The Article from the Toronto Star

"Business students get to meet investing guru Buffett"


Feb 02, 2008 04:30 AM

Talbot Boggs
SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO STAR

For years, business students have read about and studied the theories and methods of value investing guru Warren Buffett, chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Now, a select group of students from McGill University, the Rotman School of Management and University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business are getting the opportunity of a lifetime to meet the financial genius in person and, possibly, pitch an investment opportunity to him.

Students from the three Canadian universities will travel to Berkshire Hathaway's head office in Omaha, Neb., to tour one of its companies and then have a luncheon and question and answer session with Buffett.

"This is a great way to link textbook learning with the real world," says Matt Hertz, a student at McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management.

At the end of March, about 60 students from the Ivey School of Business will travel to Omaha for their meeting with the value investing guru.

One of George Athanassakos's mandates as chair of Ivey's Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing is to develop a program on value investing and spread the word about its methods and benefits.

What better way than to take students for an audience with Buffett?

"If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammed," says Athanassakos.

"The trip isn't about learning about value investing, it's about hearing his (Buffett's) opinions, which are always very well thought out, on life, politics and other things."

The concept of value investing was first put forward in 1934 by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in their book, Security Analysis. Buffett was a student of Graham's at Columbia University.

Media Day

I'm going to call yesterday 'Media Day' for two reasons. The first is because The Toronto Star ran an article about Ivey's trip to visit Warren Buffett in Omaha, in a special section devoted to MBA programs in Ontario. What I learned from that piece was that McGill (Montreal) and Rotman (Toronto), two of our respected competitors, are also making a similar trip this year. I have been led to believe that March 31st is Ivey Day with Warren. So, my assumption is that the other two schools are going at different times.

The second reason is that I spent two hours on YouTube, watching clips of Warren Buffett speaking to MBA students, journalists, and shareholders. I've already read a lot of his writings and books about value investing, but this was the first time that I had actually heard him speak. What strikes me about Mr. Buffett is the clarity of his thoughts and messages. I would love to see his weekly schedule/routine to find out just how much he reads. It must be volume and volumes, to be as well-informed, intuitive, and wise as he comes across. On top of that, he seems perfectly chipper at all times and excited about allocating capital.

Anyway, there's more good news to come in this blog, that I can't quite reveal yet, but involves a HUGE amount of support for our trip from Ivey...

The Pieces are Coming Together

Over the past few days, I've continued to send out e-mails containing some details surrounding the course, the trip, and other requirements to qualify. One of those requirements is that all students attend a video-conference with Walter Schloss -- Warren Buffett's good friend, former colleague, and extremely intelligent and profitable value investor. I have no idea what to expect from this event, but I hope it provides a good foundation for the eventual course and trip to Omaha. March 31st is a big chance to make a good impression on Mr. Buffett, both as individuals and as Canada's best business school. So, I hope people take it all seriously, from day one.

As of today, all spaces on the private plane have been fully subscribed for, the waiting list only has 10 people left on it as students continue to make decisions about taking the tough "Value Investing" course while also weighing the costs and benefits of the trip to Omaha versus their budgets, and the bus company in Omaha is on board to provide us with some stylish wheels for March 31st. I'm only waiting to hear back from our travel agent about the possibility of securing another small plane for the day for about 40 travelers at a fixed price of about $500 per person. All in all, it looks like this trip is coming together without too many hiccups, political issues, or externalities. Fingers crossed.

Now, the icing on the cake is that 13 members of our prestigious DBK fraternity, so far, booked an early travel package this afternoon, which puts us in Omaha on Saturday morning. The opportunity to see the city, pop across the river to the casino in Iowa, party with some corn huskers, and soak up the vibes of some March Madness B-Ball was irresistible. I just hope they can handle us....

Gathering Steam

Between this post and my last, a few more details have been learned, about the trip to visit Warren Buffett on March 31st in Omaha. The total number of Ivey travellers was graciously increased from 110 to 116, to accommodate some extra people who signed up for the trip at Professor Athanassakos' "Value Investing" information session. Based on that, I e-mailed everyone who qualified to be short-listed as a traveler for the trip.

Of course, the 15 or so people left on the waiting list generally aren't happy, with some practically begging to do anything to get on the traveler list. Questions about the selection process, odds of being upgraded to a traveler, and the like, have been trickling in every day. However, I can say that it hasn't been to nasty...fingers crossed.

Yesterday I placed a call to the bus company in Omaha, who I hope will agree to provide us with bus and/or van transportation for the day, between sites. I haven't heard back from "Jolene" yet, so I plan to follow up with another call tomorrow. Further, I need to remind myself to pursue my travel agent with respect to the odds of chartering a Northwest plane for the day, from Detroit to Omaha and back, for a capacity of 38 people. Although this seems like a terrible shortfall from the 66 MBAs traveling in the group, many people will be going early to party in Omaha and experience some true 'March Madness', such as myself...

In any event, my hope is that the planning continues to go smoothly, that my BRK.B shares continue to rise slowly but steadily, and that the Oracle of Omaha doesn't have an emergency board meeting suddenly arise, days before our departure and immediately after slaving through Professor Athanassakos' course.

Go time -- the most exciting day of 2008!

Today (Friday, January 19th) has been the most exciting day of 2008, and that says a lot considering that I rang in the new year at a beach party in Haad Rin, Thailand. Anyway, today our MBA class was presented with the opportunity to spend a private day with Warren Buffett. Our 'Value Investing' professor, George Athanassakos, offered us this chance as part of his course, which he will be conducting in the Spring months. Needless to say, this provided me with the most intense surge of adrenaline felt in a classroom, probably ever. And Ivey's a great school, don't get me wrong.

Anyway, this blog will be about my next two months leading up to March 31st, 2008 -- the day on which myself and a group of about 55 MBA and 55 HBA students from Ivey will travel from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada to visit Mr. Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, at the Berkshire Hathaway headquarters in Nebraska. I have taken the opportunity to help organize the trip for our lucky lot of us. As a holder of a modest 4 BRK.B shares, an amateur value investor, and the owner of a Berkshire Hathaway Edition of the Monopoly board game, the opportunity to spend a day in Omaha and with Mr. Buffett himself is invaluable.

I can't promise that this first and only blog of mine will be riveting, but I'm going to try and share all of the important aspects of preparing for an opportunity such as this, ranging from logistical information, to my readings and learnings, to some of the stocks that I might study, and maybe even about some of the things that will surely fall by the wayside in my life as this takes everything over.

So, today I digested 79 requests to attend the all-day event. Some people are going to be mad about not being able to go, but the beauty of a FIFO system is that I don't have to get emotional about enforcing the cap. And still, the opportunity is only open to those who register to take Professor Athanassakos' 'Value Investing' course. I also got in touch with my travel agent to ask about group rates for flights from Detroit, which were quoted as being quite affordable actually, versus chartering a private plane for the day.

Sitting here at 2:30 AM and reflecting on the day, I know I have a lot of old-fashioned hard work ahead of me, but I also know that I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for years, which is why I jumped at the chance to help out...