The $650,100 that hedge-fund manager Mohnish Pabrai and a partner paid to have lunch with Warren Buffett seems to be paying off.
Following jaw-dropping losses of as much as 60 percent last year, the head of Pabrai Investment Funds informed investors in a recent letter that his funds are quickly rebounding, with all three up 50 percent this year through June, compared with an industry average of nearly 12 percent.
Driving the rebound: Pabrai’s ability to hold his nose and buy beaten-down stocks at a time when many of his peers were rushing to safe havens like cash and Treasuries.
In classic Buffett-style investing, the Irvine, Calif., manager said he made 10 new investments in November and December 2008, at a time when the nation’s financial system appeared on the brink of collapse.
“This is a record for the funds,” Pabrai said of the buying spree in his letter, dated July 14. “We bought into some great assets and managers at stellar prices,” he crowed.
The 45-year-old native of Mumbai made headlines in 2007 when he, along with Guy Spier of Aquamarine Capital Management, bid a record $650,100 on eBay for a charity lunch with the Oracle of Omaha. Pabrai put up about two-thirds of the money, while Spier put up the remaining one-third.
Since the lunch took place last June at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse on Third Avenue, Pabrai, who manages $320 million, said he spent time with Buffett once more in May at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway headquarters. On top of that, last month Pabrai and his wife dined with Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger.
“It’s had all kinds of unexpected bonuses,” Pabrai told The Post.
But the best lessons had nothing to do with finance. Instead, it was Buffett’s advice on having an “internal scorecard,” Buffett’s phrase for judging one’s accomplishments according to internal, not external, values, Pabrai said.
Munger, meanwhile, helped Pabrai come to terms with recent losses.
“Both these guys at the core have an incredible humility about them, and they talk about their business like it’s a lemonade stand,” Pabrai said. “The humility is extremely good to see and extremely good to adopt.” kaja.whitehouse@nypost.com