Great investors are tested by times, economic cycles and financial crisis. We can all learn from the investment advice of these great investors.

Warren Buffet – The Value Investor

Warren Buffet’s unmatched investment record in the 20th century” has earned him the name The Oracle of Omaha. The oracle has no crystal ball, though. Far from fortune telling, the investment success of one of the world’s wealthiest men is based on fundamental value investing.  If you bind the annual letters of Berkshire Hathaway into a book – which you can in fact buy on Amazon – you may have the only book on value investing you will ever need. Considering Warren Buffet’s investment record, his sage advice on value investing is all you need. Buffet repeats the same themes in his newsletters.

Invest in Businesses, Not Stocks – Buffet does not look at a stock’s price or beta – volatility of a stock price, he looks at the underlying business. A value investor wants to know what the asset is going to do; a speculator wants to know what the price is going to do, says the oracle. Think like a business owner.

Be Able to See the Future – It is essential to be able to see the future of a business. What short- and long-term trends will affect that future – costs, prices, competition? This is as important as the intrinsic value calculation. What cash will the business generate and how does it compare to its stock price? “20% of Fortune 500 companies will be earning significantly less in five years,” says Buffet.

Love the Business – The owner should love the business. You should like the business so much that you use its products.

Invest Back in the Business – The business is generating good returns on capital and investing earnings back into the business.

Thomas Rowe Price Jr. – The Growth Investor

Thomas Rowe Price’s search for growth stocks in growth industries helped him grow his investment firm to $300 billion in assets. He looks for long-term earnings growth with new highs at the peak of each business cycle indicating continuous growth. This growth is found in new industries and products, and specialty industries. Price looks for companies with:

Strong R&D – Strong competency in research and product development.

Little Interference –  Low exposure to competition. Little interference from government, consumer or labor regulation

Reasonable Price – A PE ratio lower than the historical average.

EPS Growth – Earnings per share growth greater than inflation, as well as a 10% return on invested capital and high profit margins, above industry average

George Soros – The Hedge Fund Manager

A $1000 investment Soros’ flagship fund in 1969 would be worth $4 million today – a 30% annual return (Investopedia).

George Soros is best known as the man who broke the Bank of England by shorting the British pound for a cool profit of $1 billion. His investment style, a global macro strategy, involves taking highly leveraged bets on the direction of foreign currencies, commodities and other securities based on macroeconomic events. Soros’ positions are large but he is in fact more conservative than some speculative investors. He says he only puts 30% of his capital at risk at any time.

Timing – Timing is the gift of the short-term trader. “The object is to recognise the trend whose premise is false, ride that trend and step off before it is discredited.”

Cut Your Losses – Know when to withdraw from a losing position. And above all, recognise and learn from your mistakes.

Reflexivity – A method of valuing assets, Soros analyses how other investors are valuing assets.

Scientific Method (Test the Waters) – Soros often takes small stakes to test out a strategy. If it is successful, he takes a bigger position.

Soros is known for his political savvy and connections, which he uses for insight into which way the market is going to move.

Three very different investment styles from three phenomenally successful investors. A common theme is a high level of discipline in consistently applying their proven investment strategies. All three have suffered very public losses and gains but have recovered by refusing to follow trends and crowds and instead sticking to what they know best.

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Founder @ The New Savvy
Anna Haotanto is the Advisor (former CEO) of The New Savvy. She is currently the COO of ABZD Capital and the CMO of Gourmet Food Holdings, an investment firm focusing on opportunities in the global F&B industry. She is part of the founding committee of the Singapore FinTech Association and heads the Women In FinTech and Partnership Committee. Anna is the President of the Singapore Management University Women Alumni. Anna invests and sits on the board of a few startups. Anna is also part of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry Career Women’s Group executive committee. Anna’s story is featured on Millionaire Minds on Channel NewsAsia. She hosts TV shows and events, namely for Channel NewsAsia’s “The Millennial Investor” and “Challenge Tomorrow”, a FinTech documentary. Anna was awarded “Her Times Youth Award” at the Rising50 Women Empowerment Gala, organised by the Indonesian Embassy of Singapore. The award was presented by His Excellency Ngurah Swajaya. She was also awarded Founder of the Year for ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards. She was also awarded the Women Empowerment Award by the Asian Business & Social Forum. Anna has been awarded LinkedIn Power Profiles for founders (2018, 2017), Tatler Gen T, The Peak’s Trailblazers under 40 and a nominee for the Women of The Future award by Aviva

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