Conclusion
In recent years, Affärsvärlden has found unusually few investment companies worth buying. Prior to this review, we had only two buy recommendations (Linc and Flerie) out of a total of 17 companies in the chart above. Generally, we share the view that investment companies as a group have been valued higher than justified in recent years.
At the same time, statistics suggest that the more short-term fluctuations in valuation are of less importance compared to the quality of the investment companies’ holdings and their potential value creation over time. This is certainly not new to those who follow the stock market, but it is worth reminding ourselves of from time to time.
Among the investment giants, Investor stands out positively. The stock is now trading at a 10% discount. Hardly a bargain considering that historically the discount has ranged between 5% and 25%. However, Investor is cheaper than both Industrivärden (9% discount) and Latour (25% premium) despite the fact that the company has grown its asset value significantly faster than others. If we were to point out an investment company right now, it would have to be Investor, and we are upgrading our recommendation on the stock from neutral to buy.