What Is Mohnish Pabrai Portfolio and Why It Matters for Stock Analysis

What Is Mohnish Pabrai Portfolio and Why It Matters for Stock Analysis

The Mohnish Pabrai portfolio is a publicly visible concentrated equity portfolio, disclosed quarterly through SEC Form 13F, that typically holds 5-10 positions with no management fee and a philosophy borrowed directly from Munger's original limited partnerships. Understanding what is in the portfolio, how it is structured, and why those specific businesses were selected gives you a practical template for applying deep-value principles to your own stock analysis.

Pabrai does not manage money for institutions. He does not have a marketing budget. The portfolio is the product, and the 13F is the only public window into it.

Key Takeaways

• The Mohnish Pabrai portfolio is a concentrated long-only equity fund with typically 5-10 positions, disclosed through quarterly 13F filings with a 45-day lag.
• His selection criteria require a 50% discount to intrinsic value, durable earnings power through cycles, and a balance sheet that can survive distress without equity issuance.
• Recent portfolio disclosures show meaningful positions in companies across India, Turkey, and the United States, using ADRs and U.S.-listed equities to express international value theses.
• Portfolio construction at Pabrai Funds means the top three positions routinely represent 50-60% of total capital, a concentration level that most institutional funds cannot legally maintain.
• You can use the 13F filings as a starting idea list, then run independent valuation work using tools like our DCF calculator to confirm whether the discount Pabrai identified still exists at the current price.
• The portfolio's 25-year history shows that long periods of underperformance are part of the strategy, not evidence it has broken, because the deep-value style requires specific market conditions to produce outperformance.

What a 13F Filing Actually Shows

Form 13F is an SEC-mandated quarterly disclosure for institutional investment managers with more than $100 million in U.S. equity assets. It shows every U.S. equity position above $100,000 held at the end of the reporting quarter, filed within 45 days of quarter end.

What the 13F does NOT show:

• Short positions or options strategies
• Non-U.S. equity holdings (direct shares on foreign exchanges)
• Cash or fixed income positions
• Positions below the $100,000 threshold
• Any changes made within the quarter (only the end-of-quarter snapshot)

For Pabrai specifically, this means the 13F captures his U.S.-listed equity positions but misses his India-focused holdings in funds structured outside the U.S. reporting regime. A significant portion of his portfolio, particularly his bets on Indian financial companies and industrial conglomerates, does not appear in the quarterly 13F.

With that caveat in mind, the 13F is still useful because it shows the positions he has chosen to put in his primary public reporting vehicle and the approximate sizing of each.

How to Read the Mohnish Pabrai Portfolio

The 13F lists each position with a value at quarter end and the number of shares held. To extract useful information, follow these four steps.

Step 1: Calculate position concentration. Divide each position's value by the total portfolio value shown in the filing. If the total is $500 million and the largest position is $100 million, that position is 20% of the portfolio. Positions at 15-20% are Pabrai's highest-conviction bets.

Step 2: Compare quarter-over-quarter changes. New positions that appear for the first time in a quarter signal fresh conviction buys. Positions that grow materially suggest he added on weakness (consistent with his stated approach of buying more as prices fall). Positions that disappear entirely mean he exited.

Step 3: Look for holding periods. Positions that have appeared across 8+ consecutive quarterly filings represent multi-year holds. These are the investments where the thesis is still playing out. Pabrai has said his mental model is that the average holding period should be 3-5 years minimum.

Step 4: Research the fundamental case. Once you identify an interesting position, go back to the 10-K and 10-Q filings for the company. Check the P/E ratio against the 10-year history, calculate the Graham Number to get a conservative intrinsic value floor, and run a simple DCF to see what earnings growth rate the current price implies.

The Portfolio's Typical Structural Characteristics

Based on 13F filings across the past decade, the Mohnish Pabrai portfolio shows consistent structural patterns:

The structural contrast with an index fund is stark. Pabrai is making explicit bets that specific cheap businesses will eventually trade at fair value. The index fund is making no such bets. Both approaches have periods of outperformance and underperformance relative to each other, but the concentrated approach produces higher variance of returns by construction.

How to Build a Portfolio Analysis Report From His 13F

When you download a Pabrai 13F and want to do a proper portfolio analysis, the report should cover five areas.

Valuation analysis. What is the weighted average P/E, P/B, and free cash flow yield across the portfolio? If the weighted average P/E is below 12x and the free cash flow yield is above 8%, the portfolio is positioned for value outperformance in a mean-reverting market.

Quality analysis. What is the average Piotroski F-Score across positions? A score above 7 on the Piotroski F-Scale signals financial health. Pabrai's post-2008 quality filter means his holdings have generally improved on this dimension compared to his pre-crisis portfolio.

Geographic analysis. What fraction of the portfolio is in emerging markets versus developed markets? Higher emerging market exposure means higher currency risk and political risk, but also exposure to faster economic growth at lower valuations.

Sector concentration. Does the portfolio avoid sectors with structural headwinds? Pabrai has historically underweighted utilities, REITs, and regulated businesses because the returns on capital in those sectors are capped by regulation.

Catalyst analysis. For each position, what specific event or time horizon is expected to close the discount to intrinsic value? Positions without a visible catalyst are speculative even if the price is cheap.

How to Start Building Your Own Stock Portfolio Using These Principles

The Pabrai framework translates into a specific starting process that does not require fund-level capital.

First, use a screener to generate candidates. Filter for P/B below 1.5, P/E below 15, free cash flow yield above 7%, and debt-to-equity below 1.0. This produces a raw list of potentially cheap businesses. Our screener covers 73 exchanges and 120+ indicators, which lets you run this filter globally instead of only in the U.S.

