G Guru DNA Investor Style
Q1 2026 · 13F
GURU PROFILE · Q1 2026 · 13F-HR Standard
FC

Francis Chou — concentrated growth

Francis Chou is a self-taught Canadian deep-value investor running Chou Associates, known for patient, contrarian bets. The book is concentrated value, anchored by Berkshire.

Chou Associates Management
Positions
30
Avg Annual Return, 5 yr
+10,8%
Alpha vs S&P 500, Annual
−7,7%
Max Drawdown
−14,9%
Sharpe (5 yr)
0,72

DNA Fingerprint

6 axes · Q1 2026
255075100VALUE46RISK56CONCENTRATION74TURNOVER63QUALITY43CONTRARIAN98
Q1 2026 (latest)

Style Traits

  • Value Value / Growth
    46 +19 since Q1 2025

    Growth Value

  • Risk Risk Appetite
    56 +9 since Q1 2025

    Low High

  • Concentration Portfolio Focus
    74 +3 since Q1 2025

    Diversified Focused

  • Turnover Trading Activity
    63 +25 since Q1 2025

    Long-term Active

  • Quality Profitability
    43 +3 since Q1 2025

    Speculative Profitable

  • Contrarian Contrarianism
    98 +8 since Q1 2025

    With Crowd Against Crowd

Methodology

Each axis is a percentile rank from 0 to 100 relative to the profiled guru cohort; 50 is the cohort midpoint. The higher the value, the stronger the trait. The dashed overlay is the median shape of the guru's behavioral peer group, so you can read where this investor is unusual within their own style. The Trajectory arrows trace the drift from four quarters ago to now — an illustration of the method over a short window, not a statistical claim.

  • Value (Value / Growth) — how cheaply the portfolio's stocks are priced versus the market, by valuation multiples (e.g. price-to-earnings). A higher score means cheaper, value-style picks; a lower score means pricier, growth-style bets the market expects to grow fast.
  • Risk (Risk Appetite) — how much price volatility and business fragility the portfolio carries. A higher score means bolder, more volatile holdings (think biotech or meme stocks); a lower score means defensive, steady names like utilities and staples.
  • Concentration (Portfolio Focus) — how much of the portfolio sits in its few largest positions. A higher score means a focused book of big convictions; a lower score means bets spread thinly across many names.
  • Turnover (Trading Activity) — how much the lineup of holdings changes from one quarter to the next. A higher score means an active trader rotating names in and out; a lower score means a patient, buy-and-hold roster.
  • Quality (Profitability) — how profitable and financially solid the businesses in the portfolio are. A higher score means durable, profitable companies; a lower score means speculative or pre-profit bets.
  • Contrarian (Contrarianism) — how often the guru's trades go against what the other gurus are doing. A higher score means buying what the crowd sells and vice versa; a lower score means moving with the consensus.

Extended DNA

Beyond the radar's six: two further behavioral reads — whether new buys add to existing holdings or start fresh, and the size of companies the book favors — on the same 0–100 cohort-percentile scale.

  • Follow-On Buying — Of the quarter's buys, the share that add to tickers already held rather than open fresh positions. A higher score means doubling down on existing convictions; a lower score means spreading into new bets.
  • Size Bias — Whether the book tilts toward large, easy-to-trade companies or smaller, thinly-traded ones — gauged from each holding's trading liquidity, which stands in for company size rather than measuring market cap directly. A higher score means large, liquid mega-caps; a lower score means smaller, less-liquid names.
  • Conviction Follow-On Buying
    18 −20 since Q1 2025

    New bets Adds to conviction

  • Size Size Bias
    43 +21 since Q1 2025

    Small-cap Large-cap

DNA Anomalies

1 deviations · basis Q1 2024–Q4 2025
GURU PATTERNBOUGHT · LARGERSOLD · LARGERSOLD · SMALLERBOUGHT · SMALLERsoldboughtlargersmallerOXYSYFPYPL
Dot colour — type of deviationConcentration / contrarianMomentumOther positions (no deviation)5% of portfolio
What deviated from pattern
OXYSYFPYPL
Occidental Petroleum Corporation · Synchrony Financial · PayPal Holdings, Inc.
Value tilt: a notable shift toward value — 1.7σ above its 9-quarter norm (31→46). Led by SYF, OXY, PYPL.

Backtest · Cost of Delay

real 13F delay vs S&P 500
Cost of Delay

Copying with the real 13F publication delay earns an extra  5,0 pp of return over 2 years.

Guru (2 years)
+24,9%
Copier (13F)
+29,9%
S&P 500
+44,6%
90110130150125130145Q2 ’24Q3 ’24Q4 ’24Q1 ’25Q2 ’25Q3 ’25Q4 ’25Q1 ’26Q2 ’26DELAY SPREAD

Managers with assets above $100M disclose positions in Form 13F-HR within 45 days after quarter end. The backtest runs three $100,000 portfolios: the guru rebalances at quarter-end prices, the copier mirrors the same weights on the actual filing date, and S&P 500 is the benchmark.

The hatched area is the cost of delay: the difference in cumulative returns between the guru and the copier in percentage points. The delay is not always a disadvantage — if a stock fell between quarter end and the filing date, the copier buys in cheaper.

The guru curve is also a model: 13F shows only long positions in US equities at quarter end, without intra-quarter trades, shorts, or cash. Commissions, slippage, and taxes are not accounted for.

Notable Signals

synthesis metrics
Single-name conviction
BRK-A

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. anchors the book at 30.8%

A 30.8% weight in a single name — concentration that makes BRK-A the book's center of gravity.

Conviction
Concentration × Turnover

Concentrated but restless

A concentrated book that still trades heavily — big convictions held with a quick trigger (concentration 74/100, turnover 63/100 vs peers).

Style tension

Top 10 Positions

of 30 · Q1 2026
Ticker Company Δ for quarter Weight
BRK-A Berkshire Hathaway Inc. −4,0
30,8%
GOOG Alphabet Inc. −1,8
10,4%
OXY Occidental Petroleum Corporation +3,3
10,2%
SYF Synchrony Financial −2,1
7,6%
AAPL Apple Inc. −0,8
5,6%
SIRI Sirius XM Holdings Inc. +0,3
4,7%
ALLY Ally Financial Inc. −1,1
4,4%
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc. +2,5
3,8%
JEF Jefferies Financial Group Inc. +2,7
3,1%
BABA Alibaba Group Holding Limited −0,7
2,6%