Meet the Team | John Gillespie

Here at Prospector, value investing is what we do. We also believe that the best partnerships are built upon strong relationships between people. Our “Meet the Team” blog series is designed to let you get to know us better.

Recently, we sat down with one of our team members, John Gillespie, and asked him some questions.  And, we received some interesting answers!  Find out what the craziest thing he ever did was, who inspires him (and why), and books he recommends.

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Balance Sheet Detectives - How We Analyze Bank Stocks

At Prospector, given our expertise in financial services companies, we believe we possess an edge in analyzing banks. Our long-term performance bears this out, especially in periods of distress like the Global Financial Crisis. So, what do we look for when analyzing bank stocks?

One common theme among our bank holdings is that the majority are significantly overcapitalized. This tends to make the banks less susceptible to the ups and downs of credit cycles and allows for flexibility in terms of capital management. We also favor management teams that consistently return capital to shareholders by way of dividends and buying back their shares.

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Balance Sheet Detectives - How We Analyze Insurance Companies

For balance sheet-oriented investors with expertise in the insurance industry, opportunities for alpha creation abound.

At Prospector, our three portfolio managers (as well as one analyst) each have over 20 years’ experience analyzing and working at insurance companies. This experience includes managing insurers’ investment portfolios and even serving on boards. With over 100 years of cumulative experience, it goes without saying that insurance is an area that we feel very comfortable analyzing and investing in. We also do many face-to-face meetings with these companies’ management teams, and are regulars at most of the sector-specific, annual gatherings.

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