Tomáš Budník has been at the highest levels of Czech business since the 1990s. And during his journey he had the chance to watch the hands of the most successful of the most successful – he worked for Petr Kellner and Martin Kúšik from Penta. But for the past four years, he has been building his own Thein investment group with his son Filip. After all, his father actually taught him the basics of investing: “My dad was a passionate philatelist and he led me from a young age to buy cheaply, to specialize in a specific segment, to know as much as possible about it.”
Thein was founded by 54-year-old Tomáš Budník in 2020, when he left the PPF financial group, for which he led the O2 operator and its entire telecommunications division. But he remained partly in the industry because his goal was clear – to look for opportunities in the IT and cyber security segment with Thein. And he is quite successful, because the value of the portfolio of the Digital fund, in which you can invest from one million crowns, rose by a tenth last year to almost 650 million crowns.
But it is not just about acquisitions from the world of ones and zeros, after its establishment, Thein also expanded to include an industrial part called Industry, which is also intended for qualified investors and in which Budník’s son Filip is involved. At the turn of the year, this part of the investment group bought the Top Alulit foundry and in the last quarter of last year increased the value of the portfolio, which also includes the companies Ponec and Železniční železniční, to almost half a billion crowns.
In an interview for CzechCrunch, which is part of the Money Makers interview series, Tomáš Budník describes how he got into investing, what he learned from Petr Kellner, why it’s good that he doesn’t become a doctor, or what philately has given him in his life.
What was your first, but really first investment?
I think I can consider my first investment as an investment in postage stamps, my dad was a passionate philatelist and led me from a young age to “buy cheap”, specialize in a specific segment, know as much as possible about it, look for opportunities (print defects, overprints ) that others cannot see or overlook. It also taught me to deal with exchange rate risks, to invest really long-term, in the order of tens of years, or even to understand the concept of asset liquidity. Then, of course, in the child’s speech and reasoning.
Do you have a special memory with a stock or bond or simply an investment instrument such as real estate?
Hmm, I definitely have a “coupon book” memory. I convinced the whole family to actually go for it, they were generally very skeptical that it would do anything. I think this redistribution of socialist property was very interesting and showed how someone thinks about investment. And this event also made it possible to create several new financial groups, which we had no idea at the time. My yield was definitely greater than 100% pa (per annum, i.e. per year – editor’s note).
And what was the last investment you made?
My last investment, apart from the shares of our SICAV funds, was in real estate, I bought a holiday property for rent on the Lipno Dam.
What was your – it’s up to you, according to what criteria – best investment?
This is a difficult question, the first thing that logically comes to mind is investing in personal development and education. Without it, any investment would be just speculation, lottery and the work of luck. I believe in fundamentals more than in sentiment, so I always want to understand at least the basics. It is certainly due to the fact that I am technically oriented.
Photo: Nguyen Lavin/CzechCrunch
Tomáš Budník (right) and his son Filip Budník
Try to narrow your approach to investing a little more.
I always want to understand the principle of income/profit creation, the riskiness of the investment, I consider the investment horizon, liquidity and try to diversify and not bet everything on one card. Of course, my approach evolves over time and some of the investments that I went into twenty years ago, I would no longer go into.
On the other hand, it is good not to be afraid to make decisions, and if we make a mistake, learn from it. It is a school of life worth experiencing. So I remember very well where and why I made a particular mistake, how much I lost or how much I unnecessarily cheated myself due to bad timing or ignorance. I don’t have universal advice, just recommendations. Study.
When did you realize you wanted to go into finance and investing?
It turned out over time, after college, I started a business, then sold the business, started working for financial groups and their corporations, and finally decided to get back into the business and bring in other investors. So the school of life. I’m not a graduate of an economics college or some MBA program, I don’t feel like an investment expert. I am a technologist, a manager.
What do you trust more: Bitcoin or gold?
Gold. For me, Bitcoin – yes, it’s already such a bon mot thanks to Daniel Křetínský – is like collecting coins.
Did the school give you anything from the point of view of investing?
No, I’m a trained engineer and mathematician. I learned everything about investing by myself, by meeting people who know ten times more in this field than I do, by reading professional literature and working for investment groups.
Among others, the following interviews have already been published in the investment series Money Makers:
- My husband talked me out of the investment bag, but we build collectible LEGOs together, says banker Pešková
- My children save for three percent, they have a simulated stock portfolio and a deposit limit, advises Jiří Cimpel
- Dad and I are talking about stocks. Yoga has helped me a lot in investments and in life, says Anna Píchová
- He knows how to be a rentier in his forties and says: I put an ETF under the tree for my brother, time is the most valuable thing
- I sold Booking shares for $12 and felt like a king. Today it costs 350 times as much, laughs Vávra
- I sold CEZ shares to start the company. And the best personal investment? The one to Harvard, says Stuchlík
- He directs Komerčka’s strategy and says: I remember the first time I saw Wall Street. My role model is Buffett
Does anyone in your family have an interest in investing? What about parents?
No.
Is there a role model in the industry for you?
I’m building an investment group, so I could name a few names, but I won’t. I want to go my own way, we’d rather be a role model for others.
You also worked closely with Petr Kellner, what did you learn from him?
He looked at opportunities and projects from a big perspective, while having an eye for detail. It was interesting how he let people figure things out for themselves and come to their own decisions. He was a great inspiration for me and I appreciate that I had the opportunity to work with him.
What do you despise in the world of finance and investing?
Deliberate fraud and manipulation.
If you hadn’t entered the business world, what would you have wanted to do?
Good question. When I was a teenager I thought I was going to be a doctor. I’m glad it didn’t work out. I enjoy inventing things, building, innovating. This might not resonate in medicine. What I do just fulfills me and I am happy to be where I am.
