Investing Tips from the World’s Leading Business Men
Momentum Public Relations – Stephanie Boucher
Reading the financial section in the paper, you’ll often find that investors don’t agree on very much, with the exception of one thing: there are certain strategies to becoming a successful investor.
Many money managers and investors have made a fortune using their own philosophies, and have helped others do the same. Here, we’ve rounded up tips and tricks from a few of world’s most successful investors, suitable for the novice investor as well as for the professionals looking for new strategies.
- “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” – Warren Buffett
Warren Buffet, 79, is often considered the world’s most successful investor of all time. He has made an enormous fortune through his company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the largest shareholder and CEO. Buffet’s estimated worth is over $46 billion.
Warren Buffet has had the ear of many businessmen like Bill Gates and his opinions can influence the world markets. His advice to investors is when evaluating a company, pay attention to the quality of the company over the price. The company’s quality is of utmost importance, and one should expect to pay a fair price for it. Furthermore, a company of lower quality should not be bought because of its low price tag.
- “The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game. And that’s always been my philosophy.” – Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch, 71, made his fortune as the manager of the Magellan Fund early in his career. During this time, he averaged a 29.2{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} return, making it the best performing mutual fund in the world. Lynch is worth over $350 million.
His advice is to do the most research as possible before investing. The more you understand, the better your chance of success. Investing isn’t like playing roulette. Behind every stock is a company, and understanding that company’s business is crucial to your investment strategy. You should always have a better reason for buying stock than “It was going up!”
- “I create offbeat advice; I don’t follow it, I rarely take third-party advice on my investments.” – Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, 57, is an investor, businessman, author and television personality. He is well known in the business world as the owner of Dallas Mavericks, and for his role as an investor on the popular TV series Shark Tank. Cuban is worth approximately $3 billion.
His strategy concerns advice coming from outside parties. According to the business mogul, he thinks it’s best to save money and invest in vehicles you know well. While advice from finance professionals can be beneficial at times, be sure to understand where your money is going and be sure that it serves your best interests. You can never do enough research.
- “My investment philosophy, generally, with exceptions, is to buy something when no one wants it.” – Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn, 79, is widely regarded as one the of world’s most famous investors. He is known for investing in companies with poor management, for which he eventually coined the phrase “Icahn lift.” The catchphrase is known on Wall Street because it describes the upward bounce in a company’s stock price after Carl Icahn has bought it.
Icahn’s philosophy is to target a company he deems to be poorly managed and whose stock price is well below market value. He accumulates enough stock to merit a position on the board of directors to have a strong say in the management of the company moving forward.
- “Do you really like a particular stock? Put 10{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} or so of your portfolio on it. Make the idea count. Good investment ideas should not be diversified away into meaningless oblivion.” – Bill Gross
Bill Gross is an American financial manager and founder of PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company). Gross ran PIMCO’s $270.0 billion Total Return Fund, but recently left to join Janus in January 2014. Gross’ worth is estimated at over $2.3 billion.
Gross’ philosophy here speaks to diversification. While a certain amount of portfolio diversification is strongly encouraged, it also diminishes your returns when one of your picks makes a big gain. Big returns are all about taking chances, based on in depth research. Don’t be afraid to invest a little more when your research points to a winning stock or company.