On today’s podcast I chat with Bram Berkowitz to discuss investing in mutual savings banks. I first became familiar with the topic from an excellent article he wrote:
See: How The Average Person Can Make A Lot Of Money Investing In Mutual Savings Banks
0:00 Background and intro
2:10 The basic pattern of mutual banks offering pre-IPO shares to account holders, a potential run up and second bump 3 years later
Recent example: $EBC
10:10 How to identify future candidate banks?
12:45 Is this opportunity nationwide? Or more prevalent in MA?
Links mentioned:
- FDIC Mutual Institutions
- America’s Mutual Banks
- BankInvestor.com
- The Zen of Thrift Conversions: How To Turn Hidden Bank Stocks Into Big Gains
You can find Bram’s work on The Motley Fool and follow Bram on Twitter @BramBerko
My thanks to Bram for appearing on the show
Great podcast: good information!
Robert, Thanks for all the details. I just reviewed seven of the most recent Thrift Conversions and they all have underperformed. Some like SRBK, FSEA and PDLB are trading at less than there conversion price ($10). Others like FFBW, and EBC while underperforming at least trade > $10. The best performer, ERBK, trades at $17, though its performance has slightly trailed the S&P 500. What gives? Everyone makes it seem like demutualization is such a great deal. To me Thrift Conversions looks like a stinker. Am I missing something? Is this some sort of racket?