Avenir's investment philosophy is to buy a superior business with excellent management at a significant discount to our appraisal of its intrinsic value. This approach to investing is based upon the premise that no one can consistently predict the direction of the stock market or interest rates, and leads us to focus solely on a “bottom-up” analysis of an investment opportunity. Investment decisions are based on a thorough analysis of a company’s business, its financial condition, and the quality of its management.

We are patient, long-term investors and work very hard to achieve an attractive return without taking unnecessary risk. In other words, we seek to invest with a margin of safety in order to protect ourselves against what we do not know. Derived from the philosophy of Benjamin Graham, our idea of a good investment is simply to buy a dollar of value for fifty cents. Such opportunities can be difficult to find, but patience and a willingness to go where others are not looking often leads to new ideas. Therefore we do not mind buying what is out of fashion and investing contrary to the conventional wisdom. If we are right in our analysis, a firm’s value will be realized in due course.

We go wherever we see value and are not limited by market capitalization weightings, industry classifications and related asset allocation metrics. Avenir portfolios are structured to achieve diversification, yet remain generally concentrated and designed for long-term performance. In portfolio management, the decision on the size of a position within a portfolio is as important as the decision to commit capital to the position.

This abbreviated description of Avenir Corporation's philosophy has been adapted from our printed information. Click here to request a full copy of our brochure.