“I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will”. That was one of the first epigrams from Warren Buffett that caught my attention twenty years ago when I was researching a thesis on the Sage of Omaha’s stockpicking methods at MIT. What belatedly dawned on me the other day was that something similar might just as easily these days be said about the fund management business: “Try to buy a fund whose investment style is so simple that your kid’s computer could run it. Because sooner or later, one will”.
Author: Jonathan Davis
Author, columnist and investment professional.
Reality and euphoria in the equity market
In the modern era strong equity market performance in January is not, as used to be believed in days gone by, a reliable forerunner of
Only Fools Claim To Know the Future
At this season it is customary to look back on the achievements of the year that is past and to consider what may unfold in the year to come. Nate Silver, the young statistician who became an unexpected hero of 2012, is relevant to both exercises.
To Understand Christmas, Go To the Pub
With gift-giving as with finance, it takes an eclectic approach to understand human behaviour Why do we exchange gifts? I once enjoyed a heated debate with a group of anthropologists. After discussing what we might learn from each other we adjourned to the pub, where the debate continued. We bought rounds of drinks. But why?
Hounding of Intrade a Cause for Regret
Market watchers have reason to be disappointed by last week’s news that Intrade, a popular online betting exchange, is to close the accounts of all its US-based customers. The announcement follows a decision by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to file a complaint against the company which runs the site, alleging that it has illegally been operating an unregulated options market. Non-US citizens can however continue to use the site, which offers punters the chance to place bets on a variety of political and economic outcomes.
Moral Issues We Cannot Afford To Ignore
For a few months twenty five years ago I had the opportunity to work alongside the newly chosen Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in his days as the corporate treasurer of Enterprise Oil. Like everyone else who worked with him at the time, I retain a vivid memory of a smart, humorous and clued up individual who, while blinking owlishly behind his spectacles, never appeared phased by any question thrown at him. I certainly do not recognise his own self-deprecatory description that he is a bit “thick”.
Jonathan Davis 