ALLAN MECHAM
Self-taught value investor from Utah who beat the market for 20 years with no Bloomberg terminal and no Ivy League degree
A guy from a small town in Utah with no MBA, no Wall Street pedigree, and no Bloomberg terminal crushed the S&P 500 for two decades running a concentrated portfolio of maybe 10 stocks. Arlington Value Capital returned over 400% from 1999 to 2014 while the S&P returned 47%. He shut the fund voluntarily in 2020 to manage his own money. He is the living proof that you do not need a fancy degree to beat the market — you just need patience and the ability to ignore everyone else.
Net Worth
$500 million
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
6 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Founded Arlington Value Capital in 1999 in Salt Lake City at age 22. Ran a hyper-concentrated portfolio of 5-10 stocks.
Returned roughly 400% from 1999 to 2014 while the S&P returned 47%. Peak AUM reached approximately $1.4 billion.
Voluntarily closed the fund to outside investors in 2020 to manage his own capital. Never hired analysts.
Never used a Bloomberg terminal. Never moved to New York.
Operated out of a small office in Utah with minimal overhead.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Arlington Value Capital (founder/CIO)
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Pure deep-value, ultra-concentrated. Mecham typically held 5-10 positions and was willing to put 20-30% of the fund in a single stock.
He looked for businesses trading well below intrinsic value, held them for years, and did almost nothing in between. He read 10-Ks obsessively and ignored Wall Street research entirely.
His approach was closer to early Buffett than almost anyone alive — small, focused, and manual.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Moderate to high. While he bought businesses with large margins of safety, the concentration was extreme.
Putting 25%+ of a portfolio in a single stock means any one thesis being wrong could cause serious damage. He managed this by being extremely selective and rarely pulling the trigger on new positions.
Money Habits
Famously low-cost operation. No Bloomberg terminal.
No fancy office. Minimal staff.
Mecham ran one of the most successful hedge funds in modern history out of a modest office in Salt Lake City. He drove a regular car, lived simply, and let the compounding speak for itself.
The overhead of Arlington Value Capital was a rounding error compared to its peers.
BIGGEST WIN
His overall track record. Compounding at roughly 20%+ annually for two decades while running a tiny operation with no staff, no technology infrastructure, and no industry connections.
He proved the thesis that simplicity and patience beat complexity and speed.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Mecham has been remarkably transparent about his mistakes and has discussed positions that did not work out, but no single loss defined his career. His biggest strategic limitation was capacity — the concentrated, small-cap approach that generated his returns could not scale beyond a certain AUM without fundamentally changing the strategy.
Closing the fund was partly an acknowledgment of this.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Mecham believes investing is simple but not easy. His philosophy boils down to: buy good businesses cheap, concentrate, and wait.
He is deeply skeptical of diversification for its own sake, calling it "a protection against ignorance." He reads voraciously — annual reports, biographies, history — and considers temperament more important than intellect.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Private about personal life. Based in the Salt Lake City area.
Known to be a devout reader who consumes hundreds of annual reports per year.
EDUCATION
No college degree. Self-taught investor.
Mecham has said he learned investing by reading Warren Buffett annual letters, Charlie Munger speeches, and every 10-K he could get his hands on. He considers his lack of formal financial education an advantage — no bad habits to unlearn.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
Poor Charlie's Almanack by Charlie Munger, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, Security Analysis by Graham and Dodd. Mecham is also a fan of business biographies and history books
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QUOTES (6)
I spend most of my time reading. If I find something interesting I look into it further. If not I move on. That is the whole process.
The best thing about not having a Bloomberg terminal is not having a Bloomberg terminal.
If you cannot write down on a piece of paper why you own a stock you should not own it.
Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they are doing.
I do not make predictions about the market. I just try to buy good businesses at good prices.
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