Mayar Capital admits to 'mistakes' after taking 31% loss on Vontier position

$244m fund is down 19.3% in 2022

The $244m boutique asset manager Mayar Capital admitted that its investment in the US industrial technology company Vontier had been a mistake, after taking on a loss of 31%.

In its Q4 letter to partners, managing director of the Mayar Responsible Global Equity fund Abdulaziz Alnaim, said the team had lost confidence in its thesis for the stock. "We explained away the cheapness in the stock simply as a result of exuberant investors chasing hot green stocks in 2021," he said. "This value investors' ‘self-righteousness' biased our analysis of the bear thesis on the business."  Alnaim noted the fund had underestimated to what extent EV penetration over the next couple of years would cause a drop in future demand for gasoline, and by extension for pumps, as we...