

New NetJets Terminal in Texas

This Week in Berkshire History

October 10, 2019: Berkshire sells its 81% interest in Applied Underwriters for $920 million to avoid conflicts between its units selling workers’ compensation insurance.

First, the purchase…

Then the sale…

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

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Adam

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Work with me: Private Investment Coaching

Using My Bank Screener

Last week’s post showcased my custom bank screener. This week I put it to use.

Here’s my search criteria:

1. Return on assets > 1.20%

2. Nonperforming loans < 1%

3. Net charge-offs (NCO) < 0.25%

4. Tangible equity/assets > 8%

5. Efficiency ratio < 65%

I took the resulting list of 440 banks and had Claude add price/tangible book (the screener can pick that up) and rank them based on P/TBV, 3-Yr ROE, and current return on tangible equity.

I then calculated a going-in return based on the current P/TBV and 3-Yr ROE. Here’s the top 10:

As you can see, these are thinly traded tiny banks, which means we’re probably in good hunting grounds. Two I’ve covered before: Crazy Woman Creek and Citizens Bancorp of Virginia.

Other than those two, here’s a first-pass screen of these names (i.e., you may know more than I do; please let me know if you have insights!).

Bank of Utica (BKUT | New York)

This looks like a very unusual bank. It’s effectively an investment portfolio with a bank charter. Two-thirds of its assets are in its HTM portfolio, with another ~13% in equities. Just 10% of assets are in loans. And it has a grand total of one branch.

It appears that the spikes in ROA are due to the mark-to-market changes in the securities portfolio.

Digging into the securities portfolio, I’m even more curious. There’s nearly $900mm of foreign debt.

The relatively tiny loan book looks decent:

Caveat Emptor: I checked with a friend who knows BKUT. His advice: Stay away.

OptimumBank Holdings (OPHC | Florida)

Edit: My original market cap was wrong; corrected, P/TBV is 1.64x. I left it in as it seems to be a fairly well-run bank, just not as cheap as at first glance.

Optimum was a de novo in 2000 (when does it stop being de novo?) with 4 branches and a concentration in CRE (74% of loans).

As the first chart illustrates, the bank spent 15 years at around $200mm in assets, then grew rapidly to $1.4 billion at the end of 2025. Doing a little more digging, it seems the bank raised capital multiple times between 2021 and 2025, a total of $58.8 million between common and preferred.

The bank has a niche in skilled nursing facilities, which are common in Florida. The bank’s two largest shareholders are directors who own SNFs, so there’s some expertise there.

Great American Bancorp (GTPS | Illinois)

Great American is a 2-branch bank founded in 1908. It pairs a residential lending operation (68% of loans) with an insurance agency that boosts ROA.

The spikes in NCO look worrisome until you realize the chart is scaled to 70bps max.

Note: These charts are for First Federal Savings Bank of Champaign-Urbana, its bank sub.

NorthEast Community Bancorp (NECB | New York)

It trades at book value but has over 70% of loans in construction. Further, it’s 90% loaned up.

Looking deeper, NECB has its construction portfolio in 247 projects, primarily in residential construction (condo / townhome developments) north of NYC.

Golden State Bancorp (GSBX | California)

Here’s another de novo-ish bank founded in 2003. It has just $1 billion in assets across three branches, a $92mm market cap, and trades at 1.02x book.

The question I have is: will history repeat itself? It appears most of the board and management are new after the bank recapitalized in 2014-15, so the longer-term track record isn’t as deep of a black mark.

The Chairman and CEO owns 12% of the bank, and insiders in total own 32%; additionally, another 9% or so is owned by a fund run by a director.

Crazy Woman Creek Bancorp (CRZY | Wyoming)

I covered this bank in February. It traded at 0.85x BV then and now trades at book.

This one proves that a relatively tiny bank can earn decent returns on assets. The only downside is it’s pretty opaque in terms of disclosure. I like it enough to keep it on my watchlist.

MBT Bancshares (MBKL | Louisiana)

This $650mm asset bank trades at 0.84x book. It has 8 branches around Metairie, LA. About half the loan book is in CRE and another third in residential.

Note: At this point, I realized my screener annualized NCO data. So that 0.46% for MBT turned into 0.29%. I used the opportunity to revise the tool to use TTM figures.

Citizens Bancorp of Virginia (CZBT | Virginia)

Here’s another one I covered in February. It’s since re-rated from 0.95x to 1.10x BV.

Given that track record of improving ROA, I think it probably deserves >1x BV. It appears to have a nice low-cost base of deposits, although noninterest-bearing deposits are only 23%.

Security Bancorp (SCYT | Tennessee)

This $385mm asset bank has 3 offices in rural TN. It looks to be a slow grower and I like the steadily growing ROA. NCO in the early/mid-2010s were modest, and it appears to have had the same CEO since 2007.

Pioneer Bankcorp (PBKC | Florida)

This 100-year-old bank has $800mm in assets across 7 branches and trades at 1.19x BV. It’s a bit pricier than the others but appears deserving of a higher valuation with ROA currently at 1.5% and climbing.

The stain on PBKC is the large losses in the GFC tied to Florida real estate. From 2009-11 the bank charged off 7.5% of the loan book. It looks like the holding company shareholders put in $5.5mm of fresh capital, and the bank suspended its dividend for 4 years.

More thoughts? Let me know in a private message or leave a comment.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Praise for the 2nd Edition

I’m incredibly grateful for the people who took the time to review early drafts of the new material and provided feedback, as well as praise for both editions:

“If you want to understand how Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the most valuable businesses in the world, you have to read this book. This is your opportunity to stand beside Picasso as he paints each brush stroke. A must read for all Buffett and Berkshire groupies.”

— Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square

“I and my teammates at the Gabelli Organization have been tracking Warren’s success for some 50 years. Adam’s book captures the work and highlights the history of Berkshire and the hard and diligent work of Buffett and Munger, Jain and Abel, and Combs and Weschler.”

— Mario Gabelli, Chairman and CEO, Gabelli Funds

“Adam Mead’s discussion of the values and virtues which have shaped Berkshire Hathaway over 50 years is a must read for those investors in search of the forces that have delivered such investment value over time.” — Thomas A. Russo, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

“Few activities can be more rewarding for any value investor than studying the history and evolution of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Adam has done us a huge favor with his yeoman efforts in producing this treatise. Since it is chronologically ordered, it is an invaluable reference guide for all things Berkshire.” — Mohnish Pabrai

“Adam continues to deliver a resource very valuable to both Berkshire fans and the investor community as a whole, his depth of knowledge is clearly demonstrated here again. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition.” — Dan Calkins, Chairman & CEO, Benjamin Moore

“The question must be asked, ‘Why another Berkshire book?’ When you read this monumental effort by Adam Mead, the answer will be obvious. Read cover to cover, both the uninitiated to Berkshire and its most ardent followers will derive enormous utility and satisfaction from it. I learned so many new and important things about Berkshire and its history. It is my pleasure to encourage you to enjoy this gem.”

— Christopher P. Bloomstran

“Whatever Adam writes is always first-class - guaranteed.”

— Andy Kilpatrick, Author, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett

Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Benjamin Moore Expands into the UK - CEO Interview

New Michael Mauboussin Paper on FCF

Analysis of Copart’s ACV Bid

h/t

The Fat Pitch

CPRT: Copart (14)

ACV Merger Story…

Read more

a month ago · 14 likes

This Week in Berkshire History

September 30, 2023: Berkshire transfers ownership of BNSF from National Indemnity to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

September 30, 2024: Berkshire Hathaway purchases the remaining 8% ownership in Berkshire Hathaway Energy from the estate of Walter Scott, Jr., increasing its ownership to 100%.

October 1, 2018: Berkshire’s National Indemnity Company acquires Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company, a writer of medical professional liability insurance, for $2.5 billion.

October 3, 2017: Berkshire acquires a 38.6% interest in Pilot Flying J and agrees to acquire an additional 41.4% (bringing the total to 80%) in 2023. It finalized the purchase in January 2024, making Pilot a wholly owned subsidiary.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

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Work with me: Private Investment Coaching

Download the Tool

See my notes below regarding the file.

Building My Own Custom Bank Screener

My original intent for this week’s post was to run a screen for banks based on this post from Tim Melvin, and report on the top results. Then I got distracted….

Working with my buddy Claude, I built a custom screener that pulls from the free FDIC BankFind Suite API. I don’t know why I didn’t build something like this sooner. Right, I didn’t have Claude. Anyway…

The screener does two main things:

1. It lets you search the FDIC’s database of 4000+ banks based on criteria you define from the available data points.

2. Allows you to dig into a specific bank starting at any point in time. It’ll populate charts/graphs and give you five years + two quarters of financial history in the UBPR format.

A couple of notes:

1. This tool searches the FDIC database, which is a repository of bank financials. Many banks are owned by holding companies, so be careful about differences between the two (holding company debt funding a clean-looking bank, for example).

2. You’ll need to run the file on a desktop.

3. You might need to allow permissions to access the FDIC API.

Feedback Welcome

Let me know what you think. How can I make this a better tool?

I’m already thinking of adding 10 years of financials with common sizing, and creating more of the UBPR sections. But I’d like to try it out for a while before going too deep into redesigning it.

More thoughts? Let me know in a private message or leave a comment.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Praise for the 2nd Edition

I’m incredibly grateful for the people who took the time to review early drafts of the new material and provided feedback, as well as praise for both editions:

“If you want to understand how Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the most valuable businesses in the world, you have to read this book. This is your opportunity to stand beside Picasso as he paints each brush stroke. A must read for all Buffett and Berkshire groupies.”

- Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square

“I and my teammates at the Gabelli Organization have been tracking Warren’s success for some 50 years. Adam’s book captures the work and highlights the history of Berkshire and the hard and diligent work of Buffett and Munger, Jain and Abel, and Combs and Weschler.”

- Mario Gabelli, Chairman and CEO, Gabelli Funds

“Adam Mead’s discussion of the values and virtues which have shaped Berkshire Hathaway over 50 years is a must read for those investors in search of the forces that have delivered such investment value over time.” – Thomas A. Russo, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

“Few activities can be more rewarding for any value investor than studying the history and evolution of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Adam has done us a huge favor with his yeoman efforts in producing this treatise. Since it is chronologically ordered, it is an invaluable reference guide for all things Berkshire.” — Mohnish Pabrai

“Adam continues to deliver a resource very valuable to both Berkshire fans and the investor community as a whole, his depth of knowledge is clearly demonstrated here again. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition.” - Dan Calkins, Chairman & CEO, Benjamin Moore

“The question must be asked, ‘Why another Berkshire book?’ When you read this monumental effort by Adam Mead, the answer will be obvious. Read cover to cover, both the uninitiated to Berkshire and its most ardent followers will derive enormous utility and satisfaction from it. I learned so many new and important things about Berkshire and its history. It is my pleasure to encourage you to enjoy this gem.”

