The third of my 2021 “Permanent Hold” Ides List: ... Currently at $28.43.
NOT advice; Simply what I am doing in the public markets. This joins and .
Here’s why:
First, the bear case in a sentence:
They are a levered play on air travel where their customers are running out of cash (rapidly) with very uncertain recovery timeframes.
However, trading at approximately 38% of current book value that seems priced in.
People also don’t like the relative age of their fleet (old tech vs new tech). Well, depending on how you count, something between 50-59% of the book value is in new tech aircraft. Just using the new tech aircraft book, is trading as similar levels to all of
In addition, only 1% of BV is in MAX aircraft vs 5% at . AER has 80 of them currently on order (after cancelling 5); AL has 121 of them on order.
I’d rather have less exposure (absolutely and relatively) to the MAX.
The bull case: In one word, optionality.
I’m biased, but I have flown at least 10 times in the last 4 months ... it’s actually a wonderful experience. is a cheap call option on good virus news and/or travel.
Labor Day airports were surprising active.
In addition, I believe governments globally will continue to be supportive of their domestic travel industries (generally, they are large employers with union representation).
Even as airlines fail, will they liquidate versus restructure? We’ll see.
has plenty of optionality of the financial side as well.
One example; in July they refinanced approximately $1.5 Billion of debt. The result? Later maturity date and over $43 Million of annual interest expense savings (that’s .33 a share annually).
In addition, they have dramatically cut capex over the next 18 months (over $5 Billion worth) and have substantial unencumbered assets for addition liquidity (if necessary).
Final Note: could easily be VERY choppy (subject to news flow and negative headlines). However, I believe the margin of safety is substantial and the positive optionality will make this a good hold over time.
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I ran a $1 Billion corp bond portfolio in the 00’s for a small insurance company
I beat my benchmark by 177 basis points annually from 2003-2008 (when I left) - If you don’t know, this is massive performance
Lots of chatter about about interest rates, so here are a few lessons
1. Don’t predict interest rates
If you are betting that your model is better than all the Wall Street banks and all the portfolio managers (especially those managing 10-1000x your institutional portfolio) you have already lost.
Play the game that you can win
2. Don’t predict the Fed
I’m old enough to remember Greenspan’s “briefcase indicator” (for you kids out there - it was as dumb as it sounds)
If your strategy is based on what the Fed is or isn’t going to do, then you have already lost.
As the kids say these days, “it’s been a minute” since we’ve done a mezz thread.
Today: my first mezz deal, and the answer to the question “How do you know if mezz is right for your business?”
When I went out on my own I started from scratch - no deal flow, etc.
So, I hit the lunch circuit - take people to lunch, ask a lot of questions, ask for referrals, ask for other contacts, etc.
It started slowly, but it started
I looked at a number of potential deals (different sizes, different industries), and found a consumer deal that I liked. They were growing quickly and needed additional capital.
We worked together to come up with a structure that worked for me and the company.
Last week @girdley made a comment about amateurish SMB financials ...
Thought I’d pile on here with a thread on evaluating different parts of those amateurish financials.
(Reminder, often there is opportunity, but it requires some work)
First, a quick story ... my favorite moment at @uclaanderson was accounting class.
Professor: “What account did you use for your plug to make things balance?”
Classmate: “Well, I used two”
Professor:
Ok, 5 areas to probe on amateurish financials:
1) Timing - accounting cadence in most SMB is nonexistent. You’ll often see quarterly or even annual financials. That’s fine. Be sure to ask about seasonality, and make sure financials are current
Finding collateral where there isn’t any ... aka, my most innovative idea (and I’m giving it to you for free)!
Let’s revisit this thread from my early (active) Twitter days. A few questions you might ask:
1) What was my collateral (why did I make this loan)? 2) Why did I have any leverage with the company at all (short of a foreclosure)? 3) Why did the “deep pockets” buy me out?
Last week I promised a few thoughts on cultivating deal flow.
I’m back after some time helping my wife with her art businesses, so the time is now!
How to make deal flow like:
1. Deal flow is a balance between active selling and sitting on your hands.
Who do you “sell” too? Everyone, but especially the “professional set” who are touching a lot of potential targets. For me: bankers, lawyers, accountants, etc
2. Take them to lunch (I know...) - pay for the lunch. Build a relationship. This isn’t a “one and done” thing. Go regularly.
Every city has a handful of people that “control” the deal flow in your industry/target market in that city. You have to find a way in...