Ever heard of Li Lu? Most people haven't, but Charlie Munger clearly knew something special about this Chinese-American portfolio manager. I just learned about the fascinating backstory behind Himalaya Capital, and it's actually pretty wild how this connects to some solid charlie munger stock picks worth paying attention to.

So Li Lu fled China in 1989, landed at Columbia, and somehow caught Munger's eye. The numbers tell the story: Munger invested $88 million with him in the early 2000s. That turned into over $400 million. Not bad. What's even crazier is that Lu introduced Buffett to BYD back in 2002 - and that became one of Buffett's best plays this century.

Looking at Himalaya's portfolio, they've got $1.8 billion in stocks spread across just five companies. Here's what stands out to me:

Berkshire Hathaway is their biggest holding at $306 million - nearly 900k shares they picked up starting in 2021. That's up 32% from their entry price. Makes sense that a Munger-trusted manager would have serious Berkshire exposure.

Alphabet is massive for them too - $672 million across Class A and C shares, representing 37% of their total public holdings. They've been adding to this since 2020, with their last major move in Q4 2022. Interesting that 44 out of 54 analysts also rate it overweight.

But here's the one that really caught my attention: East West Bancorp. It's down over 27% in the past year, which usually signals value territory. More importantly, this bank specifically serves the Chinese-American community, which explains why Lu would be all over it. The fundamentals are solid too - 1.85% return on assets, 21% return on tangible equity, and deposits growing 2% year-over-year.

The whole thesis here is interesting: a money manager that Munger trusts enough to invest serious capital with is basically giving us a roadmap of where smart money is looking. Whether you're hunting for charlie munger stock picks or just trying to understand how the best investors think, this Himalaya Capital portfolio tells you something about where value might still exist in the market. Worth digging deeper if you're into that kind of analysis.