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SOGEN FUNDS'
JEAN-MARIE EVEILLARD ET AL.
(continued from preceding
page)
Again, they're attentive - possibly because it's their own money that's at stake.
THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER IN EUROPE
- BELIEVE IT OR NOT, EVEN IN FRANCE.
Eveillard: Some call it pre-revolutionary - in other words, that there is a budding social crisis that may erupt into something much worse.
OID: The words "anti-business" and "anti-shareholder" are the ones we hear most frequently.
Eveillard: Yes. However, if anything, I'm seeing a modest improvement in the attitudes of managements. They're becoming more shareholder friendly. And it's not a phenomenon peculiar to France, but rather one which pretty much applies to the rest of Continental Europe, too.
OID: At the risk of being overly negative about France to a man named Jean-Marie, what about its society?
Eveillard: I suspect the French vaguely understand that the way of life they have been used to cannot endure. But they hate change so much that they resist it. However, I think I see the beginnings of understanding. And that's what makes me less pessimistic than others about France. But we'll see if I'm right or not.
OID: And however challenging the setting may be, these managements have apparently thrived anyway.
Eveillard: Exactly.
OID: Can companies buy back their shares in France?
Eveillard: Not very easily - because there are all sorts of legal and tax-related difficulties. But I understand - and this is an indication that Europe is indeed changing for the better - that Germany is reviewing the tax penalties it imposes on share buybacks. And so is Sweden. So things are changing for the better throughout much of Europe.
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN EARNINGS?
THEY'RE GENERALLY APPLES & ORANGES.
OID: There's no need for you to do it. Buffett, Munger and Ruane handle that task just fine.
Eveillard: However, Americans tend to believe that they have the best accounting in the world.
OID: They don't?
Page 10 of 20
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