Thrifts – Getting Top Professionals To Work For You For Free

During his recent interview with Tobias, Jim Royal Ph D, the author of The Zen of Thrift Conversions: How To Turn Hidden Bank Stocks Into Big Gains, discussed Thrifts – Getting Top Professionals To Work For You For Free. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Tobias: They were looking forward 200 years in the future, where the eight generations– in eight generations, there’s going to be a windfall when you finally convert that checking account into shares in this bank. One of the things that you said that you can do in the book is supercharge your returns by getting top professionals to work for you for free. Are you referring to the activists, or who are you talking about there?

Jim: That’s exactly right. Really, I don’t think there’s a sector in the stock market where activists so dominate as they do in thrifts. The guys I mentioned, Stilwell, Seidman, Lashley very closely are really devoted to this, market to small banks, banking, generally. If you watch the activist campaigns that they’re running when they run them, when they take shares in a bank, those are great opportunities.

If you follow those campaigns, one of the things I do in the book, is discuss specific activist campaigns that I’ve invested in run by these guys. First Financial Northwest, for example, with Joe Stilwell, about 9, 10 years ago. You could follow along with the actions that he took. Ultimately, gets the chairman and CEO ousted from the company. In many cases, you can see really positive developments in the activist campaign and not have to pay for them.

Whether that’s buybacks or getting better governance, or pushing for a sale, these guys really are the bulldogs that don’t let go. They’re just going to hang around until they get a positive resolution. They’re pushing for really the shareholder-friendly moves. You can really ride these guys coattails, and they’re going to direct you to attractive stocks.