First, Ahlsten asks, “How sturdy is the top line?” This is more a matter of judgment than numbers. “We are not a quant house,” he says. He wants to see predictable revenues. Linde, which sells industrial gases, gets them via contracts that have factories paying for a hook-up whether they use the gas or not. It also has steady income from bottled gases sold to restaurants and hospitals. He has owned that stock for a decade.
Last on our list, but first in the thinking at Parnassus, is a matter of conscience. Companies producing alcohol, tobacco, weapons or nuclear power are unworthy. So are outfits that fail to treat the environment or employees with kid gloves. Ahlsten joined Parnassus immediately after getting a diploma from Berkeley. His father was a pilot at TWA who experienced the tender mercies ofIt is quite possible to do well by investing virtuously. Dodson, who stepped down from the chief executive slot last year at 74, and Ahlsten, 46, are the largest shareholders in Parnassus Investments. To judge from the value the stock market assigns to T. Rowe Price, Parnassus is maybe worth half a billion dollars.
Compare spray-lube vendor WD-40, in which Parnassus Core Equity first invested in 1998, to U.S. Steel, which it wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pipe. Visits to WD-40’s San Diego headquarters left Ahlsten with an impression of a benevolent workplace with a “cohesive culture” that promotes “innovation and intellectual curiosity.”
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Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
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The Sleep Well At Night Formula: Finding Socially Responsible Stocks That Hold Up In Down MarketsTodd Ahlsten has a recipe for finding investments that hold up well in down markets. One of the ingredients is corporate virtue.
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »