Deep Due Diligence: The Thick Folder Approach

Ryan Bunn is the lead portfolio manager at Reference Equity in Denver, a Northwestern-trained engineer and Kellogg MBA with 15+ years of global equity experience who implements a first-principles quality-value philosophy focused on businesses in non-competitive situations.

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3:00 — Ryan’s Midwestern upbringing outside Cincinnati; mother taught him investing in elementary school; family of savers focused on dividend yields and long-term wealth building.

5:00 — 30-year investing evolution: private equity consulting training revealed wide range of business quality; reading Graham and Buffett cemented value conviction; experimented with options, angel investing in India, due diligence in Moscow, NFTs.

7:00 — The NFT experiment: bought digital art in summer 2021, sold for 25x return in six weeks, watched it crash 95%+. Lesson: “It showed me that I’m not a growth investor… it was so stressful even as prices were going up.”

9:00 — First principles of quality investing: competition is capitalism’s first principle; sustainable high returns require non-competitive scenarios. Challenges the broad definition of “quality” in today’s market.

13:00 — Philip Carret’s legacy: founded Pioneer Fund in 1928, compounded ~13% annually over 60 years, wrote The Art of Speculation in 1930. Met Buffett in early 1950s — before Munger. Framework of “men, materials, and money” underlies all fundamental investing today.

19:00 — Intellectual heritage: ideas passed between generations compound like capital. Carret appeared at the 1995 Berkshire meeting at age 99.

22:00 — Generational wealth: someone must be the first generation to save and sacrifice. Modern retirement planning models spending to zero — the opposite of wealth transfer.

27:00 — Capital vs. currency: truly long-term investing requires a pool of capital you never touch. Focus on yield, not the capital base itself. Bogumil shares his “forgotten money” account untouched for 20+ years.

33:00 — Collecting mindset: Berkshire shareholders collect shares, not dollars. Reframing investing as collecting removes short-term anxiety.

44:00 — Why value investing works structurally: cheaper stocks get more powerful buybacks; low multiples protect against destructive M&A; boring companies let management focus on operations, not investor relations.

55:00 — Global small caps: 5,000+ stocks, ~150 meet Ryan’s non-competitive filter, 3-5 per year reach attractive valuations. International investing rewards those who understand what US-quality governance looks like.

1:01:00 — Reference equity concept: European “reference shareholder” families as long-term partners to businesses. Ryan’s mission to bring this model to US public markets.

Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement

Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.

Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.