Dear Fellow Investors,
If you want to have the quarters where the partnership is up substantially, you must accept the periods where the partnership is down 10% or more, since it is almost impossible to have one without the other. In 2017, the S&P 500 was up 12 months in a row, but our partnership was not. We are trying to buy companies where we look at the long-term risk/reward equation and say “this is so favorable that it just makes no (insert expletive) sense.” However, just buying into favorable risk/reward situations does not mean that as soon as we start buying the shares, the price will begin to reflect the opportunity. Sometimes investments get more “favorable” before they become profitable. Sometimes the risk emerges and not the reward. Sometimes I am just wrong. With outperformance comes periods of underperformance. Fortunately, 2017 was profitable, but in “Game of Thrones” parlance, “Winter is Coming.” We will be at this long enough that we will have our losing quarters and our losing years: it is part of the journey. In the fourth quarter, the partnership gained approximately 7% on a net basis, bringing 2017 cumulative returns net of fees and expenses to approximately 48%. Returns will vary by investor class and subscription timing, so please check your individual statements for specific returns.
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