Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> July 22, 2002
RONALD LANGLEY is Chairman of PICO Holdings, Inc. He is an Australian
who has lived in the United States since 1984. Mr. Langley was a
securities analyst prior to joining Industrial Equity Limited, an
Australian strategic investment company, in 1975. IEL was a pioneer in
applying the Graham and Dodd value investing approach to active
investment in other public companies. Graham and Dodd investing involves
the purchase of individual securities at a substantial discount ('margin
of safety') to underlying intrinsic value, as estimated by fundamental
security analysis. In 1979, Mr. Langley became responsible for IEL's
worldwide investments, which were made through Hong Kong-listed
Industrial Equity (Pacific) Limited. During the decade from 1979 until
1989 (the year that Mr. Langley left IEP), book value per share grew at
an estimated annual compound rate of approximately 36%. Profile
JOHN HART is President and Chief Executive Officer of PICO Holdings,
Inc. He met Mr. Langley when IEP was accumulating positions in North
America in 1984 and 1985. At that time, Mr. Hart was a principal in a
firm which provided investment banking services to small cap and mid-cap
companies. The firm was a pioneer in the development and application of
analytical software to identify potential acquisition candidates using
Graham & Dodd techniques. In 1991, Mr. Hart left the investment banking
practice and joined forces with Mr. Langley to search for a listed
company which met their investment criteria, and which could become a
platform for an entrepreneurial investment operation. This process
culminated in them structuring the Physicians transaction in 1993, at
which time they became members of the Board, ultimately taking
management control of the company in 1995 when Mr. Langley was named
Chairman and Mr. Hart President and Chief Executive Officer. Profile
followed by an overview of what the company is doing at the present
time?
Mr. Langley: That question is best answered in
