The Practical Way

How to measure investment performance

Wednesday, 13th January 2010 | Personal Finance, Stocks, Wealth Building

As investors, it is very important to keep track of our yearly returns. Returns should be compared with a benchmark and our job is to beat the benchmark. If you can not beat the benchmark then it is better to buy it. This will save us money and time in the long run. There are certain things to consider when you measure performance:

1) Define your investment fund

First of all we must know what we measure. For example, assume we have a trading account of £10,000 and we decide to buy 1000 shares of Company X for £5.00 per share. Once we buy the shares, we will have in our account £5,000 in cash and 1000 shares of company X worth 5,000. Now assume that by the end of the year the shares increased in value and they are worth £6.00 per share. We can calculate our return in 2 ways:[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 7

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

How he runs Berkshire Hathaway

In 1992, Warren Buffett say that Berkshire’s after-tax overhead costs are under of 1% of reported operating earnings and less than 1/2 of 1% of look-through earnings. In 1996, the after-tax headquarters expense amounts to less than two basis points (1/50th of 1%) measured against net worth.

Warren Buffett does not believe in flexible operating budgets, as in “Non-direct expenses can be X if revenues are Y, but must be reduced if revenues are Y – 5%”. In addition, it makes no sense to add unneeded people or activities because profits are booming, or cutting essential people or activities because profitability is shrinking.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 6

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

Debt and Leverage

Warren Buffett prefers to get finance (debt) in anticipation of need rather than in reaction to it. Warren Buffet has an aversion to debt, particularly the short-term kind. He is willing to incur modest amounts of debt when it is both properly structured and of significant benefit to shareholders.

Warren Buffett does not like leverage. Even if the odds of disaster are 99:1, he does not like them. A small chance of distress or disgrace cannot, in our view, be offset by a large chance of extra returns. If your actions are sensible, you are certain to get good results.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 5

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

Economic franchises

An economic franchise is a product or service that:

• Is needed or desired
• Is thought by its customers to have no close substitute
• Is not subject to price regulation

The company can regularly price its product or service aggressively and earn high rates of return on capital. Franchises can tolerate mis-management, because the managers might diminish the franchise’s profitability but they cannot inflict mortal damage.

Three suggestions of investors

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

After many years of investing, Warren Buffett has some suggestions for investors.

First, beware of companies displaying weak accounting. If a company still does not expense options, or if its pension assumptions are fanciful, watch out. When managements take the low road in aspects that are visible, it is likely they are following a similar path behind the scenes. There is seldom just one cockroach in the kitchen.[...]

The formula for valuing assets

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Personal Finance, Property, Stocks, Wealth Building

In one of his letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett told them what is the formula to value any assett.

The formula for valuing all assets that are purchased for financial gain has been unchanged since it was first laid out by a very smart man in about 600 B.C. (though he wasn’t smart enough to know it was 600 B.C.).

The oracle was Aesop and his enduring, though somewhat incomplete, investment insight was “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” To flesh out this principle, you must answer only three questions. How certain are you that there are indeed birds in the bush? When will they emerge and how many will there be? What is the risk-free interest rate (which we consider to be the yield on long-term U.S. bonds)? If you can answer these three questions, you will know the maximum value of the bush ¾ and the maximum number of the birds you now possess that should be offered for it. And, of course, don’t literally think birds. Think dollars.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 4

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

Management

Making the most of an existing strong business franchise is what usually produces exceptional economics. Managers need to protect their franchise, control costs, search for new products and markets that build on their existing strengths and do not get diverted. They need to work exceptionally hard at the details of the business. He advocates leaving management alone to do their job.

When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.

Only do business with people that you like, trust and admire.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 3

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

Be a successful investor

You do not have to make it back the way that you lost it.

I would rather be certain of a good result than hopeful of a great one.

To be successful, concentrate on identifying one foot hurdles that you could step over rather than acquire any ability to clear seven footers. An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he/she avoids big mistakes.

In each case you want to acquire, at a sensible price, a business with excellent economics and able and honest management. Thereafter, you need only to monitor whether these qualities are being preserved.

When carried out capably, an investment strategy of that type will often result in its practitioner owning a few securities that will come to represent a very large portion of his portfolio. This investor would get a similar result if he followed a policy of purchasing an interest in, say, 20% of the future earnings of a number of outstanding college basketball stars. A handful of these would go on to achieve NBA stardom, and the investor’s take from them would soon dominate his royalty stream. To suggest that this investor should sell off portions of his most successful investments simply because they have come to dominate his portfolio is akin to suggesting that the Bulls trade Michael Jordan because he has become so important to the team.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 2

Tuesday, 8th December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

Buying a business

Here are the thought of Warren Buffett on what to look for when you are considering buying a business. It must have a good management team, good future economics for the business and the price you pay must be right. The business itself should have the ability to increase prices easily (even when product demand is flat and capacity is not fully utilized) without fear of significant loss of either market share or unit volume. You should be able to accommodate large dollar volume increases in business with only minor addition of investment of capital. The best business to own is one that over an extended period can employee large amounts of incremental capital at very high rates of return.

The following are dismal economic characteristics that make for a poor long-term outlook for a business:[...]

