Stock Certificates are deeds of ownership in business enterprises and not betting slips
J Paul Getty
The big money is not in the buying or selling, but in the waiting
Charlie Munger
Owners stay invested for long periods of time and this allows for the returns generated by the stock to approximate the returns generated by the business. Owning a business for long periods of time is, however, not easy because the gyrations of the stock market and the constant news flow from the financial media and commentators create pressure to act.
In addition, the investment industry is geared to incentivise trading.
Business owners also typically own concentrated positions in their companies for a long period of time, and this is the reason why they are the largest wealth creators.
We believe we can do the same if we understand their ideas & their vision and the trends in the industries they operate in.
We consider our portfolio to be a holding company of a small number of high quality businesses and not a portfolio of financial securities, meant to be traded constantly. This “business owners” mindset is a key foundation of our approach to investing.