- Christopher P. Bloomstran

“Whatever Adam writes is always first-class - guaranteed.

-Andy Kilpatrick, Author, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett

Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

New Howard Marks Memo

Geico Gecko Podcast Appearance?

AAR Weekly Rail Traffic

Bill Gurley Presentation (I just listened to his podcast appearance on TKP)

This Week in Berkshire History

September 26, 2011: Berkshire’s board of directors authorize repurchases of shares at no higher than a 10% premium to book value and so long as cash did not fall below $20 billion. Berkshire would go on to revise this to 1.20x book and then to when Warren Buffett determined it was undervalued.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Private Investment Coaching

Can the Cash Flow Statement Lie?

Copart made two separate acquisitions of around $100 million that show up completely differently on the statement of cash flows.

• In 2022, it paid $106.6 million for Hills Motors, a UK-based parts recycler.

• In 2024, it paid $112.1 million for 80% of Purple Wave, a heavy equipment auctioneer.

Now take a look at the acquisitions line in the snapshot below, which is taken directly from the CF statement. Negative numbers indicate cash out, so the ($107) lines up with Hills exactly (rounded, of course).

But what about Purple Wave? If this is to be believed, Copart received $18 million. What’s going on here?

All in a Name

This highlights a key limitation of the cash flow statement. It’s, ahem, cash-based…

The difference between the two acquisitions is that Copart paid cash for Hills and stock for Purple Wave. Purple Wave had $18 million of cash on the books at closing, and that cash had to be accounted for.

In an alternate reality where Copart purchased Purple Wave for cash but separately issued stock to fund the transaction, it would have shown cash out in the investing section and a cash inflow in the financing section.

The bottom line: Dig deeper to understand how an acquisition is financed and accounted for.

Going Deeper: Advanced Accounting

A few additional aspects of these transactions are worth noting for those willing to go deeper.

Deal Price vs. GAAP Price

Start with the purchase price of Purple Wave. Copart agreed to a price of $108 million for 80% of the company. The 2.5 million shares Copart issued resulted from the $108 million deal price divided by the 10-day volume-weighted average price of Copart’s stock.

But the GAAP fair value was determined based on Copart’s actual closing stock price on October 6, 2023. So for GAAP purposes, Copart paid $112.1 million.

Control vs. Noncontrolling Valuation

Next, let’s look at the implied valuation for 100% of Purple Wave. Frustratingly, we have three values to choose from:

1. $135 million: $108 million deal price / 80% = 100% interest

2. $140.1 million: $112.1 million GAAP price / 80% = 100% interest

3. $126 million: $25.2 million redeemable noncontrolling interest / 20% = 100% interest.

So which one is right?

• The first two assume that the value of Copart’s controlling 80% stake applies to the noncontrolling interest. But the 20% noncontrolling interest, by definition, doesn’t have control.

• Conversely, the third option assumes that the control discount doesn’t apply to the 80% control position.

• One way to reconcile this is to add the $112.1 million fair value and the $25.2 million noncontrolling interest to get yet a fourth option: $137.3 million. This considers the valuation from both positions and incorporates the undisclosed terms of any redemption mechanics leading to the lower valuation of the noncontrolling interest.

Nothing But Net (Usually) - ASC 805

There’s another wrinkle in the accounting: the treatment of cash on the books of the acquired company. Companies usually report acquisitions net of acquired cash.

But take a look at Copart’s 2022 10-K, and you’ll find that Hills had $9 million in cash at closing. So it appears that Copart reported the gross value of the acquisition inclusive of cash.

From my research into the accounting standards, it appears that the typical presentation is to net the cash on the cash flow statement. So it probably should have been $97.6 million. In Copart’s case, the figure was nonmaterial.

Example: Boston Beer

Here’s a more typical example using Boston Beer’s 2019 acquisition of Dogfish Head.

Boston Beer paid $336 million for Dogfish Head, with $173 million paid in cash and the remainder in stock.

From the allocation table (second snapshot), we can see the $173 million cash consideration and the $7.5 million cash that Dogfish Head had on its books at closing.

Boston Beer’s cash flow statement shows the exact difference between these two figures in “Investment in Dogfish Head, net of cash acquired” of $165,517,000

The company also gives us a nice supplemental disclosure showing the $144.7 million noncash consideration (shares) issued as part of the acquisition. The difference between the $163 million on the allocation table and the $144 million listed on the cash flow statement is an $18 million liquidity discount on shares issued to the sellers.

Conclusion

To wrap up this whole post, the key takeaway is to go deeper. Doing so can uncover a flurry of figures that at first glance can be confusing (such as the four ways to value Purple Wave). But a careful study of where the figures come from and how they reconcile can give you a deeper understanding of accounting and how to paint a better picture of the company you’re analyzing.

More thoughts? Let me know in a private message or leave a comment.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Praise for the 2nd Edition

I’m incredibly grateful for the people who took the time to review early drafts of the new material and provided feedback, as well as praise for both editions:

“If you want to understand how Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the most valuable businesses in the world, you have to read this book. This is your opportunity to stand beside Picasso as he paints each brush stroke. A must read for all Buffett and Berkshire groupies.”

- Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square

“I and my teammates at the Gabelli Organization have been tracking Warren’s success for some 50 years. Adam’s book captures the work and highlights the history of Berkshire and the hard and diligent work of Buffett and Munger, Jain and Abel, and Combs and Weschler.”

