I’ve been looking at Central Securities Corporation ($CET) as a potential long-term holding.
The basic appeal: it’s a small, old-school closed-end fund trading at roughly a 14–15% discount to NAV, with a concentrated but diversified portfolio and a very long-term orientation. They also have low management fee, of around 0.46% - relative to other actively managed funds.
What makes it more interesting to me is the Plymouth Rock stake. CET owns a large position, and earns dividends from, this private insurance company, representing roughly 24–25% of NAV. That seems like fairly unique exposure inside a public security — especially because Plymouth Rock has been held for decades and may not be fully appreciated by the market.
So the rough thesis is: you’re buying a concentrated equity portfolio, plus a large private insurance-company holding that could have hidden value, all at a meaningful discount to NAV.
The obvious counterpoints are that the NAV discount may never close, Plymouth Rock is illiquid and marked privately, and CET is small enough that governance/management really matters.
Curious how others think about this one. Is Plymouth Rock a genuine hidden asset, or is the discount partly justified because of the opacity/illiquidity? And for long-time CET followers, how do you think about management quality and succession over the next decade?