Guy Spier gave a more unconventional presentation at the conference. His topic was the role of developing good partnerships.
Value investing has a place for everyone. Even if you just take John Bogle approach of trying to reducing your investment expenses you have made big progress. I thought this was a really important lesson
Guy spoke a bit about Li Lu who as mentioned here- http://www.valuewalk.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway/breaking-news-buffetts-successor-li-lu/ , is going to be Warren Buffett’s successor.
Guy recommends reading Li Lu’s book,Moving the Mountain
.
Guy’s find returned 6% a year over S&P 500 since inception in 1997.
Guy thinks James Montier nailed a lot of behavioral finance and highly recommends his bookThe Little Book of Behavioral Investing
, which was given out at the conference to all attendees for free (to read a more indepth book on behavioral finance by Montier check outBehavioural Finance: Insights into Irrational Minds and Markets
, andValue Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment
.
Guy says to place a sign up in your office “Invest Like A Champion Today”. Warren Buffett has this sign up in his office.
Guy Switzerland is making decisions now about how to keep up on infrastructure for the next 100 years. They do detailed schedules and look far ahead.
Why are not thinking the same way as Switzerland and China. That is the problem with the US.
Guy Spier read Michael Eisne’sWhy Great Partnerships Succeed
. The lesson is that who you hang out with will have a profound impact on you. It lead Guy to a whole new understanding of the role of partnerships in shaping your investment out.
What is happening at the Berkshire meeting which is really an example of a great partnership.
Charlie Munger is a great man in his own right. In the book what comes out is that Munger has enough self confidence to be in the background of Buffett.
Warren is also a partner to many of his business subsidiary CEOs.
Getting into the right relationship will have a profound impact on your investing.
Tom Gayner and Steve Markel are also an example of a great partnership.
Tom Gayner never got down on his partner despite the disastrous acquisition of Markel.
Whitney Tilson has a great partner in Glenn Tongue. It allows each of them to do what they do best.
How to make a great investment partnership:
You have to let them make mistakes, and not let them get down on it.
Respect freedom of action.
Back to Swiss infrastructure. Making a checklist is important.
Getting into good relationships is very important for value investing. Guy says you should act like a great partner to find great partners.
Guy respects Jim Chanos and David Einhorn.
Chinese are looking to retire in Japan.
Guy likes Japanese equities.
A lot of companies are trading below cash. They have been profitable the past few years.
Guy likes some of the following as a basket. He has trouble investing in Japanese small caps since they are very hard to analyze. However, Guy likes the stocks as a basket.
Guy says liquidity today is not important today but is when you get out. (I thought this was a very good line, and shows some real wisdom by Spier)
Guy does not care much about businesses when you are getting them for lower than their net cash.
Guy started thinking about Africa as the Chinese started investing there. Guy looked at Nigeria, but it was very hard to analyze.
However, if you run a screen on Joel Greenblatt’s site you can also find cheap values that are much easier to analyze.
Guy brings Holland as an example which used to be a great empire and no longer is. But it is still a great place to live, has a high standard of living, and this is similar to the situation in Japan and US. We will still have a high standard of living regardless of current economic problems.
Guy is never short. He likes to hold some cash. He wants partners as investors.
Disclosure: None
http://www.valuewalk.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/valuewalk
Value investing has a place for everyone. Even if you just take John Bogle approach of trying to reducing your investment expenses you have made big progress. I thought this was a really important lesson
Guy spoke a bit about Li Lu who as mentioned here- http://www.valuewalk.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway/breaking-news-buffetts-successor-li-lu/ , is going to be Warren Buffett’s successor.
Guy recommends reading Li Lu’s book,Moving the Mountain
.Guy’s find returned 6% a year over S&P 500 since inception in 1997.
Guy thinks James Montier nailed a lot of behavioral finance and highly recommends his bookThe Little Book of Behavioral Investing
, which was given out at the conference to all attendees for free (to read a more indepth book on behavioral finance by Montier check outBehavioural Finance: Insights into Irrational Minds and Markets, andValue Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment.Guy says to place a sign up in your office “Invest Like A Champion Today”. Warren Buffett has this sign up in his office.
Guy Switzerland is making decisions now about how to keep up on infrastructure for the next 100 years. They do detailed schedules and look far ahead.
Why are not thinking the same way as Switzerland and China. That is the problem with the US.
Guy Spier read Michael Eisne’sWhy Great Partnerships Succeed
. The lesson is that who you hang out with will have a profound impact on you. It lead Guy to a whole new understanding of the role of partnerships in shaping your investment out.What is happening at the Berkshire meeting which is really an example of a great partnership.
Charlie Munger is a great man in his own right. In the book what comes out is that Munger has enough self confidence to be in the background of Buffett.
Warren is also a partner to many of his business subsidiary CEOs.
Getting into the right relationship will have a profound impact on your investing.
Tom Gayner and Steve Markel are also an example of a great partnership.
Tom Gayner never got down on his partner despite the disastrous acquisition of Markel.
Whitney Tilson has a great partner in Glenn Tongue. It allows each of them to do what they do best.
How to make a great investment partnership:
You have to let them make mistakes, and not let them get down on it.
Respect freedom of action.
Back to Swiss infrastructure. Making a checklist is important.
Getting into good relationships is very important for value investing. Guy says you should act like a great partner to find great partners.
Guy respects Jim Chanos and David Einhorn.
Chinese are looking to retire in Japan.
Guy likes Japanese equities.
| Company Name | Market Capitalization (US$mm) | Enterprise Value | Dividend Yield | Net Cash US$ m | LTM Ebit | Industry |
| Shingakukai | 60 | (22) | 4% | 82 | 7.5 | Coaching Schools and Sports Clubs |
| Clip Corporation | $38 | (4) | 4% | 42 | 10.5 | Coaching Schools |
| Nippon Road | 186 | (32) | 4% | 218 | 76 | Construction and Engineering |
| Nihon Dengi | 57 | (1.5) | 5% | 58.5 | 17 | Air conditioning systems |
| Daiichi Kensetsu Corp | 125 | (28) | 3% | 153 | 52 | Construction and Real Estate |
| Hokkaido Bus Company | 74 | (12) | 2% | 88 | 13 | Bus Routes |
| Otaki Gas | 73 | 5 | 2% | 68 | 23 | Gas Distribution |
| Heian Ceremony Service Co. | 67 | 8 | 4% | 59 | 15.5 | Wedding and Funeral Services |
A lot of companies are trading below cash. They have been profitable the past few years.
Guy likes some of the following as a basket. He has trouble investing in Japanese small caps since they are very hard to analyze. However, Guy likes the stocks as a basket.
Guy says liquidity today is not important today but is when you get out. (I thought this was a very good line, and shows some real wisdom by Spier)
Guy does not care much about businesses when you are getting them for lower than their net cash.
Guy started thinking about Africa as the Chinese started investing there. Guy looked at Nigeria, but it was very hard to analyze.
However, if you run a screen on Joel Greenblatt’s site you can also find cheap values that are much easier to analyze.
Guy brings Holland as an example which used to be a great empire and no longer is. But it is still a great place to live, has a high standard of living, and this is similar to the situation in Japan and US. We will still have a high standard of living regardless of current economic problems.
Guy is never short. He likes to hold some cash. He wants partners as investors.
Disclosure: None
http://www.valuewalk.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/valuewalk
