Shares of MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF) have been on an absolute tear in 2019 so far. MFF stock started the year off at $2.56 but today's share price of $3.35 (at the time of writing) means that MFF shareholders have booked a gain of over 30% in 10 months (not including dividends). MFF has been printing new all-time highs consistently for the last month in particular and today's share price is only 5 cents from yet another high watermark.
Who is MFF Capital?
MFF is a listed investment company (LIC) that was founded by Chris Mackay and Hamish Douglass through Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG). In fact, MFF stands for Magellan Flagship Fund – the name that MFF was rocking until a recent name change. The company invests in a concentrated portfolio of primarily US companies that have strong moats and long track records of growth.
Nowadays, MFF is run almost independently of its old company. However, Chris Mackay remains the chief investment officer. Mr Mackay has a proven track record of Warren Buffett-esque investing habits and has a large chunk of his personal wealth invested alongside MFF shareholders. Both of these factors give me enormous confidence in the company's management and interests and is partly why I hold MFF shares myself.
Is MFF a buy at these levels?
As of 27 September, MFF's largest positions include Visa (16% of the portfolio), Mastercard (15.5%), Home Depot (11.1%), Bank of America (8.4%) and Google parent Alphabet (6.6%). All of these stocks have enjoyed strong growth over 2019 so far, with Visa and Mastercard in particular up 34% and 45%, respectively.
The continued success of MFF depends (of course) on the ongoing performance of its underlying holdings, but with businesses of this calibre, I have every confidence in MFF to continue to deliver for its shareholders well into the future.
Whilst I'm not buying at current levels, I think this stock is a great option for any investors who want some easy exposure to top notch US businesses through an ASX vehicle. You might want to keep this one on your watchlist and wait for a buying opportunity.
