Chadd Garcia - The Intersection of Returns and Morals

Chadd Garcia hosted the The Business Brew for this conversation.   Chadd runs the Ave Maria Focused Fund, which is a non-diversified mutual fund (ticker: AVEAX).  His portfolio holding are eclectic.  Some themes you will see in there are quality and compounders.  However, several of the companies are undergoing business transformations or have advantaged business models.

Chadd has an interesting background.  He grew up on a family farm in Arizona.  He worked in management at a multi-national agribusiness, where he helped turnaround of a business.  He caught the investing bug and headed to Harvard Business School to get into finance.  He spent time in investment banking and private equity before moving over to public markets.  I think these experiences give him an interesting perspective and thought process that he brings to investing.  He’s a natural teacher and I am excited for this episode.

Chadd is lead portfolio of the Ave Maria Focused Fund and co-portfolio manager of the Ave Maria Growth Fund.  He is also responsible for equity research functions for the firm.

Previously, Chadd analyzed public equities as a Managing Director at SQ Advisors.  Prior thereto Chadd worked in private equity as a Managing Director at Gulf Coast Capital Partners and as Vice President at Comvest Partners.  Before his work in private equity, Chadd was an Associate in the mergers and acquisitions group at CIBC World Markets.

Chadd has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Resource and Economics from The University of Arizona and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.  He is a board member and CFO of The Rising Farmworker Dream Fund and is a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Contact Chadd at [email protected]

Ave Maria Funds Page:  https://www.avemariafunds.com/fund-family/aveax.html

Fund Commentary Found Here:  https://www.avemariafunds.com/financial-insight/fund-commentaries.html

Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see www.mikeando.com.

Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production.

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Detailed Show Notes:

2:40 - What Chadd learned from studying HEICO

12:10 - An accounting lesson worth listening to

19:45 - Chadd's thesis on eDreams

29:40 - What Chadd looks for to premortum businesses

33:00 - A discussion about Green Plains and business transformation

39:10 - A discussion about GFL (a waste management company)

42:40 - How Chadd thinks about position sizing

44:50 - The moral component of what Chadd does

53:55 - How Chadd analyzed the short report behind GFL