Todd Combs remains a relatively unknown figure, despite the fact that two long days have passed since Warren Buffett announced that the 39-year-old hedge fund manager would take on a significant portion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s BRK.A-N $50-billion (U.S.) equity portfolio – making Mr. Combs a likely successor to Mr. Buffett when he steps down.
Since he has declined interviews, most of what’s known about Mr. Combs comes from his firm’s filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Here, observers can get a glimpse of his equity holdings and investing style during his five years at Castle Point Capital.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that those filings suggest Mr. Combs is a relatively short-term investor, apparently moving in and out of stocks with the sort of nimbleness that would make Mr. Buffett – whose name is synonymous with the long-term investing – wince. The Journal’s article also suggests that Mr. Combs is going to have to shift styles to fall in line with the Berkshire way.
What’s interesting here is that people expect Mr. Combs to become another Warren Buffett. But is this a reasonable expectation, or even desired? To be sure, Mr. Buffett is a great investor, but he has a particular style that is not necessarily replicable in new hires. Who’s to say that Mr. Combs can’t bring in a new and highly successful approach to investing?
Of course, the massive size of Berkshire’s equity portfolio – it is more than 100-times larger than the one at Castle Point – will naturally impose some restrictions on his approach (it can be hard to move in and out of an equity position when you’re dealing with, say, $10-billion). But I think Mr. Combs should be looked at on his own merits, rather than his ability to transform himself into a Buffett doppelganger.
