Let’s steal from other portfolios

MAJOR League Baseball punished the Houston Astros for the way they stole opponents’ signs. But there is no penalty for an investment manager stealing ideas from another manager.

In fact, I think one would be foolish not to.

I peek from time to time at the holdings of other managers I respect. In this column, once a year I present my Purloined Portfolio, composed of stocks held by other managers I esteem.

Scott Black

Scott Black is Chairman of Delphi Management Inc. in Boston. Name a stock, and Black can reel off relevant statistics with his opinion and the reasons for it.

From Black this year I will select Berkshire Hathaway Inc., (BRK.A and BRK.B), his largest holding. One reason I like Berkshire is that I expect its chairman, Warren Buffett, to do some rescue missions of other companies, as he did for Goldman Sachs and General Electric in the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

Randall Eley

Randall Eley, who runs Edgar Lomax & Co. in Alexandria, Virginia, was one of the first black investment managers in the U.S. to achieve success.

Eley’s largest holding is Pfizer Inc. (PFE). I think Pfizer is a timely stock now. Whether its own proposed vaccine for COVID-19 succeeds or not, Pfizer is likely to mass produce whatever vaccine the U.S. government chooses to combat the pandemic.

Ken Heebner

Ken Heebner, sometimes known as Bigfoot for his aggressive trading style, is general partner of Capital Growth Management in Boston.

As of the latest filings, Heebner is heavily into homebuilding stocks, which account for four of his 10 largest holdings. My favorite is D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI), one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, which offers homes at a variety of price points.

David Katz

The president of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. in White Plains, New York, David Katz has been a frequent guest on CNBC television.

From his holdings, I will pluck Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), parent of Google, You Tube and the Waymo self-driving car project. I think Google is one of the most innovative companies in the world.

Chuck Royce

Chuck Royce heads Royce Investment Partners, based in New York City, which manages more than $11 billion, mostly in mutual funds. From his holdings I choose John Bean Technologies Corp. (JBT). It’s a conglomerate that mainly serves the food industry and airports.