- Mario Gabelli, Chairman and CEO, Gabelli Funds

“Adam Mead’s discussion of the values and virtues which have shaped Berkshire Hathaway over 50 years is a must read for those investors in search of the forces that have delivered such investment value over time.” – Thomas A. Russo, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

“Few activities can be more rewarding for any value investor than studying the history and evolution of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Adam has done us a huge favor with his yeoman efforts in producing this treatise. Since it is chronologically ordered, it is an invaluable reference guide for all things Berkshire.” — Mohnish Pabrai

“Adam continues to deliver a resource very valuable to both Berkshire fans and the investor community as a whole, his depth of knowledge is clearly demonstrated here again. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition.” - Dan Calkins, Chairman & CEO, Benjamin Moore

“The question must be asked, ‘Why another Berkshire book?’ When you read this monumental effort by Adam Mead, the answer will be obvious. Read cover to cover, both the uninitiated to Berkshire and its most ardent followers will derive enormous utility and satisfaction from it. I learned so many new and important things about Berkshire and its history. It is my pleasure to encourage you to enjoy this gem.”

- Christopher P. Bloomstran

“Whatever Adam writes is always first-class - guaranteed.

-Andy Kilpatrick, Author, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett

Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Buffett Steps Down as BRK Chairman

This is one of those surprising-but-not-surprising times. Warren will remain Chairman Emeritus, and his son Howard will take the Chairman spot to guard Berkshire’s culture and values. Berkshire’s transition has been remarkably well done, in my view.

How TTI Built An Empire Inside Berkshire

“Distribution rewards the companies willing to do the unglamorous work of stocking the right part, in the right catalog, before anyone asks for it, and TTI's federation of specialists is one answer to how that work gets organized without losing what made each piece of it good in the first place.”

The Cass Freight Index Turns Positive for the First Time in 3.5 Years

Zeke Ashton on VAH

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week. Warren’s transition to Chairman Emeritus today enters the list for next year.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Private Investment Coaching

Copart Update

Disclosure: Long CPRT (prior analysis)

On September 10, Copart released its Q4 and Fiscal 2026 earnings and announced the largest acquisition in the company’s history. All in a day’s work, I guess.

The Q4 results were uninspiring, but there’s more going on beneath the surface. Then there’s the $1.9 billion acquisition of ACV…

ACV Auctions

Copart and ACV will combine in a friendly cash transaction that values ACV at $1.9 billion. Enterprise value = equity value as ACV has no net debt. Copart is paying 2.5x ACV’s 2025 revenue and 32x adjusted EBITDA.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the calendar year and will eat up 40% of Copart’s current $4.5 billion cash/equivalents.

What is ACV?

ACV operates the largest digital-only dealer-to-dealer wholesale vehicle auction business in the US. It sold over 800,000 vehicles worth over $10 billion in 2025. And it did this with an average of just $10 million in net fixed assets.

ACV makes money through its digital marketplace that connects 22,000+ buyers and 14,900+ sellers of used vehicles. A vehicle trade-in is inspected on the dealer’s lot by one of ACV’s 850 inspectors, whose condition report feeds into a live, 20-minute auction.

The two interrelated keys to ACV’s operation are its comprehensive inspection report that describes what the buyer will receive, and its assurance guarantee that the report is accurate. If a buyer finds the report and the vehicle don’t agree, they can receive compensation under industry-standard NAAA Policy guidelines (Manheim and OPENLANE also adhere to it).

ACV’s success stems from building a two-sided network in which trust is established.

How Does ACV Make Money?

Of the company’s $760mm revenue in 2025:

• $348mm (46%): Auction marketplace. These are fees from buyers and sellers upon the successful completion of an auction.

• $296mm (39%): Other marketplace services such as transportation and ACV Capital (dealer financing of inventory)

• $82mm (11%): Customer assurance revenue from sellers guaranteeing the vehicle will sell.

• Data / SaaS (5%): Reports and inventory management

ACV’s Cost Structure

Its 2025 expenses of $823mm (operating loss of $63mm) fall under five categories:

• $288mm (38% of sales): Marketplace and service cost of revenue.

• $73mm (10%): Customer assurance cost of revenue.

• $183mm (24%): Operations and technology.

• $235mm (31%): Selling, general, and administrative.

• $44mm (6%): Depreciation and amortization.

A little more on the D&A expense. As noted above, the company operates with almost no fixed assets. At year-end 2025, gross fixed assets were $19mm and were made up of fairly short-lived assets (computers, equipment, furniture, leasehold improvements, vehicles). The bulk is from “A” stemming from acquired intangibles and internal-use software (about $80mm each, net, at the end of 2025).

What Does Copart See in ACV?

• Complementary assets: ACV brings its extensive network and volume to Copart’s existing assets, allowing for a complete digital remarketing platform across trade-ins, wholesale, salvage, and international.

  • ACV can leverage Copart’s extensive network of physical assets. With no real home base, ACV must rely on dealers to house inventory. Copart can allow ACV to remove vehicles to its yards and free space on dealer lots (Adair noted they would create dedicated ACV areas in certain locations).

  • Copart gains additional volume for its international buyers and can leverage its existing infrastructure (moving 15,000 to 20,000 cars per day in the US alone).

  • Technology. Both companies have unique technology that’s worth more together. Essentially, it widens both sides of their respective networks with shared underlying logistics infrastructure.

• Immediate presence in wholesale. Copart will have an immediate foothold in wholesale auctions. Already, 25% of Copart’s volume is from noninsurance BluCar (banks, rental fleets, and the like) and dealer services. ACV’s network is better suited to the types of buyers of these vehicles.

• Culture. I was struck by the comments Adair made regarding ACV’s culture on its Q4 earnings call. He called them a scrappy, friendly bunch with a start-up culture. Just like Copart.

