Value Investing
How to estimate liquidation value / 6 May 2024
With the notable exception of firms in seriously declining industries or in high distress, businesses are normally worth more alive (i.e., as going concerns) than dead (i.e., liquidated). As a result, “liquidation value” (i.e., the estimated proceeds the firm’s owners could get out of a disposal of its assets, after paying off its liabilities), is […]
Investing and Life Tips from the Wisest Billionaire / 29 April 2023
Charlie Munger quotes Charlie Munger (born in 1924) is a legendary American billionaire investor (best known for being the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway), with broad-ranging interests (e.g., investment, business, psychology, law, architecture, science, philanthropy) and a brilliant mind. Below is a selection of Charlie Munger quotes about investing, business, and […]
At last! The Magic Investment Formula / 16 April 2023
The Little Book That Beats The Market, by Joel Greenblatt Joel Greenblatt (born in 1957) is an American investor, academic, and writer. He is a Managing Partner and co-CIO of Gotham Asset Management, a successor of Gotham Capital which he co-founded in 1985. He teaches value and special situations investing at Columbia Business School. Below […]
Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing / 23 March 2023
The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing, by Pat Dorsey Pat Dorsey is the founder of Dorsey Asset Management, the former director of equity research at Morningstar and Sanibel Captiva Trust, and the author of several investment books. Below are the key insights from his book The Five Rules for Successful Investing: Picking great stocks […]
Competitive Advantage for Strategy and Investing / 16 August 2022
Competition Demystified, by Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn Bruce Greenwald (born in 1946) is a professor of finance and asset management at Columbia Business School, and the author of several value investing and strategy books. Judd Kahn is COO of Hummingbird Management, an investment management firm. Below are the key insights from their book Competition […]
Lessons from an Old-School Value Investing Legend / 29 May 2022
John Neff on Investing, by John Neff I came across John Neff on Investing following the recommendation of my uncle, a money manager based in Boston. John Neff (1931-2019) was an American investor known for his low price-to-earnings (P/E) investment style. During his 31 years heading Vanguard’s Windsor fund, he posted 13.7% annual returns (after […]
Growth Investing
Lessons From The Growth Investor Who Influenced Buffett And Munger / 10 April 2021
Philip Fisher (1907-2004) is one of the pioneers of growth investing. Legendary investor Warren Buffett was introduced to his investment philosophy by his partner Charlie Munger. Fisher’s writings contain sharp insights on: (1) How to find outstanding stocks, when to buy them and when to sell them, (2) Economics (notably inflation), (3) Stock market history.
Investing Lessons From One Of The Best Stock Pickers Of All Times / 20 March 2021
One Up On Wall Street, and Beating The Street, by Peter Lynch One Up On Wall Street Beating the Street Peter Lynch is one of the best performing mutual fund managers and investors of all times. During his 13-year tenure at the helm of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity, which he brought from $18m to […]
Private Equity
Private Equity Valuation Guidelines / 16 May 2024
Private Equity Valuation Guidelines Below is a summary and personal interpretation of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital (“IPEV”) Guidelines to estimate the fair value of investments as part of a private equity funds’ reporting to its limited partners. These guidelines contain a useful wrap-up of valuation best practices in a private equity context. […]
Secrets From A Private Equity Tycoon / 30 April 2023
The Dealmaker, by Guy Hands Guy Hands (born in 1959) is an English investor, who worked at Goldman Sachs as a trader, created Nomura’s Principal Finance Group (PFG) in 1994, spun off in 2002 to create Terra Firma, one of the top 10 global private equity firms at the time, and now runs the Hands […]
Do It Yourself Private Equity / 22 April 2023
Lessons From Private Equity Any Company Can Use, by Orit Gadiesh and Hugh MacArthur Orit Gadiesh is the Chairman of Bain & Company, a consulting firm with a well-known franchise in strategic due diligence for private equity firms. Hugh MacArthur is the head of Bain’s Private Equity practice. Their book seeks to share lessons from […]
Hedge Funds
Lessons From a Hedge Fund Manager / 20 April 2023
Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, by David Einhorn David Einhorn (born in 1968) is an American investor who co-founded and chairs Greenlight Capital, a long-short value-oriented hedge fund whose flagship partnership has returned 13% annualized over 1996-2022, net of fees and expenses. Learning the trade Einhorn learned the trade at hedge […]
Finance and Accounting
Private Equity Valuation Guidelines / 16 May 2024
Private Equity Valuation Guidelines Below is a summary and personal interpretation of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital (“IPEV”) Guidelines to estimate the fair value of investments as part of a private equity funds’ reporting to its limited partners. These guidelines contain a useful wrap-up of valuation best practices in a private equity context. […]
How To Assess The Quality of Earnings / 26 April 2022
Quality of Earnings, by Thornton O’Glove I came across Quality of Earnings, written in 1987 by Thornton O’Glove (co-authored by Robert Sobel), in my quest to understand the history of “quality of earnings” analysis. Thornton O’Glove worked as a stockbroker and financial analyst for various firms, with a particularly contrarian and skeptical approach compared to […]
Financial Statements – How To Detect A Fraud / 4 March 2022
Financial Shenanigans, by Howard M. Schilit Financial Shenanigans It is common for leveraged buyout practitioners to have the accounts of companies they are investigating scrutinized by specialized departments of audit firms. The goal, among others, is to determine (i) the Adjusted EBITDA figure on which to apply the appropriate EV/EBITDA multiple (“quality of earnings”) and […]