We believe in an investment philosophy that was first written about by Ben Graham and David Dodd in 1939. In fact, it was Ben Graham’s book “The Intelligent Investor” that changed Warren Buffett’s thinking about investing. At the age of 20, Warren read The Intelligent Investor and as a result of that book, sought out Ben who was teaching at Columbia Business School. Warren studied under him for two years and then went to work for Ben at his investment company, Graham Newman.
Ben identified the investor’s greatest challenge to success—”himself”. In Ben’s own words, “The investor’s chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself”. It is an innate problem for humans that we seem to be more inclined to be comfortable buying our investments after they have gone up rather than the other way around. Of course, logic would suggest that we buy low and then sell after your investment has gone up. Why then does the research point so conclusively to the fact that what we actually do is the opposite?
At Alport Group, our philosophy is based on the value approach, but in order to be successful as a value investor, you need to have a fairly good understanding of market cycles and market psychology. We understand this and we endeavour to provide the education to our clients through writing, educational presentations and personal consultations. For some of our clients, however, a more pension-style investment approach is more appropriate. Our discovery process allows us to determine which type of investment approach is most appropriate for you.
