The Ultimate China Play, from the 17%-a-year Man
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
April 30, 2007
You may not know the name Marty Whitman. But he is an absolute legend among investment managers…
His main fund, the Third Avenue Value Fund, has averaged 17% a year since it's inception in 1990. That performance is similar to another investment legend over that same period… a legend named Warren Buffett.
Marty's biggest holding is in a stock I recommended to Sjuggerud Confidential
subscribers just over a year ago – it's called Cheung Kong. It is the best overall China play I know.
Sjuggerud Confidential subscribers are up about 30% so far in Cheung Kong.
Marty has now placed his biggest bet on it. And I like it, too.
Most Americans have never heard of Li Ka-Shing, the founder of Cheung Kong... but he's Asia's richest man. He's also Chinese…
The play with Cheung Kong is not complicated. To make money in China, you want to own businesses that do something for China that it can't do on its own.
Li Ka-Shing builds what China needs: real estate, ports, infrastructure, telecom, and more. He's incredibly smart, he's got access to big money, and he's got the Chinese connections to get the contracts.
The portfolio of assets he's put together over the last 35 years would be extremely difficult to replicate. Quite frankly, it's extraordinary.
His story is exceptional as well… Li Ka-Shing was born in the Chinese coastal city of Chiu Chow. At age 12, Li had to take responsibility for the family after his father died. Li left school to work in a plastics factory, at times putting in 16-hour days.
Eventually he started his own plastics company, Cheung Kong Industries. It grew quickly and expanded into real estate. Li Ka-Shing took the company public in 1972, and acquired major companies, like Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric.
Today, Li Ka-Shing's companies make up 8% of the entire Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He's come a long way from the plastics factory. One of his businesses actually controls the Panama Canal (yes, it's Chinese controlled now).
And, Li Ka-Shing's presence in Shanghai is towering. He controls the ports. He's built all kinds of real estate — commercial, residential, office space, you name it...
In short, Li is building what China needs. They say about one of every 12 residences in Hong Kong was developed by Cheung Kong.
Now, Li Ka-Shing is taking his formula to the mainland.
A year ago, I recommended buying his stock. Now, it turns out, one of the world's great investors has put more chips on that stock than any other. For the best long-term play on China, maybe you should look into Cheung Kong, too…
Good investing,
Steve
Editor's note: Steve Sjuggerud is a regular contributor to DailyWealth, a free investment newsletter focused on the world's best contrarian opportunities. We write with a simple belief in mind: You don't have to take big risks to make big money with your investments.
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