General Investing >> Money Manager Interviews >> July 12, 2010

Investing In Companies That Buy Back Stock – David Fried – Fried Asset Management, Inc.

David Fried, a Cornell graduate, is one of the few money managers to have also founded a company listed in Inc. magazine's annual "Inc. 500" list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies (1989). He is the Editor and Publisher of The Buyback Letter, the only investment newsletter devoted to finding opportunities among companies that repurchase their own stock. His asset management firm, Fried Asset Management, Inc., offers separate investor advisory and money management services that use the "Buyback Strategy" principles. Mr. Fried has been a featured guest on Bloomberg Television and CNBC's "Money Club," as well as "Squawk Box" and "Market Wrap" with Bill Bresnan in New York City. He has also been profiled in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Barron's, Bottom Line Personnel, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week and numerous other publications. He was listed as one of "50 Great Investors" in Fortune's Investors Guide 2004. He is also an approved guest speaker for the American Association of Individual Investors. In 2008 he helped found First Commons Bank of Newton, MA. Mr. Fried served on the board of directors of L.A. Family Housing from 2002 to 2008. He also completed a rigorous training program led by former Vice President Al Gore and was named one of Gore's select "Global Warming Messengers" in 2007. Through grassroots speaking engagements and local outreach to businesses, schools and individuals, he has spread the message about the threat of and solutions to global warming. Profile
TWST: How did you come up with the methodology of using stock buybacks as a criteria for investment?

Mr. Fried: There was some research available at the time from the University of Chicago, and it was