• Growth Engine. The table below shows a clear progression of unit volume growth and revenue per unit growth. While ACV was founded in 2014 and has an accumulated deficit of half a billion dollars ($568 million to be exact), the trends are positive. Copart expects the acquisition to be neutral to earnings in FY 27 and accretive beginning in FY 28.

This slide from Copart’s Investor Presentation sums up the deal nicely:

Copart Q4 and FY 2026 Results

Jay Adair exuded confidence on the most recent conference call. Sure, results weakened in FY 26 (G&A ex. depreciation increased 7% for the year, and Q4 US operating margin fell five points, from 38.6% to 33.6%; US operating margin fell 110 bps, from 38.4% to 37.3% for the year), but there’s a clear sense that this is truly cyclical (insurance prices up > coverages down > Copart volume down) coupled with some one-off factors like the loss of assignments from Progressive. Excluding the single lost customer (cough: PGR), US insurance assignments would have been up 2.3%. Adair’s confidence in Copart’s ability to deliver comes through in his couched comments on IAA: “You either can generate the liquidity … that are going to bring the dollars in for the customer. Or you’ve just got to cut pricing dramatically… we don’t need to play that game.”

There’s also the matter of facility costs increasing 14% on a unit basis, which appears to be partly a result of Copart’s investment in long-haul delivery service. Adair pointed to a focus on reducing per-unit costs as a priority.

The other big plus: International units and revenue increased about 11% in Q4, and units increased 3.7% for the year, with Adair noting that all international markets are now profitable.

To sum up: global units fell 5.5% for the year, but revenue per unit increased 5.7%, leading to global revenues up 0.4% to $4.67 billion. Meanwhile, costs increased, partly due to investments, leading to a 2.6% decline in operating income to $1.65 billion; operating margin fell 110 bps from 36.5% to 35.4%. Net income declined 4.4% to $1.48 billion due to the lower operating income, a higher tax rate, and a one-time gain in FY 25.

The major capital allocation moves in FY 26 were $1.63 billion of buybacks and $87mm growth capex ($337mm gross).

On buybacks: There was no buyback activity in Q4. Given that shares trade at $32 vs. the $38 range where they bought back shares earlier, I’m wondering if management sees more M&A coming sooner rather than later.

Q4:

• Revenue $1,152mm, +2.4% (service +1.4%; purchased vehicle sales +8.3%)

• Gross profit $481mm, -5.5%; margin 41.8% vs. 45.3%

• Operating income $369mm, -10.6%; margin 32.0% vs. 36.7%

• Net income $327mm, -17.4%; diluted EPS $0.35 vs. $0.41 (Q4 FY25 had a $13mm one-time gain; lower interest income after buybacks)

• US facility costs +7.7% (+14.2% per unit) on new services: long-haul delivery, Title Express, dedicated wholesale facilities

• OpEx per car +12.7%; Adair says cutting it is a focus

FY 2026:

• Revenue $4,666mm, +0.4% (+2.4% ex-FY25 hurricanes)

• Gross profit $2,084mm, -0.8%; margin 44.7%

• Operating income $1,653mm, -2.6%; margin 35.4% vs. 36.5%

• Net income $1,484mm, -4.4%; diluted EPS $1.55 vs. $1.59

• US facility costs -0.7% (+6.6% per unit)

• Operating cash flow $1,604mm; gross capex $337mm (vs. $569mm)

• Buybacks $1.63bn; $4.5bn cash/HTM securities, no debt

Volumes and other metrics (Q4 y/y unless noted):

• Global units -2.9% (FY -5.5%; -3.1% ex-CAT)

• US units -5.7% (FY -6.9%); International +10% (FY +3.7%)

• US insurance units -7.5% (FY -8%). Ex-one lost customer, US insurance assignments would be +2.3%

• US non-insurance units +0.2%, back to growth (FY -3.9%): dealer +5.8%, BluCar ~+20%, Copart Direct -11.7%

• International insurance units +11.2%; International revenue +11.7%, op margin 25.6%

• ASPs: global +3.5%, US insurance +3.7% (Manheim index +2.8%); global FY +5.5%

• Revenue per unit +5.4% (FY ~+5.7%, per management); International fee revenue per unit +3.5%

• Industry: collision claim frequency -3.4%; total loss frequency 23.3% (record calendar Q2); severity +8.8%

• International buyers: 38.2% of US units, 45.7% of US dollars sold (FY26)

Impact on Valuation

Copart thinks it’s worth laying out $1.9 billion for ACV and understands its own return profile. Maybe it’s not going to earn 30% on capital, but even 20% (low for Copart standards) would need to produce almost $400 million in incremental EBIT to justify the purchase.

Things will look messy until the integration and synergies begin to accrue in FY 28. In my valuation framework, it’ll immediately add $1.9 billion to capital employed. This will cause lower capital turnover and margin, resulting in a temporarily depressed average ROCE for FY 27.

So where does that leave us for valuation? I’m leaving my previous analysis unchanged. Exchanging cash for a business simply changes the asset, and I’ll leave it at a 1:1 ratio for now until the facts dictate otherwise.

More thoughts? Let me know in a private message or leave a comment.

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Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Praise for the 2nd Edition

I’m incredibly grateful for the people who took the time to review early drafts of the new material and provided feedback, as well as praise for both editions:

“If you want to understand how Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the most valuable businesses in the world, you have to read this book. This is your opportunity to stand beside Picasso as he paints each brush stroke. A must read for all Buffett and Berkshire groupies.”

- Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square

“I and my teammates at the Gabelli Organization have been tracking Warren’s success for some 50 years. Adam’s book captures the work and highlights the history of Berkshire and the hard and diligent work of Buffett and Munger, Jain and Abel, and Combs and Weschler.”

- Mario Gabelli, Chairman and CEO, Gabelli Funds

“Adam Mead’s discussion of the values and virtues which have shaped Berkshire Hathaway over 50 years is a must read for those investors in search of the forces that have delivered such investment value over time.” – Thomas A. Russo, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

“Few activities can be more rewarding for any value investor than studying the history and evolution of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Adam has done us a huge favor with his yeoman efforts in producing this treatise. Since it is chronologically ordered, it is an invaluable reference guide for all things Berkshire.” — Mohnish Pabrai

“Adam continues to deliver a resource very valuable to both Berkshire fans and the investor community as a whole, his depth of knowledge is clearly demonstrated here again. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition.” - Dan Calkins, Chairman & CEO, Benjamin Moore

“The question must be asked, ‘Why another Berkshire book?’ When you read this monumental effort by Adam Mead, the answer will be obvious. Read cover to cover, both the uninitiated to Berkshire and its most ardent followers will derive enormous utility and satisfaction from it. I learned so many new and important things about Berkshire and its history. It is my pleasure to encourage you to enjoy this gem.”

- Christopher P. Bloomstran

“Whatever Adam writes is always first-class - guaranteed.

-Andy Kilpatrick, Author, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett

In Case You Missed It:

Copart Buys ACV Auctions for $1.9bn

Big news from Copart.

Chris Bloomstran on William Green’s Podcast

The Lottery and the Leftovers - Small Cap Index Bifurcation

AI Enabled Underwriting at Berkshire’s GenRe

GE Aerospace Pays Up for Castings Supplier

Berkshire paid up for PCC and wrote it down, but the market is validating the purchase. GE is paying 18x EBITDA for a PCC competitor, including projected synergies. Note: Berkshire is NOT selling PCC. One of the current owners of Consolidated Precision Products is Berkshire Partners, which has no affiliation with BRK.

“If you’re standing still, you’re not selling shoes.”

(The kicker: He didn’t even get a commission. It was all internal motivation.)

This Week in Berkshire History

September 11, 2001: Berkshire acquires XTRA for $578 million cash.

Berkshire had the ability to walk away when the stock market closed on 9/11, but didn’t.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

You can build an investment toolkit with any budget. In fact, I’d argue that you might be better off keeping your budget tight and putting the rest of your capital to work.

I split the investment process into four stages represented by a helpful acronym: FARM.

• Find: Sourcing ideas / casting a wide net

• Assess: A fast filter to screen the firehose of ideas

• Research: The data collection and deep work necessary to bring an idea onto your watchlist and into your portfolio

• Monitor: Alerts and ongoing work to stay on top of new information

Two Tools for 90% of the Process

Two tools cut across the entire spectrum. What’s more, they’re free.

SEC EDGAR (link): For investors in US companies, the SEC’s filing site will be a primary source of information. Go ahead and bookmark it now. This is the central repository for all annual and quarterly statements (including the incorporated exhibits), proxies, insider transactions, debt filings, you name it.

Other countries have analogs, such as SEDAR in Canada, that I’d put here too.

CapEdge (link): This is a completely free tool I’ve built a lot of my processes around. It allows you to get notifications on new filings, search them (and compare redlined!), read transcripts, view historical financial data, and group companies in folders.

The Processing Layer

You’ll need what I call a processing layer. For most people, this will be Microsoft Office or Google’s products. I’m primarily an Office guy and do most of my work in Excel and Word. Excel is the workplace gold standard, and it makes beautiful charts.

I hesitate to assign a “research cost” to this because most people already pay for it anyway. Microsoft 365 for personal use is $99/year and gives you access to desktop apps, mobile, and 1TB of storage.

The next upgrade is Microsoft 365 Business for $14 to $22/month. Call it about $250/year. This lets you have multiple users, including your own email address, and lets you set up a ShareFile site, which is helpful for organization and collaboration.

Claude & ChatGPT: Your Research Assistants

Having used both products for a while now, there’s no going back. I pay $100/month for Claude and $20/month for ChatGPT, and it’s worth every penny.

Claude integrates with your desktop files, including manipulating them, and it works inside Excel and Word. You effectively have a research assistant or intern right there whenever you need it. Dispatch it on a mission to collect 10 years of annual reports, or input financial statements into your preferred format, or find articles, or check your reasoning. It’s wonderful.

I find ChatGPT a bit quicker on the draw with queries and a good thinking partner. It also does a good job remembering previous conversations.

The big asterisk and caution here is to use these as tools and be careful not to outsource your thinking.

Research Budgets: From $0 to $1,000 to $10,000/year

Tier 1: The Completely Free Stack:

Here’s what I’d do with no budget for research. You’d either have Microsoft Office already, or you could do very well with Google Docs/Sheets.

• Broker search tools. Every broker has built-in search tools. There are many other free or free-tier sites that have great screeners. I won’t list them all.

  • Stock Analysis

  • Finviz

  • OTC Markets

• To go deeper, CapEdge, SEC EDGAR, company IR pages, Fiscal.ai, ROIC.ai

• WhaleWisdom’s free tier is all you need to view 13F filings from well-known investors

• Quartr: This is a great source for conference calls. Unfortunately, it’s only available on mobile. They have other paid products as well.

