Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Value investor Michael F PRICE (Mutual Shares/MUTHX, 01/1975-11/1998) passed away at 70. A short obituary was by Barron’s Roundtable member Meryl WHITMER.
I first learned about the Price funds in the mid-80’s, started investing in them, and spoke to him a few times. He and Max Heine, who later died while crossing an intersection in Phoenix, managed MUTHX and Mutual Beacon Z class. Later Price started MDISX (Mutual European, now Global Discovery)), all of which my spouse and I owned in various accounts plus custodial accounts for my two children.
His returns helped us pay for part of our two kids’ college education.
At times, some of his funds were closed because of AUM capacity.
I was disappointed when Price sold the firm Heine Securities in 1996 to Franklin Templeton. He told me that he had to sell for reasons, sadly, that I no longer recall. I only remember his saying that “It was time.”
I immediately sold all of his funds because I suspected that the sale to Franklin would grow assets at Franklin. I've researched the performance of how the funds that FT bought have done since Price sold them.
I remember when I first received his shareholder report for one of the funds, and when I looked at the holdings, I said, “What?” Who in hell are these companies? I recognized a number of names, but for the most part, they were unknown and obscure. Special situations for sure.
I loved it when he talked about how he broke down the value in certain stocks that he owned. Just fun to listen to.
What I enjoyed most was seeing how many times his funds made money on days that the market was down. (For a long time, I kept track of these changes weekly.) This was when, as far as I know, MF prices were only made available in newspapers.
My deepest condolence to his family. Micheal Price exemplified the very best value investors and I have learned much from his funds.
In the early 90's, I invested with Mutual Beacon and Discovery and have had solid results with below average risk. Even after he sold his firm to Franklin, I still invested in Franklin Global Discovery.
So sad to read of his passing. I also want to send my deepest heart felt condolences to his family.
He died way too soon, at only 70.
I too bought Mutual Shares as my first mutual fund in 1989 ( or before, but that is as far back as my available records go!) after reading everything I could find about him and his ideas about value investing. Over the years we put more and more in until it was my biggest position, with Mutual Discovery a close second.
When he sold the firm, I wrote him a long letter, thanking him for putting up such good returns, but also for teaching me about investing and the difference between the value of a company and the price of it's stock.
I can't think of any other well known investor, other than perhaps Buffett, who had a greater impact on my investment ideas ( or on our net worth!).
This is an excellent, very informative article. I seldom read Fortune magazine these days, but don't recall seeing content of this caliber in recent years. Thanks for posting!
Comments
I was invested in his Mutual Beacon or Mutual Shares fund in the mid 90s.
Condolences to his family.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-f-price-a-pugnacious-value-investor-has-died-at-age-70-11647621811
I first learned about the Price funds in the mid-80’s, started investing in them, and spoke to him a few times. He and Max Heine, who later died while crossing an intersection in Phoenix, managed MUTHX and Mutual Beacon Z class. Later Price started MDISX (Mutual European, now Global Discovery)), all of which my spouse and I owned in various accounts plus custodial accounts for my two children.
His returns helped us pay for part of our two kids’ college education.
At times, some of his funds were closed because of AUM capacity.
I was disappointed when Price sold the firm Heine Securities in 1996 to Franklin Templeton. He told me that he had to sell for reasons, sadly, that I no longer recall. I only remember his saying that “It was time.”
I immediately sold all of his funds because I suspected that the sale to Franklin would grow assets at Franklin. I've researched the performance of how the funds that FT bought have done since Price sold them.
I remember when I first received his shareholder report for one of the funds, and when I looked at the holdings, I said, “What?” Who in hell are these companies? I recognized a number of names, but for the most part, they were unknown and obscure. Special situations for sure.
I loved it when he talked about how he broke down the value in certain stocks that he owned. Just fun to listen to.
What I enjoyed most was seeing how many times his funds made money on days that the market was down. (For a long time, I kept track of these changes weekly.) This was when, as far as I know, MF prices were only made available in newspapers.
RIP.
In the early 90's, I invested with Mutual Beacon and Discovery and have had solid results with below average risk. Even after he sold his firm to Franklin, I still invested in Franklin Global Discovery.
He died way too soon, at only 70.
I too bought Mutual Shares as my first mutual fund in 1989 ( or before, but that is as far back as my available records go!) after reading everything I could find about him and his ideas about value investing. Over the years we put more and more in until it was my biggest position, with Mutual Discovery a close second.
When he sold the firm, I wrote him a long letter, thanking him for putting up such good returns, but also for teaching me about investing and the difference between the value of a company and the price of it's stock.
I can't think of any other well known investor, other than perhaps Buffett, who had a greater impact on my investment ideas ( or on our net worth!).
This is an excellent, very informative article.
I seldom read Fortune magazine these days, but don't recall seeing content of this caliber in recent years.
Thanks for posting!
https://www.ou.edu/price/news_center/news_archive/2022/michael-price-benefactor
https://www.ou.edu/price
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_F._Price_College_of_Business