Subject: Re: OT Daily Journal question
Digging around the internet it seems the following may be the case.

The Australia market is progressing well. The software is already live is various locations, with further implementations likely this year. Business as usual for Journal Technologies. Continued incremental growth. There are company promotional website postings supporting this dynamic.

The investment portfolio is likely:
WFC $100m
BOA $82m
USB $5m
Tencent $117m
BYD $102m
BABA $28m

My understanding is that the Chinese holdings are established from tracking the share prices and it fits with the reported total market value. We know they owned BYD and a swap out of BABA into Tencent is consistent with public comments from other investors close to Charlie Munger.

The interesting thing about the DJCO investment portfolio, which is 57% Chinese and 43% USA, is more relevant today with the growing US government debt concerns and general small change in sentiment to diversify out of US equities and the dollar. Many people do not hold Munger’s view on China but it is an interesting diversification I thought opportunity for consideration.

The financial statements refer to the board taking advice from outsiders on the investment portfolio, which led to the 10% liquidation in 2024. Given the Chinese investments and history of Charlie Munger’s close ties with Li Lu, I would say there is a reasonable probability he is the informal advisor.

BYD and Tencent have been performing very strongly. BABA has improved its outlook with AI and cloud but it’s not doing as well as Charlie and Li Lu would have originally anticipated and it is now less significant to DJCO.

The new CEO is moving the software business forward on the right path and the future looks promising.

All in all, I see DJCO as reasonable value and should do fine over the next 5 and 10 years. It does provide exposure to a small group of 6 public companies and a growing software business. It provides some diversification from the US and exposure to a few of China’s strongest companies. Not something that everyone wants. But Charlie Munger considered it a reasonably good idea for the long term.

Over at Berkshire, Buffett is taking a different path, with cash and some Japanese equities but essentially heavily invested in the USA, which looks pretty smart all things considered. Despite the problems the US has, it’s not until you look closely at other countries and public companies in Europe and China that you realise that the lower prices are often deserved.

Berkshire is a great investment, particularly for US citizens. Less so, if you are outside the US with the combination of modest return expectations, due to a full valuation and currency risk. Still my largest holding though.

Interesting times as always…