New Ideas From Not-So-New Investors

What do you invest in if you’ve seen it all? We asked three longtime money managers just that. Only these weren’t any three investors. These gentlemen worked on Wall Street during the Great Depression and have been investing ever since, racking up impressive records through numerous bull and bear markets. Their long-term outlook on the economy and markets are relatively upbeat, so we wanted to know where they’re putting their money today. Not surprisingly, they’re sticking with what’s worked over their lengthy careers: Picking up cheap companies, preferably those with little debt and loads of cash.

Seth Glickenhaus, 95, has been looking for dividend-paying stocks to cushion his portfolio from the current market turmoil. While dividends are becoming harder to come by, he has found several amid master limited partnerships like Enterprise Products (EPD). The oil pipeline operator, which transports oil and natural gas, yields nearly 10 percent and even raised its dividend last fall. And the company has been buying other pipelines. “It offers stability on the downside, huge income and improving earnings — three characteristics in stocks we like.”

Glickenhaus has also picked up battered shipping firms Diana (DSX) and Navios (NMM) in recent months, encouraged by their decisions to buy back stock — a sign that management expects “reasonably good prospects,” he says. Both companies have taken a sharp hit as slowing exports reduce demand for shipping, but Glickenhaus expects both to recover — and in the meantime is collecting a nearly 20 percent dividend on Navios.

Irving Kahn, 103, and his son Tom, who runs Kahn Brothers on a daily basis, have spotted some bargains that even Kahn’s mentor, veteran value investor Benjamin Graham, would have approved. One recent example: Car stereo equipment firm Audiovox (VOXX). The company trades at about a quarter of the value of its assets or book price. And as an extra cushion, Audiovox sits on $1.72 a share in cash — almost half its current stock price. Syms (SYMS) is another recent addition. While the company is known for its bargain clothes, the company could easily be viewed as a real estate investment trust — one that happens to have little debt and owns its properties. “It’s like a dollar bill for 35 cents,” Tom says.

In good times or bad, the elder Kahn says he has always been a fan of government bonds, and this period is no different. Bonds also make up about half of Walter Schloss’ personal holdings, but with Treasuries offering paltry yields, the 92-year-old also owns stocks in companies with little debt and that are cheap, preferably trading below book value (essentially what the company would have in assets if it went bankrupt). Over the past year, International Paper (IP) made the cut, especially after it was trading at a faction of its recent highs. The company has since cut its dividend but still is maintaining a payout.

What to avoid? Although Glickenhaus actively bet on municipal bonds in the 1930s, he is staying away from them during this downturn. The deficits states like California and New York face are immense, he says: “They frighten me.”

The bottom line from the men who truly have seen it all: The economy is definitely in the dumps but those who look beyond and ignore the panic are likely to come out ahead. That’s not to say investors should throw caution to the wind. The trio recommends sticking with cheap companies that have little debt — even better if they are trading for a fraction of the worth of their assets. It’s an approach that has carried these men through numerous downturns.