Given the mentally strenuous demands of investing, and the finite nature of time and mental capacity, effective time and mental capacity allocation is subject on which I’m constantly seeking wisdom and improvement. A book called Deep Work by Cal Newport, recommended by David Giroux of T. Rowe Price in an interview with Consuelo Mack offered some extremely […]
Part of 2 highlights and excerpts from a March 2015 Howard Marks memo on the topic of liquidity: Liquidity During Times of Crisis “‘In times of crisis all correlations go to one.’ The prices of everything move in unison during crises because investors are driven by mob psychology, not fundamentals. Thus – and for the […]
Reading a recent whitepaper on inflation from OneRiver Asset Management (a worthy read if you have the time), I came across the following quote about psychological drivers behind illiquidity: “…Amartya Sen’s work on famines made a big impression on me. When I eventually became an investor, I would often think about his work as various […]
I have been meaning to read Ed Thorp’s new book A Man for All Markets. Short on time in recent weeks, I settled instead for a succinct interview with Thorp in Jack Schwager’s book Hedge Fund Market Wizards. Below are highlights in which Thorp shares his thoughts on position sizing and risk management. Key takeaways: (1) […]
Below are excerpts (Part 4 of 4) from Thirty Years: Reflections on the Ten Attributes of Great Investors by Michael Mauboussin. Psychology, Intrinsic Value, Expected Return What riots & bubbles have in common: “…investing is an inherently social exercise…prices can go from being a source of information to a source of influence. Imagine 100 potential rioters milling […]
Below are excerpts (Part 3 of 4) from Thirty Years: Reflections on the Ten Attributes of Great Investors by Michael Mauboussin. Portfolio Management, Sizing, Psychology “Position sizing and portfolio construction still do not get the attention they warrant.” Preach! “Puggy Pearson was a cigar-chomping gambling legend who won the World Series of Poker and was one […]
Below are excerpts (Part 2 of 4) from Thirty Years: Reflections on the Ten Attributes of Great Investors by Michael Mauboussin, which contains lots of insightful commentary on how behavioral psychology can greatly impact one’s likelihood of investment success. Creativity “I believe…that diverse input combined with rigor can lead to insight. This is all very consistent […]
There seems to be a fair amount of behavioral investing tidbits originating from Columbia Business School affiliated sources these days. We previously posted excerpts from a Kingstown Capital interview (Columbia Business School alums) in which they discuss how they’ve woven behavioral psychology into their investment and team management process. Below are excerpts (Part 1 of […]
Below is Part 2 of excerpts from an interview with Kingstown Capital Management (Michael Blitzer and Guy Shanon) conducted by the Columbia Business School Graham & Doddsville newsletter publication. Patience, Volatility, Clients “The longer we do this, duration of capital and time horizon has actually become more and more of a competitive edge. We’ve always […]
Greetings! It has been a very long time since our last PM Jar article. In 2015-2016, a variety of opportunities emerged in the marketplace, and I was busy actively investing and implementing PM Jar concepts at Marram Investment Management. If you are curious about this implementation process and its outcome, here’s a link to Marram’s […]
Additional excerpts from Ray Dalio’s Principles. By presenting thoughts along similar veins by other investors, I do not wish to imply that Dalio’s thoughts are unoriginal. Instead, I am merely attempting to highlight psychological and behavioral commonalities between these investors. Random coincidence that these overlaps exist? Perhaps. But it’s much more fun to contemplate other contributing […]
A long time ago, I stumbled upon this gem/manifesto by Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater ($154Bn AUM). It doesn’t contain his investment principles or Bridgewater’s secret sauce (which is likely constantly evolving anyway, powered by talented and creative minds). Instead, it offers a wealth of general advice on life, collected […]
Seth Klarman of Baupost wrote in a 1996 Letter that one should always be cognizant of whether seemingly different investments are actually the same bet in order to avoid risk of concentrated exposures. In other words, the task of risk management involves identifying (and if necessary, neutralizing) common risks underlying different portfolio holdings. One such […]
Michael Platt and BlueCrest Capital have been in the headlines recently as the latest hedge fund billionaire to return external capital and morph into a private partnership / family office. Below are portfolio management tidbits from Platt’s interview with Jack Schwager in Hedge Fund Market Wizards. Capital Preservation, Risk, Team Management “I have no appetite […]
Continuation in our series of portfolio management highlights from George Soros’ Alchemy of Finance – Chapter 1, Part 3: Soros introduces the theoretical foundations of reflexivity. Psychology, Intrinsic Value “What makes the participants’ understanding imperfect is that their thinking affects the situation to which it relates…Although there is no reality independent of the participants’ perception, there […]
Continuation in our series of portfolio management highlights from George Soros’ Alchemy of Finance – Chapter 1, Part 2: Soros discusses the flaws of human psychology, how it complicates the task of investing in a marketplace of other thinking participants, why historical performance is not indicative of future results. He also explains why the term […]
Portfolio management highlights from George Soros’ Alchemy of Finance – Chapter 1: The Theory of Reflexivity. In part 1, Soros discusses the concept of price equilibrium, supply and demand, and why market prices fluctuate. Intrinsic Value “The concept of an equilibrium is very useful. It allows us to focus on the final outcome rather than on […]
Dear Readers, apologies for the length of time since our last article. It’s been a busy year – got married, growing the business, grappling with a large position ruining otherwise healthy year-to-date performance – you know, all the usual life items. We have all experienced situations when the fundamentals of a business are moving in […]
I have a new (intellectual) crush: Stanley Druckenmiller. If you don’t share my feelings, you will after you read his Jan 2015 speech at the Lost Tree Club. Portfolio management related excerpts below: Diversification, Sizing “I think diversification and all the stuff they’re teaching at business school today is probably the most misguided concept…And if […]
This 1991 Barron’s interview with Seth Klarman offers some intriguing insights into how Baupost got its start, and the nature of Klarman’s initial client base and business structure. Baupost currently manages ~$32 Billion AUM (per latest firm ADV), whereas ~24 years ago that figure stood at $400mm, and ~33 years ago only $27mm. Time + compounding […]