• Skip the free message boards such as Yahoo!. For higher-quality thoughts and analysis use Corner of Berkshire and Fairfax and Value Investors Club, both of which are free to lurk/browse.

• Library Card: Seriously. Many libraries give you access to tools like ValueLine, Mergent, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.

• Industry publications: You can find a lot off good articles for free. Some will even send you physical copies at no charge.

  ---

Tier 2: The Starter ($25-$50/month)

• ChatGPT: The first thing I’d probably add is a ChatGPT upgrade. You’ll get access to agents and more bandwidth. While not as robust as Claude, ChatGPT will hold its own at building spreadsheets and working through data you give it.

• Subscriptions: Even a serious amateur investor needs a good flow of news and ideas. Paid services like The Wall Street Journal (~$50/mo. after the intro rate) put you in the know and with a well-respected team of journalists sourcing and curating information. The Economist is also a great source of news and ideas delivered on a weekly basis. You might also add one or two Substack subscriptions from writers you admire to get exposure to their thinking and find new ideas.

  ---

Tier 3: The Serious Amateur ($100-$250/month)

Now we’re able to get a few more tools in the toolbox.

• Claude Max: I’d go right to Claude Max at $100/month. If you’re doing serious research, you’re going to need some heavy-lifting power at your disposal. Especially if you’re limited on time, which who isn’t?

• Subscriptions:

  • Wall Street Journal digital ($50/mo.)

  • Economist digital ($29/mo.)

  • Morningstar ($35/mo. or $249/year). Morningstar has its own research team and does a good job summarizing key updates for most large and mid-size companies. Full disclosure, I’ve used it for years, but I’m phasing it out as I’m not getting enough out of it lately.

• Other Paid Tools: I use a whole suite of free versions of tools from time to time. That includes TIKR, Fiscal.ai, ROIC.ai, and WhaleWisdom, among others. You might find you particularly enjoy or spend a lot of time on them, and that might be a reason to upgrade to the paid versions.

• Industry Publications: Now you might want to upgrade your industry “rags” budget to include some specific publications that give you a pulse on one or more industries.

  ---

Tier 4: Full Stack / Professional ($300-$600/month) or more

You can certainly spend a fortune on tools, but you don’t need to. You’d be surprised at how relatively small my budget is.

Tools:

• Claude Max ($100/mo.).

• Microsoft 365 for Business

Subscriptions/Research:

• Wall Street Journal

• Economist

• ValueLine Investment Survey ($200-$700+ per year)

• Substack subscriptions

• InPractise: Insider interviews. I used to pay for this but found I didn’t use it enough.

• Additional industry publications

Note that I’ve left off several tools mostly because I haven’t used them (or don’t want to pay for them). These include Bloomberg, AlphaSense, and others that run from $5,000 to $25,000 per year or more.

Concluding Thoughts

There are so many free sources of investment information today. You can build a great process with a small budget and put your savings to work in your portfolio instead.

And sure, AI is here and can do an incredible amount of impressive work and research. But that’s not enough. I believe it’s going to come down to the same thing it always does: doing the work. There’s no substitute for sitting down and thinking about what’s in front of you, whether that’s your own spreadsheet or one put together by AI.

Taking the time to build a solid and repeatable research process is worth the effort. It will build and hone skills that allow you to better utilize the tools at your disposal. And AI isn’t perfect. Far from it. Knowing how a spreadsheet should look and analyzing its outputs requires human understanding. Otherwise, how can you have the confidence to put real money to work?

Value Investing Course

I’m building a self-directed value investing course that will teach you how to become a better investor. It’s a system you can start using today to do real research.

While it’s still in beta testing, you can purchase lifetime access starting now.

See What's In the Course

More thoughts? Let me know in a private message or leave a comment.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

Praise for the 2nd Edition

I’m incredibly grateful for the people who took the time to review early drafts of the new material and provided feedback, as well as praise for both editions:

“If you want to understand how Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the most valuable businesses in the world, you have to read this book. This is your opportunity to stand beside Picasso as he paints each brush stroke. A must read for all Buffett and Berkshire groupies.”

- Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square

“I and my teammates at the Gabelli Organization have been tracking Warren’s success for some 50 years. Adam’s book captures the work and highlights the history of Berkshire and the hard and diligent work of Buffett and Munger, Jain and Abel, and Combs and Weschler.”

- Mario Gabelli, Chairman and CEO, Gabelli Funds

“Adam Mead’s discussion of the values and virtues which have shaped Berkshire Hathaway over 50 years is a must read for those investors in search of the forces that have delivered such investment value over time.” – Thomas A. Russo, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

“Few activities can be more rewarding for any value investor than studying the history and evolution of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Adam has done us a huge favor with his yeoman efforts in producing this treatise. Since it is chronologically ordered, it is an invaluable reference guide for all things Berkshire.” — Mohnish Pabrai

“Adam continues to deliver a resource very valuable to both Berkshire fans and the investor community as a whole, his depth of knowledge is clearly demonstrated here again. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition.” - Dan Calkins, Chairman & CEO, Benjamin Moore

“The question must be asked, ‘Why another Berkshire book?’ When you read this monumental effort by Adam Mead, the answer will be obvious. Read cover to cover, both the uninitiated to Berkshire and its most ardent followers will derive enormous utility and satisfaction from it. I learned so many new and important things about Berkshire and its history. It is my pleasure to encourage you to enjoy this gem.”

- Christopher P. Bloomstran

“Whatever Adam writes is always first-class - guaranteed.

