Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Charlie Munger's 10 Rules for Investment Success


Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's friend and partner, is quite an investor in his own right. Munger is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011. He is also the chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation. Munger's 10 Rules for Investment Success are detailed in his book Poor Charlie's Almanac. Here they are:

  1. Measure risk: All investment evaluations should begin by measuring risk, especially reputational.
  2. Be independent: Only in fairy tales are emperors told they're naked.
  3. Prepare ahead: The only way to win is to work, work, work, and hope to have a few insights.
  4. Have intellectual humility: Acknowledging what you don't know is the dawning of wisdom.
  5. Analyze rigorously: Use effective checklists to minimize errors and omissions.
  6. Allocate assets wisely: Proper allocation of capital is an investor's No. 1 job.
  7. Have patience: Resist the natural human bias to act.
  8. Be decisive: When proper circumstances present themselves, act with decisiveness and conviction.
  9. Be ready for change: Accept unremovable complexity.
  10. Stay focused: Keep it simple and remember what you set out to do.
I am sure each of us can relate to one or more of these. I am particularly drawn to #3 and #5, but #8 is tops with me. I am driven to find that jewel in the rough that was missed by the herd. You can't beat the head by following it!

Full Disclosure: No position in the aforementioned securities.

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