Hard Assets, Weak Dollar
MASON VERSLUIS@masonversluis
+4.2%
since Oct 1
The idea
I believe persistent deficits keep chipping away at the dollar's purchasing power, so I'd rather own things that don't depreciate on paper. Half the basket is land itself, timberland, farmland, warehouses, and infrastructure land that reprices as cash buys less. The other half is toll collectors, railroads, pipelines, and towers with irreplaceable assets and fees that adjust with inflation. I stick to large, steady owners rather than speculative names, keep a small cash reserve to add on dips, and plan to hold for years, not quarters.
What it owns
- Companies whose core assets are scarce acreage and buildings generate rents that move higher as inflation rises. · Texas Pacific LandIt holds roughly nine hundred thousand acres in West Texas and collects royalties and water fees on land that costs little to maintain., PrologisIt owns warehouses on scarce land near ports and major cities, with lease resets that move higher over time., VICI PropertiesIt owns land under Las Vegas casinos with leases that include inflation-linked escalation clauses., W. P. CareyIt owns industrial and warehouse properties where most leases tie rent increases directly to inflation.24%
- Trees and crops are physical assets whose value tends to hold or rise when currency weakens, unlike cash holdings. · WeyerhaeuserIt owns about ten million acres of US timberland that grows continuously, a productive asset that tends to reprice upward in weakening currency environments., Farmland PartnersIt owns row-crop farmland whose rents and values have historically moved higher alongside inflation., RayonierIt owns timberland with minimal other operations, providing direct exposure to timber and land value appreciation., Gladstone LandIt owns specialty crop farmland growing higher-value fruits, nuts and vegetables, with rents that rise with inflation.20%
- Rail networks cannot be rebuilt at today's costs, and freight rates adjust upward as operating expenses rise. · Union PacificIt operates an irreplaceable western rail network and adjusts shipping rates upward as operating costs rise., CSXIt controls eastern rail infrastructure that cannot be duplicated and has pricing power to raise rates as costs inflate., Canadian National RailwayIt runs the only rail network touching three coasts and earns a significant portion of revenue in Canadian dollars.18%
- Cell towers and water systems function as regulated monopolies with fee structures that rise systematically over time. · Crown CastleIt owns US cell tower sites with embedded rent increases, generating steady escalating revenue from essential infrastructure., American TowerIt owns cell towers globally with long-term leases that escalate over time, infrastructure carriers cannot replace., American Water WorksIt operates water systems that are regulated monopolies permitted to raise rates in line with cost inflation.15%
- Energy infrastructure moves commodities regardless of currency conditions, and contracts typically include inflation escalators. · EnbridgeIt operates North American crude pipelines built long ago in cheaper dollars, collecting inflation-adjusted fees today., Kinder MorganIt operates natural gas pipelines built decades ago with fees that adjust upward, a long-lived asset in a weakening-currency scenario., Williams CompaniesIt operates Transco, the major East Coast gas pipeline, collecting transmission fees on irreplaceable infrastructure.15%
- Cash8%