Zurich-based author and investor Guy Spier (@GSpier), the founder and CEO of Aquamarine Capital, joins Julia La Roche one episode 78.
In 2008, Guy and his friend Monish Pabrai bid just over $650,000 for a charity lunch with Warren Buffett. That meal with the Oracle of Omaha was a transformative experience for Guy, which he wrote about in his book, “The Education of a Value Investor,” which has sold more than 40,000 copies and has also been translated into Hebrew, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Mandarin and Spanish.
Guy completed his MBA at the Harvard Business School, class of 1993, and holds a First Class degree in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) from Oxford University, where he studied at Brasenose College with British Prime Minister David Cameron. After completing his MBA, Guy started the Aquamarine Fund, an investment vehicle inspired by the original 1950s Buffett partnerships and run with a close replication of the original Buffett partnership rules. The focus is on investing for long-term capital appreciation and capital preservation by running a portfolio of equity investments with the goal of acquiring companies with outstanding long-term economics at a reasonable price and where there is a sufficient margin of safety between the company’s market price and its intrinsic value. Typical investors include high net-worth individuals, family offices, and private banks.
0:00 Show open
1:50 Welcome, Guy Spier
3:00 Started as a Gordon Gekko wannabe, found a ‘lifeline’ through Buffett
6:13 Reading about Warren Buffett
9:47 The pilgrimage to Omaha
11:00 Power of sending thank-you notes
17:00 Handwritten notes from Buffett
18:09 Bidding on lunch with Buffett
22:30 Lunch with Buffett was “transformational.”
27:44 The inner scorecard
30:00 Deep fear ahead of meeting Buffett
34:06 How much does the macro matter?
37:28 Siren songs of the hyped stocks
40:25 Writing with William Green
44:26 Why he changed his mind about not talking to company management
49:20 New investment process checklist items
54:15 Debt
57:10 Buffett spends time thinking about the downside
1:01:20 Content diet for investing
1:08:40 Surrounding yourself with a mastermind group
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#039 Stephanie Link On The Fed, Markets, And Working With Jim Cramer
#038 ‘Art & Equity’ With Blythe Masters, Brett Redfearn, Elizabeth Von Habsburg, and Carlos Domingo
#037 Axel Merk On The Fed's Sledgehammer Approach To The Economy
#036 Jim Rickards: We're Looking At A Global Recession
#035 Envestnet Co-CIO Dana D’Auria On Personalizing Portfolios
#034 Carson Block On Latest Shorts And The 'Mass Investing Delusion' Of ESG
#033 Jan Van Eck On Why Now Is The Time To Buy Bonds
#032 Scott Galloway: It's Never Been Easier To Become A Billionaire, But It’s Never Been Harder To Become A Millionaire
#031 Danielle DiMartino Booth On Recession, Housing, And Killing The Fed Put
#030 Vitaliy Katsenelson On The 'Dot-Com Bubble 2.0' Ushering In 'A Value Investor's Paradise'
#029 Steve Case On Peak Silicon Valley And The Rise Of The Rest
#028 Dr. Nomi Prins On How The Fed Created A ‘Permanent Distortion’
#027 Rick Rule: The Damage Will Be Severe But Survivable
#026 Brent Donnelly On Why It’s Starting To Feel Like 2001
#025 Alex Gurevich On Why Deflation — Not Inflation — Is The Real Concern
#024 "Convexity Maven" Harley Bassman On Repricing For Reality
#023 Nick Maggiulli On Why You Should ‘Just Keep Buying’
#022 Brent Johnson On The "Dollar Milkshake" Theory And Why A Currency Crisis Is Ahead
#021 Jim Rickards: We're Going To Wake Up This Winter With A Severe Recession
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