RIP - Michael Price

[Chuckanut]

The older members of this group may remember a fund called Mutual Shares and the man who ran it - Michael Price.

Michael Price is only guy I ever invested with who seemed to consistently beat the market. The Mutual Shares fund invested in distressed and bankrupt companies. It did great.

It was only half jokingly said that when Mr. Price bought into a company he knew the real price of every last asset down the the nuts and bolts in the company's maintenance shed. I sold after Mutual Shares was bought by another fund outfit.

Unfortunately, Mr. Price died about two weeks ago.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/michael-price-who-saw-value-in-companies-struggles-dies-at-70

He searched for value amid beaten-down companies. “We like to buy a security only if we think it is selling for at least 25% less than its market value,” he told Fortune magazine for a 1996 profile.

“When a company gets into trouble and starts to miss its earnings, analysts drop coverage because they don’t want to embarrass their firm with bad calls,” he told Fortune. “So mainstream Wall Street isn’t looking anymore. Which pond would you rather fish in, one with a lot of fishermen or only a few?”

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

The older members of this group may remember a fund called Mutual Shares and the man who ran it - Michael Price.

Michael Price is only guy I ever invested with who seemed to consistently beat the market. The Mutual Shares fund invested in distressed and bankrupt companies. It did great.

It was only half jokingly said that when Mr. Price bought into a company he knew the real price of every last asset down the the nuts and bolts in the company's maintenance shed. I sold after Mutual Shares was bought by another fund outfit.

Unfortunately, Mr. Price died about two weeks ago.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/michael-price-who-saw-value-in-companies-struggles-dies-at-70

I'd much prefer buying distressed companies "on sale" as opposed to catching the next skyrocket. If I were looking for a stock picker, Price is the kind of guy I'd look for.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

On the other hand, deep value is the land of guys like "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap. I hate to see the meat ax swing on the undeserving -- I've seen the process close up (although it never got my neck).

 

[RetMD21]

Thanks for posting. He was a great investor. I forget exactly when I sold my shares. I think it was the late 90s. I was holding the fund in a taxable account and the tax efficiency of index funds was compelling.

 

[Bamaman]

I remember Michael Price. Seems like he learned his trade from an older, very successful gentleman. And he was a trailblazer in the investment business.

I made some good money out of Mutual Shares maybe 40 years ago.

 

[Spanky]

It is sad. He was only 70 years old. We invested in Mutual Qualified --MQIFX for a while until 1996.

 

[OnTheBeach]

Early in my career, I worked at a hedge fund that was next door to Mutual Shares. He came to our holiday party and spoke to me at length - I can't remember what we talked about. I was a 27 year old kid and worked in accounting and he was nice to me. Hopefully that is how I will be remembered.....as a nice person.

 

[Chuckanut]

I remember Michael Price. Seems like he learned his trade from an older, very successful gentleman. And he was a trailblazer in the investment business.
.

Max Heine. I don't know much about Heine other than he taught Michael Price his methods and sold the company to Price when he retired.

 

[Chuckanut]

Early in my career, I worked at a hedge fund that was next door to Mutual Shares. He came to our holiday party and spoke to me at length - I can't remember what we talked about. I was a 27 year old kid and worked in accounting and he was nice to me. Hopefully that is how I will be remembered.....as a nice person.

Years ago I ran into a guy who had a small FA business. Mutual Shares was one of the funds he regularly put people into. He told me that he used to phone Micheal Price at the MS office and talk to him. He had no problems speaking with a 'little guy' If price was not in the office the FA usually got a call back the next day. After MS was purchased by Templeton Funds, Price still answered his phone for a while. However, the frequency of him being 'not available' increased, so the FA decided that he and his customers should sell their shares.

 

[CincyDave]

Sorry to hear. I still own my Mutual Beacon Fund (now Franklin Mutual Beacon) which was another Michael Price fund.

 

[threeonesix]

Sounds like a Carl Icahn peer or predecessor. I will now duck while people throw things at me

 

[Montecfo]

Naw, he was not a green mailer. Just a value investor who knew his craft. I did extremely well owning his funds. And I'm not "old". Just have a good memory.

Thanks for the memories Michael Price. RIP.

 

[MBAustin]

My father bought Mutual Shares when Max Heine was still running it, and kept it until Michael Price left. (I didn't remember him being so young!) I still remember him sitting me down one day when I was in high school and showing me the annual statements to demonstrate the power of compounding and dollar cost averaging. That lesson has served me well. I still have some IRA money in MQIFX out of sentiment, not performance, which hasn't been good lately.