MD and Lead Portfolio Manager of Global Value & Select Equity Strategies, Artisan Partners Asset Mgmt
Search every verified Daniel O'keefe interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a 2014 interview, Daniel O'Keefe discussed his value investing approach, describing it as seeking businesses that are cheap relative to long-term intrinsic value, have a competitive advantage, a strong balance sheet, and a management team aligned with shareholders. He noted that after significant market gains in 2013, many bargains had been "wrung out of the market," but he found emerging markets attractive due to their low price-to-earnings multiples relative to developed markets. O'Keefe also highlighted specific holdings, including financial stocks such as American Express, BNY Mellon, ING Bank, Lloyds Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland, which he said were added during or after the financial crisis. O'Keefe used Google as an example of distinguishing between statistical cheapness and fundamental undervaluation, noting that the firm bought it at 12 times earnings in 2008. He criticized Google's corporate governance and capital allocation decisions, such as the Motorola acquisition and the purchase of Nest, while acknowledging the strategic rationale behind investments like Android. He also discussed the risks in banks, stating that low price-to-earnings multiples do not necessarily indicate true value due to high leverage and potential credit risks.
“For us and for our clients, value investing is about trying to find businesses that meet four different characteristics. So we want something that is cheap relative to its long-term intrinsic value. We want a high-quality business, so a business that has some competitive advantage, that has the potential to grow, that'...”
“Banks were at a low price to earnings multiple. So were they cheap? They were statistically cheap, but were they truly cheap? Because this business is as much about risk as it is about reward. The leverage is 20 times. The businesses have been growing their loan books without interruption. They haven't taken any reserv...”
“We bought Google in 2008, and Google is a great example of what we do, because it gets to the heart of the distinction between something that is merely statistically cheap and something that is fundamentally undervalued. Google at around 12 times our estimate of earnings when we purchased it was not necessarily the che...”
“They got into Android. When they got into Android, investors said, 'Why are you investing in a mobile operating system? Your core business is search,' and they invested a lot of money in Android, and it was controversial, but what they saw was that the search business was going to not go through the door of the desktop...”
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