Overview
Founded in 1981, Chou Associates Management Inc. is a privately owned, independent investment firm, managing about $290 million in net assets as of December 31, 2019 for a broad range of individual and corporate investors across Canada. The Chou Funds are wholly managed by Francis Chou from inception and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Investment Philosophy
The investment process followed in selecting equity investments for the Funds is a value-oriented approach to investing. This involves a detailed analysis of the strengths of individual companies, with much less emphasis on short-term market factors. Far greater importance is placed upon an assessment of a company’s balance sheet, cash flow characteristics, profitability, industry position, special strengths, future growth potential and management ability.
The level of investments in the company’s securities is generally commensurate with the current price of the company’s securities in relation to its intrinsic value as determined by the above factors. That approach is designed to provide an extra margin of safety, which in turn serves to reduce overall portfolio risk.
The Manager may decide to maintain a larger portion of the Fund’s assets in short-term fixed income securities during periods of high market valuations and volatility. This temporary departure from the Fund’s core investment strategy may be undertaken to protect capital while awaiting more favourable market conditions.