How to Invest Like Billionaire Gold Gurus Sprott & Embry

TORONTO (TheStreet) -- When savvy investors are looking for clues and evidence for some potentially big bonanza opportunities they often begin by seeing what the super-successful are doing.

There aren't many investors that started with little more than the clothes on their backs and through hard work and outstanding discernment have become billionaires.

Two such legendary investors who I have followed, learned from and want to emulate are Eric Sprott and John Embry.

In 1981, Sprott founded Sprott Securities (now Cormark Securities), an institutional brokerage firm focused on small-to-mid capitalization companies, servicing Canadian corporate and institutional investors.

By 2000, Sprott made the decision to focus solely on the investment management business. Accordingly, the investment management division was spun-off to form a separate entity now known as Sprott Asset Management , or SAM.

SAM was founded with an already established successful historical track record of managing assets through Sprott Managed Accounts since 1981 and the Sprott Canadian Equity Fund since 1997.

Sprott Securities was sold to its employees in 2002, leaving Eric Sprott and the directors and officers of SAM with no remaining interest in the firm.

On May 15, 2008, Sprott Inc. successfully completed its initial public offering by way of a secondary offering of common shares. Pursuant to the offering, certain shareholders of Sprott Inc. sold 20,000,000 common shares at an offering price of $10.00 per share for aggregate proceeds of $200 million.

Sprott Inc.'s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SII (SII.TO) In the U.S. Sprott Inc. trades under the symbol SPOXF.

John Embry joined SAM as Chief Investment Strategist in March 2003, with a focus on the Sprott Gold and Precious Minerals Fund. He plays an instrumental role in the corporate and investment policy of the firm, according to the Sprott Web site.

Embry, an industry expert in precious metals, has researched the gold sector for over 30 years and has accumulated industry experience as a portfolio management specialist since 1963. He also has been Vice President, Equities and Portfolio Manager at RBC Global Investment Management, a $33 billion organization where he oversaw $5 billion in assets, including the flagship $2.9 billion Royal Canadian Equity Fund and the $250 million Royal Precious Metals Fund.

There are a number of ways to invest in the same "style" as they do. There's the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) and the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV).

Sprott has mentioned in several speeches I've attended that he invests some of his own money in these physical precious metals funds when appropriate.

1 2 Next › Last »