Is Allan Mecham The Next Warren Buffett?

Arlington Value Capital might not be a name known in East Hampton but that’s just fine by Allan Mecham and Ben Raybould who’ve very quietly and very methodically built a money management track record that none of the hedge fund world’s leading lights in Greenwich or Manhattan can touch.

In a word, the Salt Lake City, Ut.-based Arlington posts return that could only be described as “staggering.” Since inception, the fund is up 873.2% gross versus 109.9% for the S&P 500. Then again, even a casual comparison of the fund to a broader index or benchmark isn’t particularly meaningful, it would appear, as gravity might not apply since apart from 2015 it does nothing but report profits significantly above the index benchmark. In 2008, as markets seized and banks collapsed, Arlington did 15.2%; in 2009 as central banks and governments flooded the markets with liquidity, the fund posted 91.2%.

Mind you, these returns have come without shorting a share of stock, either as an investment or for hedging, and no, there’s no superstar bench of analysts in the wings — there are no analysts. Arlington is just two guys who spend most of their time studying filings and doing research.

Over the years, ValueWalk has followed  Arlington Value Capital, a fund at the center of conversation in the hedge fund industry due to their stunning returns. In media reports, Arlington’s enigmatic founder, Allan Mecham, has been described as the “400 Percent Man” in reference to reported performance has eclipsed some of the all-time great fund managers, and called by some as the “Next Warren Buffett“.

Not everyone shares this enthusiasm