More than 30 years ago, Philadelphia stockbroker Mark Mulholland bought a sandwich for a homeless man and it changed his life.
‘I believe you make money in the exceptional.’ Shortly after this he decided: If he didn’t become a church deacon, he would start a mutual fund, named after “Matthew 25.” FactSet reports he’s beaten the index over 20 years. According to the fund’s latest filings, Matthew 25 has beaten the S&P index by an average of 1.3% a year since it was launched, at the end of 1995. And that’s net of expenses of 1.1% a year.Matthew 25 isn’t a Catholic, “religious” fund, he says. He doesn’t screen investments based on dogma. “Scripture is very, very important, but I’m a big fan of [St Thomas] Aquinas.
“Facebook FB, +0.55% is an exceptional company,” he says of his current holdings. “KKR KKR, -1.72% has exceptional people. Apple AAPL, +2.35%, I don’t need to describe it. Goldman Sachs GS, -0.83% is one of the most successful and recognized financial brands in the world.” Mulholland has no M.B.A. majored in economics at Lafayette College in Easton, Penn., and follows “the Abraham Lincoln education—read, and learn.” His two favorite investment books are two classics: Ben Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor,” and Philip Fisher’s “Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits.”