About This Episode

David Swensen, the manager of Yale’s endowment who passed away earlier this month, wrote the following in his 2005 book Unconventional Success:

Southeastern Asset Management (sponsor of the Longleaf Partners mutual-fund family) exemplifies every fundamentally important, investor-friendly characteristic conducive to active-management success. Portfolio managers exhibit the courage to hold concentrated portfolios, to commit substantial funds side by side with shareholders, to limit assets under management, to show sensitivity to tax consequence, to set fees at reasonable levels, and to shut down funds in the face of diminished investment opportunity.

About Our Guest

Staley Cates is the chairman of Southeastern Asset Management, a Memphis-based, employee-owned global investment management firm founded in 1975 by O. Mason Hawkins. It is the investment advisor to the Longleaf Partners Funds. Longleaf’s flagship fund, Longleaf Partners Fund (LLPFX), was launched in 1987. It was followed by Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund (LLSCX) in 1989, Longleaf Partners International Fund (LLINX) in 1998 and Longleaf Partners Global Fund (LLGLX) in 2012

Show Notes

Here is a link to more information about Southeastern Asset Management. Here is a link to the interview I did with Staley in 2015, when described Southeastern’s approach to value investing and the criteria it looks for in a potential investment. Here is a link to an interview I did last year with Staley and his partner, Ross Glotzbach, about Southeastern’s small-cap fund. Here a the link to the podcast Staley did with Jon Jacobson that was mentioned in this podcast.