Francis Chou

Francis Chou
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Investment fund manager, value investor
Employer	Chou Associates Management Inc.
Known for	Founder and manager of Chou Associates Fund, Chou Funds

Francis Chou is a Canadian value investor and the founder and portfolio manager of Chou Associates Management Inc., which manages the Chou Associates Fund and several related investment funds. A self-taught investor who never earned a formal degree in finance, Chou built his reputation over several decades by applying deep value investing principles influenced by Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. His long-term track record with the Chou Associates Fund, established in the early 1980s, has drawn comparisons to some of the most recognized names in the value investing community. Chou has expressed an ambition to build Wintaai Holdings, a holding company, into a conglomerate modeled after Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Known for his concentrated portfolio positions and willingness to invest in out-of-favor sectors and distressed securities, Chou has maintained a distinctive approach that emphasizes purchasing companies where intrinsic value is growing rather than simply buying below intrinsic value. He has been a recurring speaker at investment conferences and academic programs, including the Ivey Business School Value Investing Program.

Career

Early Career and Founding of Chou Associates Fund

Francis Chou's entry into the investment world was unconventional. Without a formal background in finance or a university degree in the field, Chou developed his investment philosophy through self-directed study of the works of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and other practitioners of value investing. He began managing money informally and eventually founded Chou Associates Management Inc., which oversees the Chou Associates Fund and other related funds.

The Chou Associates Fund, one of his flagship investment vehicles, has been in operation since the early 1980s and has built a multi-decade performance record. The fund invests primarily in equities and distressed securities, with a focus on North American markets, though it has at times held international positions. Chou manages the fund with a concentrated portfolio strategy, making large allocations to a relatively small number of positions that he believes offer significant upside relative to their intrinsic value.

Investment Philosophy

Chou's investment philosophy is rooted in the value investing tradition established by Benjamin Graham and further developed by Warren Buffett. In a 2021 interview at the Ivey Business School Virtual Seminar, Chou discussed one of his core principles: the importance of buying companies where intrinsic value is growing, rather than merely purchasing securities trading below their current intrinsic value. This distinction reflects Chou's preference for businesses with underlying economic characteristics that improve over time, as opposed to static "cheap" stocks that may remain stagnant or deteriorate.

During a 2024 presentation at the Ivey Business School Value Investing Program, Chou elaborated on his key strategies for successful value investing, emphasizing discipline, patience, and rigorous fundamental analysis as essential components of his approach. His presentations and writings have consistently returned to themes of margin of safety, thorough due diligence, and the necessity of independent thinking in investment decision-making.

Chou has also demonstrated a willingness to invest in distressed debt and special situations, areas that many conventional fund managers avoid due to their complexity and perceived risk. This contrarian orientation has been a hallmark of the Chou Funds' approach throughout their history.

Wintaai Holdings

In addition to managing the Chou Funds, Francis Chou has pursued a broader ambition through Wintaai Holdings, a holding company that he has described as a vehicle intended to grow into a large-scale conglomerate. In a 2021 profile published by Forbes, Chou stated that he takes direct inspiration from Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway in his vision for Wintaai Holdings, aiming to acquire and hold businesses across diverse industries over the long term. The structure of Wintaai Holdings reflects Chou's belief in the permanent capital model, where a holding company retains ownership of businesses indefinitely rather than buying and selling them on shorter time horizons.

Portfolio Activity and Notable Positions

Francis Chou's investment activity is publicly tracked through the 13F filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which disclose the equity holdings of institutional investment managers. These filings have provided ongoing insight into Chou's portfolio adjustments and strategic positioning.

2020

In the Chou Associates Fund semi-annual 2020 letter, dated August 25, 2020, Chou addressed unitholders regarding the fund's performance and positioning during a period of significant market volatility brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter detailed the net asset value per unit (NAVPU) of Series A units of the Chou Associates Fund and discussed the fund's holdings and outlook.

2024

The Chou Funds semiannual 2024 letter, dated August 16, 2024, provided unitholders with an update on the performance and composition of the Chou Associates Fund through the first half of the year. The letter reported on the net asset value per unit of Series A units and reviewed the fund's investment activities during the period.

2025

In the first quarter of 2025, Chou's 13F filing revealed a significant strategic increase in his position in Sirius XM Holdings Inc., which became a notable holding in the portfolio. Analysis of the filing indicated that the Sirius XM position represented a substantial allocation, with a portfolio weighting of approximately 8 percent or more.

The second quarter 2025 13F filing disclosed a significant increase in Chou's holdings of Occidental Petroleum Corp, reflecting a strategic decision to expand exposure to the energy sector. The Occidental Petroleum position was notable in that it mirrored, at least in part, one of the major holdings of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, further underscoring the philosophical alignment between Chou and Buffett.

Later in 2025, Chou made another substantial portfolio adjustment, significantly increasing his holdings in Stellantis NV, the multinational automotive manufacturer. This move was disclosed in a subsequent 13F filing and was characterized by market observers as a strategic value play on a company facing industry headwinds.

These 2025 filings illustrated Chou's continued adherence to a concentrated, contrarian value investing style, with large positions in companies across the media, energy, and automotive sectors during periods when those industries faced varying degrees of market skepticism.

Chou Funds Structure

Chou Associates Management Inc. oversees multiple investment funds under the Chou Funds banner. The Chou Associates Fund is the primary and longest-running fund in the family. Chou communicates with unitholders through semiannual and annual letters, a practice common among value-oriented fund managers and one that echoes the shareholder letter tradition associated with Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.

The fund structure is organized with different series of units, including Series A units, with the net asset value per unit serving as the primary measure of fund performance reported to investors.

Recognition

Francis Chou has received recognition within the value investing community for his long-term track record and his adherence to fundamental principles of value investing over multiple market cycles. He has been a featured speaker at the Ivey Business School Value Investing Program, one of Canada's prominent academic programs focused on investment management, where he has delivered presentations in multiple years including 2021 and 2024.

His investment activities are regularly tracked and analyzed by financial media outlets and investment research platforms, including GuruFocus, Yahoo Finance, and The Acquirer's Multiple, which monitor his 13F filings and provide commentary on his portfolio adjustments.

The 2021 Forbes profile, in which Chou discussed his ambitions for Wintaai Holdings and his philosophical debt to Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, brought broader public attention to his investment career and long-term vision for building a diversified holding company.

Chou's profile within the investment community rests primarily on the longevity and performance of the Chou Associates Fund, his willingness to take concentrated positions in contrarian and distressed situations, and his consistent articulation of value investing principles through his investor letters and public presentations.

Legacy

Francis Chou's career represents a notable example of a self-taught investor who built a multi-decade track record in professional fund management without the conventional academic credentials typically associated with the industry. His founding and stewardship of the Chou Associates Fund from the early 1980s onward has positioned him as one of the longer-tenured value investors operating in Canada.

His investment philosophy, centered on the identification of growing intrinsic value rather than mere statistical cheapness, reflects an evolution of the Benjamin Graham tradition toward the approach more closely associated with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Chou's willingness to invest in distressed securities and special situations, combined with a concentrated portfolio approach, distinguishes his methodology from more diversified or index-oriented strategies.

Through his ambition to develop Wintaai Holdings into a conglomerate modeled after Berkshire Hathaway, Chou has articulated a vision that extends beyond fund management into permanent capital allocation and business ownership. This vision, while still in its developmental stages as of the mid-2020s, reflects a broader trend among value investors seeking to move beyond the constraints of traditional fund structures.

His recurring role as a speaker at the Ivey Business School and other investment forums has contributed to the education and development of a subsequent generation of value investors in Canada and beyond.