Episode 14. From Fidelity to Entrepreneur: Kasen's Buffett-Inspired Bet on Chocolate

Click above to watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify & Apple Music.

Jonathan Kasen spent over a decade as a portfolio manager at Fidelity, analyzing industrial and energy companies through the lens of four key elements: organic growth, operating leverage, free cash flow conversion, and reinvestment opportunities. Today, he’s applying those same principles to his latest venture: chocolate.

In this episode of Pitch The PM, Jonathan joins Doug Garber to talk about his journey from Wall Street to small business ownership. They dive deep into what makes a great compounder—public or private—and how Buffett’s See’s Candies investment and a shaky car ride with the Oracle himself helped shape Kasen’s thinking. 

Choosing a great industry like chocolate is a good start and then management execution is the key to compounding. Kasen’s blueprint at Hilliard’s is similar to See’s Candies regional strategy decades ago.

About Us

Pitch The PM is the Professional Investor's Podcast that provides a deep-dive into a stock's investment case using the Variant View Investment Checklist. It is an open exploration of the research process in real time using high-conviction ideas from top PM’s and Analysts. Join the journey as Doug fills out his Buffett advised, 20-slot lifetime punch card. We learn and laugh together. 

The Variant View Investment Checklist is the process that combines:

• A decade of experience managing $1B at Citadel & Millennium, 

• Studying the great investors like Buffett, Munger, Lynch & Greenblatt, 

• and the latest AI tools to improve idea velocity, accuracy and conviction.

Westport Alpha Group is a family office consortium of like minded finance professionals. Individuals may engage in Special Purpose Vehicle’s (SPV’s), Separately Managed Accounts (SMA’s) or act as an Independent Sponsor for a private company or in a public company take-private. This is not a solicitation to sell/buy any security or engage in any services. This is not an attempt to form a group.

Pitch The PM is hosted by Doug Garber, a former Citadel Analyst and Millennium Senior Portfolio Manager. Doug was initially trained at Citadel by a former SAC/Point 72 Analyst who worked directly for Steve Cohen before becoming a PM at Citadel. Doug was ranked as a top five analyst while at Citadel’s Surveyor Capital and was the only one to receive that designation twice during his tenure. He managed a multi-sector, multi-strategy team at Millennium under Katahdin Capital. Prior to his buy-side career, Doug worked in sell-side equity research honing modeling and primary research skills. Doug is currently the CIO and DoR at the Westport Alpha Group.

Doug graduated from Tulane University with a BSM and Master of Finance. He was selected to participate in the Darwin Fenner Student Managed Endowment Fund that utilized quantitative factors to outperform its benchmark and be an Investment Research Manager in the Burkenroad Reports “Stocks Under Rocks” equity research program. Doug has a passion for iterating on the investment process and a quirky sense of humor. He lives in Westport, CT with his wife, Lexi, and three kids. When he is not reading a 10-K, you can find him coaching youth soccer, inverted on his yoga mat or on an eFoil looking for Zuck.

Disclaimer

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Pitch The PM nor its author (s) guarantee any specific outcome or profit. You should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investment discussed in this material or on the show. Strategies or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value. Investors may get back less than invested. Investments or strategies mentioned on this website or on the show may not be suitable for you. This material does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for you. You must make an independent decision regarding investments or strategies mentioned on this letter, on the website or on the show. Before acting on information on this website, in this letter or on the show, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

The author (s) of this report may have positions in the securities discussed. The positions may change at a future date and neither Pitch The PM nor any authors are under any obligation to update you. The information may not be accurate and you should do your own research.

This is for educational purposes only. This is not investment advice. Please contact your financial advisor to see what is suitable for you. Please see disclosures at PitchThePM.com