Searching for the Next Buffett

I wasn't expecting much of this article when I came across it. But Ian McGugan's "The Next Buffetts" in MoneySense magazine is good stuff.

Put simply, he describes four investors in North America he feels display some of the same characteristics as Buffett, but are younger. They are:

• Prem Watsa of Fairfax Financial in Toronto
• Tim McElvaine of McElvaine Investment Trust in Vancouver
• Dr. Michael Burry of Scion Capital in Cupertino
• Ian Cumming of Leucadia National in New York

My take on these choices:

1. No surprise. I own Fairfax stock and comparing Watsa to Buffett is almost irresistible since they both oversee insurance companies. I've never liked the journalistic hook of dubbing Watsa the "Buffett of the North" or the "Warren Buffett of Canada" because Watsa has been more influenced by John Templeton, in many ways, than anyone else. (I also think hacks who've accused Watsa of promoting himself as the Buffett of Canada are either dishonest or unprofessional, but the guy is notoriously publicity shy and never promoted himself as anything of the sort.) All that said, it does make sense placing Prem Watsa on this list at the ripe young age of 56.
2. This should be no surprise to regular readers of Controlled Greed. McElvaine used to work for Peter Cundill's firm and left after serving as Chief Investment Officer. McElvaine's fund is only available to Canadian residents so he has a low profile here in the US (and a pretty low one in Canada as well).
3. I actually know next to nothing about Burry -- not that he should lose any sleep over that. But after reading this article, I'll find out more about him.
4. This also shouldn't be any big surprise, since Cumming and Leucadia National have been familiar names since the 1990s. I don't follow Leucadia closely, and that's my fault. Like Capital Southwest Corporation, I'm sure there have been times over the years that Leucadia has been a bargain stock and not buying it has been a mistake.

You'll want to take the time to read the linked article in full. McGugan breaks down each candidate's best and worst calls, why they're like Buffett, and even why they're NOT like Buffett.

An overall fun piece of reading. My only complaint is not including Francis Chou on the list. But, hey, that's what makes a market, right?