About Marin Investments
Since 1952 Marin has grown by maintaining a focused investment philosophy. In the early years the Company's primary asset was its controlling interest in Finning Tractor and Equipment, the largest Caterpillar distributor worldwide. Marin, and its principal owners the Young family of Vancouver BC, reduced its ownership position in Finning in 1986 with a secondary offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Since 1986 Marin has pursued a strategy of quietly investing in private equity, real estate and publicly traded equities. In some cases Marin has had to become involved in the day-to-day operations of key investments. This was the case with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation, a private company holding of Marin's from 1988 through to the eventual exchange of shares with publicly traded Intrawest in 1997. In most private equity holdings however Marin prefers to have effective management in place to run the day-to-day operations. This allows Marin to focus on the key business initiatives and growth strategies for each of its investment holdings.
Over the years Marin's private equity investments have been in a variety of different areas. The key criteria have always been to invest in opportunities that have discernable, sustainable competitive advantages that are operated by a quality management team. This has led us into a number of different and interesting areas of business but we have always attempted to invest with a core management group that we felt had a firm understanding of their business space. By extension this has generally precluded us from investing directly into early stage or start up opportunities.
This investing criteria also applies to our investing in real estate opportunities and the public markets. We pride ourselves with the various partnerships that we have forged over the years with successful real estate and money management professionals. By combining our financial commitment and generalized business perspective with the skills of our operating partners we have been able to repeatedly yield an overall financial and operating success that far exceeds what either party could have achieved on their own.
Today, as in 1952, Marin is still owned and controlled by the Young family. The fact that the Company has successfully undergone inter-generational wealth transfers and is still a strong and viable entity is a testament to the strength and commitment of the family to build an enduring business enterprise for the benefit of the family, its employees and all of its investment partners.