Our Story

Even though Value87 Investment Partners was formed in 2026, the real history of our firm stretches back to 1977, when the U.S. economy was in the throes of the gas crisis and unemployment was at the highest levels since the Great Depression.

Al Frank (1930-2002), a relentless bargain hunter and part-time philosopher, wrote the first issues of The Pinchpenny Speculator on a typewriter from his Santa Monica apartment.

Al believed in buying Value stocks with the method of “buy low and sell high.” He shared his experience managing a diversified portfolio of undervalued stocks over time in the newsletter, believing there were other investors out there who would be interested in the same approach.

He was right.

Over the years, Al built a devoted readership. In 1982, he renamed the newsletter The Prudent Speculator, and soon, subscribers began asking him to manage their portfolios.

Al Frank Asset Management was born.

In early 1987, Al hired a computer science grad from the University of Southern California named John Buckingham to modernize their office systems. As John used his tech skills to automate the firm, he studied Al’s investment philosophy from the ground up, learning the intricacies of stock analysis, portfolio management, accounting and subscriptions.

In October 1987, Black Monday sent markets around the globe into a sharp decline. As stock prices tumbled, Al and John pondered changes to their strategy, ultimately concluding that all strategies have bad days and the show must go on. After all, Wall Street is the only place that holds a sale and nobody shows up!

In 1989, Al wrote his first book, The Prudent Speculator: Al Frank on Investing, and in 1995, he wrote an updated version, Al Frank’s NEW Prudent Speculator.

Spurred by the success of their humble operation, Al and John launched the Al Frank Fund (VALUX) in 1998, a go-anywhere Value fund that John managed through April 2026.

Al continued to write The Prudent Speculator newsletter until 2002, when John took over the role of editor after Al passed away. 

While John is a go-to industry source for his insights, appearing regularly over the years on CNBC, Bloomberg and FOX Business News, he’s also widely quoted in print media like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Think Advisor. In fact, he earned a front-page feature in Barron’s in 2017.

Nearly five decades after that first typewritten issue of The Pinchpenny Speculator went to press, the principles that Al Frank developed remain at the heart of what we do.

At Value87 Investment Partners, we continue to practice the same disciplined, long-term approach to Value investing. We seek strong companies trading at discounted prices and hold them patiently for the long term.

Markets move. Technology evolves. Names change. But the core philosophy that has guided our investment approach through wars, pandemics, crashes, bubbles, and countless other challenges remains central to who we are.

Led by John Buckingham, along with Jason Clark, CFA, and Christopher Quigley, CFA, our core team has worked together since 2009, continuing to build on a legacy of Value-oriented investing and personalized wealth management.