I came across this concept in a great little book by Chris Mayers called “100 Baggers” (that was actually an update on the original 100 Baggers book by Thomas Phelps, called 100 to 1).
The name stems from the fact that people used to stash all their valuables in a coffee can under your mattress (who has time for banks!?) and the concept has been attributed to Robert Kirby, a PM at Capital Group, who wrote this piece back in 1984.
The concept is fairly straight forward. Pick a handful of high quality companies that you think will compound over time, allocate a portion of your portfolio, forget about them. He came up with this idea, in part, reacting to the hype over index funds (in 1984, that is).
Has anyone approached their investments like this or might have some thoughts?
I’ve been speaking with a journalist at the Sunday Times who was interested in the concept and was keen to speak with anyone who might be using this (or some variant). I think it might be more common than not, even if you never knew it was called a “coffee can portfolio”.
Drop me a DM if you might be keen to talk. He’s looking to set up a chat at some point this week.
Best,
Alex