-Andy Kilpatrick, Author, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett

In Case You Missed It:

Greg Abel in Tokyo on CNBC (Podcast) (Transcript)

Some interesting details on Tungaloy, Alphabet, the Japanese trading houses, Tokio Marine, and how Berkshire is going to integrate Taylor Morrison with Clayton Homes.

Berkshire Robbed! Twice!

Robbers broke into a BNSF train and stole Brooks shoes.

Squishmallows Movie

More Korean Net Nets

Sung Capital

All Korean net nets #2: who’s holding the keys?

As promised in the first batch, the Google Sheet tracking every net net in this series is now live: the price and multiples on the day I wrote each one up, my score from 1 to 5, and the return since, updated live. Premium subscribers will find the link at the end of this post behind the paywall…

Read more

2 months ago · 10 likes · Oliver Sung

The Smart Phone Era 2010s to 2020s

Scenic Route Investing by Wagner Road

TTS Part 2 Continued: The Smart Phone Era

See footnotes for links to parts 1 and 2…

Read more

2 months ago · 5 likes · Andrew Wagner

This Week in Berkshire History

August 30, 1930: Warren Edward Buffett born

August 31, 2005: Recreational vehicle manufacturer Forest River acquired.
August 31, 2020: Berkshire announces it has taken a 5% stake in five of the leading Japanese trading companies (sogo shosha).

September 1, 2023: Berkshire Hathaway Energy pays $3.3 billion for an additional 50% interest in Cove Point LNG, increasing its ownership to 75%.

September 4, 2002: Berkshire acquires Garan, Incorporated, maker of GaranamalsR

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay Rational!

Adam

Order the 2nd Edition Now!

The course is designed to teach a rigorous and repeatable process for researching investments, from deciding whether an idea is worth pursuing to analyzing the business, valuing it, and deciding whether it belongs in a portfolio.

Most of the course is already built. Before I consider it finished, I want a few more serious investors to go through it and tell me what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be improved.

Beta testers will get lifetime access to the course for $99.

The eventual price will be significantly higher.

In return, I’m looking for real feedback:

• What was especially useful

• What was confusing

• Where I moved too quickly

• Where I spent too much time

• What felt unnecessary

• What was missing

• What would make the course materially better

The course uses real companies, actual filings, and practical examples throughout.

I’m going to keep the beta group small, so I can incorporate the feedback quickly.

If you’re interested, you can sign up here: Beta Tester Signup

Here’s the high-level outline and a snapshot of the Research module (click for the full syllabus):

Disclosure: Long MED (prior analysis)

About to Get Interesting?

Medifast’s enterprise value has languished below the value of its cash and investments since early 2025. As this letter from Steamboat Capital Partners notes, the market is valuing it more dead than alive.

Is that about to change?

With an activist gaining two board seats and revenue stabilizing over the last three quarters, I think things are about to get interesting.

Steamboat Capital

Steamboat arrived on the scene with that March 19, 2026 letter laying out the case for a turnaround and disclosing a 6% stake in the company.

Then, on March 20, the company announced a cooperation agreement with Steamboat, including that the company would nominate two Steamboat principals, Parsa Kiai and Jeff Rose, to the board at the upcoming AGM, replacing two existing directors. Additionally, Steamboat agreed to a standstill and voting arrangements through the 2027 AGM.

Subsequent open market purchases during August have brought Steamboat’s stake to 7.1%.

Profitability in Sight?

Alongside the leadership transition from Dan Chard (to non-exec. chairman) to former president, Nick Johnson, Medifast replaced its flagship OPTAVIA weight loss program with a new metabolic health brand called Trilivy. There are some encouraging signs of a profitable coexistence with GLP-1s.

• For starters, revenue has stabilized at $75 million over the last three quarters.

• While active earning coaches declined by almost half to 11,700, revenue per earning coach increased 41% to $6,529. The company points to its historical pattern of increasing productivity leading to coach growth and ultimately to revenue growth.

• The company expects to regain profitability in Q4 of this year. It launched an aptly named Catalyst program to rationalize costs across the organization, including AI-related efficiencies.

Q2 Operational Highlights

• Revenue of $76.4 million, down 27.6% compared to Q2 2025

• Gross profit down 30.3% to $53.4 million

• Gross margin 69.9% down from 72.6%, with most of that attributed to loss of operating leverage on lower sales

• Loss from operations of $4.3 million (-5.7% margin)

• Free cash flow turned positive in Q2, at $728 thousand.

Valuation

Read more

At some point, you have to work through real companies, build the models, make judgments with imperfect information, and have someone challenge your thinking.

That’s what I’ve tried to build with my private investment coaching.

The program is completely customized around the individual investor. We work on companies you actually want to understand and focus on the areas where you can make the most progress, whether that’s reading financial statements, researching businesses, building models, valuation, developing a watchlist, or making better portfolio decisions.

There’s no canned curriculum. The goal is to help you develop a practical, repeatable investment process and ultimately become a more capable and independent investor.

I’ve particularly enjoyed seeing how differently the program can develop depending on the person. I’ve worked with newer investors building their foundation, experienced investors looking to sharpen their process, and business owners interested in becoming better investors while also learning more about businesses in their own industries.

I’m opening a few spots for investors interested in working together.

I’ve put together a new page explaining the program in more detail, including how the coaching works and comments from several investors I’ve worked with.

Learn more about Private Investment Coaching

If it seems like it might be a fit, you can also schedule a free introductory conversation from that page.

Adam

Private Investment Coaching is offered by Watchlist Investing, LLC and is educational in nature. Nothing discussed as part of the program should be considered investment advice or an offer to buy or sell securities.