Second, reduce the list by quality. Check the Piotroski F-Score. Eliminate any company below 5. Check the 5-year ROIC. Eliminate any company below 10% ROIC, because businesses that cannot earn above their cost of capital at any point in recent history are probably not temporarily distressed.

Third, estimate intrinsic value for the survivors. Use our DCF calculator with conservative assumptions on growth (below historical) and a discount rate that reflects the risk profile. If the current price is below 60% of your DCF estimate, you have a candidate meeting Pabrai's criteria.

Fourth, size the position according to conviction. Start with 5% for initial positions. Add to 10% when the thesis is confirmed by subsequent quarterly results. Go to 15-20% only when you have high conviction from multiple angles of analysis.

How to Build a Strong Portfolio That Holds Through Drawdowns

The hardest part of a concentrated, deep-value portfolio is not the buying. It is the holding when positions move against you before the thesis plays out. Pabrai's Rain Industries position fell 40% from his purchase before eventually rising 7x. His Fiat Chrysler position required three years of patience before the market recognized the value.

Building a portfolio that survives these drawdowns psychologically requires two things: understanding the thesis well enough to distinguish a temporary market decline from a fundamental change in the business, and sizing positions so that a 50% decline in any single position does not destroy the whole portfolio.

If a 20% position falls 50%, the total portfolio loss is 10%. That is painful but survivable. If a 50% position falls 50%, the total portfolio loss is 25%, which is difficult enough to trigger emotional selling at the wrong time.

Pabrai's stated maximum position size of 20% reflects this math. The concentration is high enough to meaningfully impact returns when he is right, but low enough that no single error destroys the portfolio.

Further reading: SEC EDGAR · Investopedia

Why pabrai 13f holdings Matters

This section anchors the discussion on pabrai 13f holdings. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply pabrai 13f holdings in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.

Key inputs for pabrai 13f holdings

See the main discussion of pabrai 13f holdings in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using pabrai 13f holdings alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.

Sector benchmarks for pabrai 13f holdings

See the main discussion of pabrai 13f holdings in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using pabrai 13f holdings alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.

Related ValueMarkers Resources

• Piotroski F-Score — Piotroski F-Score captures the reliability of reported earnings versus underlying cash flow
• Graham Number — Graham Number captures how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
• Pe Ratio — Glossary entry for Pe Ratio
• Mohnish Pabrai Net Worth — related ValueMarkers analysis
• Mohnish Pabrai — related ValueMarkers analysis
• Warren Buffett House — related ValueMarkers analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

how to write a portfolio analysis report

A portfolio analysis report should cover valuation metrics (weighted average P/E, P/B, and free cash flow yield), quality metrics (average ROIC and Piotroski F-Score), geographic and sector concentration, performance attribution against a benchmark, and the investment thesis status for each major position. For a Pabrai-style portfolio, add a column tracking the original intrinsic value estimate and the current discount or premium to that estimate, so you can see whether each position has moved toward or away from fair value since purchase.

how to start building a stock portfolio

Start by defining your risk tolerance and time horizon. If you need the capital within three years, equities are not appropriate. If you have a 5-10 year horizon, begin with a watchlist of 20-30 businesses that pass basic quality filters: ROIC above 10%, free cash flow positive, debt manageable. Wait for prices on that watchlist to reach levels where the margin of safety is meaningful, typically when the P/E falls below 15 or the free cash flow yield rises above 7%. Start with 5-8 positions at equal weight to reduce the impact of any single error while you develop pattern recognition.

how to build a strong stock portfolio

A strong portfolio has three characteristics: it is concentrated enough to matter, diversified enough to survive errors, and built on positions you understand well enough to hold through 30-40% drawdowns. Pabrai's framework suggests 5-10 positions with no position above 20%. The strongest portfolios we see through the guru tracker share this concentration structure along with average ROIC above 15% and average P/E below 15 at time of construction.

how to build a stock market portfolio

Select an investment universe you understand, whether that is U.S. equities, emerging markets, or specific sectors. Screen for businesses with durable earnings, manageable debt, and prices below intrinsic value. Build a watch list and add positions when prices reach your target entry points. Rebalance only when a position reaches full value or when a better opportunity exists for the capital. Avoid trading on short-term news unless the news fundamentally changes the long-term earnings power of the business.

how to build a million dollar stock portfolio

A million-dollar stock portfolio built on Pabrai's principles would require either starting with substantial capital and achieving market returns or starting smaller and compounding at above-market rates. Pabrai's own experience: he started with $900,000 in 1999 and grew it through concentrated bets that compounded at 28%+ annually through 2007. At 15% annual compounding, $100,000 grows to $1 million in approximately 16 years. At 20%, it takes 13 years. The compounding math is straightforward; the difficulty is maintaining the discipline to buy cheap businesses and hold them through periods of underperformance.

how to build a stock portfolio in excel

Track each position with columns for ticker, purchase date, purchase price, current price, shares held, market value, weight in portfolio, intrinsic value estimate, current discount to intrinsic value, and thesis status. Add a separate sheet for the watchlist with the same columns plus a column for the entry price trigger. Use conditional formatting to highlight positions that have reached or exceeded fair value and positions on the watchlist that have reached your target entry price. Review the spreadsheet monthly, not daily.

Monitor the Mohnish Pabrai portfolio quarterly alongside 10,000+ other institutional investors in our guru tracker, with each position scored across 120+ fundamental indicators.

Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.

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Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.