Ever notice how the best investment ideas often come from people nobody's really heard of? There's this fascinating story about a Chinese-American portfolio manager named Li Lu who basically became Charlie Munger's right-hand guy in the investment world. And honestly, if you're looking for charlie munger stock picks to study, Li Lu's portfolio is probably the most interesting place to look.

Li Lu's journey is wild. Born in China in 1966, he fled to New York in 1989 and went to Columbia University where he got obsessed with investing. Somehow he caught the attention of Charlie Munger himself, Berkshire Hathaway's vice-chairman. Munger was so impressed that he threw $88 million at Li Lu's Himalaya Capital back in the early 2000s. That investment has since ballooned to over $400 million. Not bad, right?

Here's what makes it even crazier - Li Lu introduced Munger and Buffett to BYD, the Chinese automotive and battery company, way back in 2002. That single move turned into one of Buffett's absolute best plays this century. So when you're thinking about charlie munger stock picks and where to find inspiration, you've gotta look at what Li Lu is actually holding.

Looking at Himalaya Capital's latest portfolio snapshot, they've got about $1.8 billion in publicly traded stocks, and it's basically concentrated in five companies. Let me walk through three of the most interesting ones.

First up is Berkshire Hathaway itself. Li Lu's been holding nearly 900,000 shares valued at over $306 million as of mid-2023. He originally bought into BRK-B back in Q3 2021 at around $281 per share, and at that point it had already climbed 32% higher. The stock's been performing solid, up nearly 20% that year alone, outpacing the broader market by a good margin. Makes sense that someone studying charlie munger stock picks would see his own company as a core holding.

Then there's Alphabet. This is the real heavyweight in the Himalaya portfolio, accounting for 37% of their $1.8 billion in stocks. They hold both Class A and Class C shares, with their position worth around $672 million. What's interesting is they didn't jump in all at once - they started with Class C shares back in 2020, then added Class A shares in 2022, and kept adding through Q4 2022. Most of Wall Street agrees it's a solid pick, with the majority of analysts rating it as a buy.

The third one that caught my attention is East West Bancorp. Sure, Bank of America is their second-largest holding, but EWBC is the one worth really paying attention to. It's down more than 27% over the past year, which means Li Lu's basically finding value where others got spooked. The bank specifically serves the Chinese-American community both in the U.S. and China, which obviously aligns perfectly with Li Lu's background and expertise. The fundamentals look solid too - they're posting strong returns on assets and equity, their loan portfolio grew 7% year-over-year, and their pre-tax income jumped 21%. That's the kind of operational performance you want to see in a regional bank.

What strikes me about these charlie munger stock picks through Li Lu's lens is that they're not flashy or trendy. They're just solid, well-run businesses with real value. That's the Munger playbook right there - boring but profitable. If you're tracking what serious money is actually doing, Himalaya's holdings are definitely worth monitoring.