Investing in Greek Stocks and Winning

As much as we all hear the Warren Buffett quote, "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful", it's a really hard rule to follow. Listening to all the news about the trouble Greece's economy is in, I actually never thought about finding good, undervalued companies in the Greek stock market. However, at least one fund manager was able to stick to his guns:

MetLife MFC’s Vasileios Antoniadis made money in Greek stocks even as the country’s drawn-out bailout talks with creditors roiled markets. None of his peers did.

His MetLife Alico M&S Domestic Equity fund has increased 4.8 percent this year through last week, the only one to gain among 35 focused on Greece, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The rest lost 15 percent on average, with the worst among them giving up as much as 28 percent. The benchmark ASE Index slid 18 percent as months of negotiations and capital controls spurred fears Greece may leave the euro.

When things turned sour and the stock exchange closed, Antoniadis kept his cool and his key holdings unchanged.

In hindsight, his strategy seems simple. In his own words, “very obvious.” He avoided banks and consumer companies, betting they would be the most hurt in a crisis, and bought shares he thought were undervalued based on earnings and the management’s track record. His fund’s biggest positions are in Hellenic Petroleum SA, Hellenic Exchanges SA and Mytilineos Holdings SA, which gained 9 percent on average this year.

“There are plenty of healthy companies to invest in,” said Antoniadis, who has been chief investment officer at MetLife Inc.’s Greek unit since 2008. “I’m referring to profitable companies with growth prospects and decent cash flows, minimal or even no leverage which are traded at a discount of their net worth and with single multiples.”

I'm interested in hearing the WSO community's opinion on just how depressed Greek stocks are. There's always a lot of opportunity in these depressed situations but does Greece's volatility make it too difficult to invest? Do you see an opportunity in the Greek stock market or is it just a value trap?

Check out the original article here.