How to Minimize Investment Returns

Thursday, 3rd December 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

In his Berkshire Hathaway annual report of 2006, Warren Buffet wrote an article that explained how investors were achieving lower returns by employing professional help. Below if the full test.

Over the century American businesses did extraordinarily well and investors rode the wave of their prosperity. Businesses continue to do well. But now shareholders, through a series of self-inflicted wounds, are in a major way cutting the returns they will realize from their investments.

The explanation of how this is happening begins with a fundamental truth: With unimportant exceptions, such as bankruptcies in which some of a company’s losses are borne by creditors, the most that owners in aggregate can earn between now and Judgment Day is what their businesses in aggregate earn. True, by buying and selling that is clever or lucky, investor A may take more than his share of the pie at the expense of investor B. And, yes, all investors feel richer when stocks soar. But an owner can exit only by having someone take his place. If one investor sells high, another must buy high. For owners as a whole, there is simply no magic – no shower of money from outer space – that will enable them to extract wealth from their companies beyond that created by the companies themselves.[...]

Warren Buffett Investment Lessons, part 1

Tuesday, 27th October 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

This is an edited version of a letter Warren Buffett sent some years ago to a man who had indicated that he might want to sell his family business.

Some Thoughts on Selling Your Business

In contrast, owner-managers sell their business only once — frequently in an emotionally-charged atmosphere with a multitude of pressures coming from different directions. Often, much of the pressure comes from brokers whose compensation is contingent upon consummation of a sale, regardless of its consequences for both buyer and seller. The fact that the decision is so important, both financially and personally, to the owner can make the process more, rather than less, prone to error. And, mistakes made in the once-in-a-lifetime sale of a business are not reversible.[...]

“The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder

Wednesday, 22nd July 2009 | Book Reviews, Stocks, Wealth Building

This is a great book for anyone who is interested to invest in the stock market and run a business. The book describes the life of Warren Buffett from the day he was born up to 2008. The lessons are drawn from both his personal and his professional life.

Warren got involved in a very young age in the process of making money and managing other people’s money. When he was a kid he took his sister’s money to invest in a stock. This stock went down and everyday his sister would ask him why the stock is down. Warren did not like that experience at all and from that day on he did not want to manage other’s people money unless he knew he could do a great job. This gave birth to his first rule of investment “Never lose the money.”

You can find a lot of details on his management style in the book and how he pushes his people to get the best out of them.[...]

“One Up On Wall Street” by Peter Lynch

Monday, 22nd June 2009 | Book Reviews, Stocks, Wealth Building

This book is one of the classics on stock investments. Peter Lynch was the head of the Magellan Fund in Fidelity Investments from 1977 to 1990 and the fund average was 29.2% return during that period. This is a very impressive return when you consider that the market average is about 11% and that 80% of the fund managers fails to beat the average.

In this book, Peter Lynch shares some of his secrets on how he managed to get this returns and explains how ordinary investors can do the same and achieve higher returns that the professionals. He introduces ideas like the “ten bagger” that refer to an investment which is worth ten times its original purchase price.[...]

Never sell a stock

Wednesday, 3rd June 2009 | Personal Finance, Stocks, Wealth Building

One of the biggest challenges that people face when they buy stocks is to decide when to sell them. This decision is as important as deciding which stock to buy. Even Warren Buffet, the legendary buy and hold investor, is selling stocks if he believes that he can find a better place for his capital.

First of all, you should never sell simply because a stock—and the market in general – goes down several percentage points. Selling on this basis alone is an overreaction that usually costs you money in the long run. Don’t waste your time on trying to time the market. Instead, you want to know your stocks well enough to be able to recognize which events spell danger and which scream opportunity.

Here, then, are some pointers to help you decide whether to stay the course or sell—for the right reasons:[...]

How to evaluate the management of a company

Thursday, 30th April 2009 | Stocks, Wealth Building

One of the most important things to look at before you invest in a company is the quality of the management team. After all, you are buying a part of a company and you want the people who are running it to be of the best quality. Consider four major areas when seeking out top-quality [...]

Invest like Warren Buffett

Tuesday, 24th February 2009 | Personal Finance, Stocks, Wealth Building

Warren Buffet has been characterised as the greatest investor of all times. He buys great companies in fair values and holds them forever. He is very successful and he has managed to become the wealthiest person on Earth.

There are many people who are wondering how he does this. They are trying to do the same thing as Warren and achieve similar results. One way that this can be done is by buying the same companies he buys at similar prices or better. This is not always easily done, because a lot of times he reveals his positions months after he has done the purchases.[...]

Has Warren Buffett lost his touch?

Tuesday, 10th February 2009 | Interviews/Presentations, Personal Finance, Stocks, Wealth Building

It is always useful to see both sides in an argument. This increases your understanding of the situation and hopefully will help you to make better decisions. I have been following Warren Buffett very closely in the last 3 years and I have been reading articles written about him and his investment and management style. Everyone is praising him for being a very good investor and being able to attract great companies.

There is one person though who is betting against him. Who tells that his time is over and he has lost his charm. This person is Doug Kass and the last few months he wrote articles on why Warren is wrong and why his style does not work any more. His articles and reasoning are very interesting. His main point is that his style is not applicable to this new age and following it will cause you to lose money.[...]