My investing philosophy

My investing philosophy is an amalgamation of my five great inspirations and direct teachers: Graham&Dodd, Buffett and Munger's Latticework of Mental Models, Phil Fisher, and of course, my two direct teachers, Marty Whitman, and Joel Greenblatt.

Numerous studies (See Fama-French, Lakonishok, Piotroski) have been made confirming that a value strategy beats a growth strategy in U.S. and international markets. I hope to beat the performance of these studies by actively searching through stocks that have gone through "these" filters. I apply value investing principles to businesses that have a sustainable competitive advantage. I look for investment ideas that fall into 4 baskets: excellent businesses( high returns on capital, that can deploy retained earnings and yield higher than the cost of capital) at fair prices, stocks selling for below liquidation values (the cigar butts), stocks selling for below net ascertainable values (Marty Whitman), and special situations (Joel Greenblatt -- spinoffs, post-bankruptcies, and liquidations).

I help run a fund using these principles here in the U.S. Beginning in 2006, I will also run a fund with a satellite office in Asia. The focus will be investing in companies that will enjoy benefits of the growth opportunities in Asia.

I don't guarantee anything but one: we will underperform for as much as up to three years (all great value investors do, so why should we be an exception?), but we hope to beat all the indices handily over the long term.

Why I like Investing

Two reasons I like investing very much.

1. Sloth is necessary but not enough.
2. You get better when you get older.