Investing Mastermind Podcast

Investing Mastermind

Michelle Marki and Signe Lonholdt are on a journey of investing like the best investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. We seek to inspire and encourage people, especially women, to become their own investors. Even though we are not financial professionals and none of this is investing advice, we hope you enjoy! Visit www.michellemarki.com and www.investionista.com. read less

Moat: Competitive Advantages In Companies (Part 3) (010)
Feb 7 2023
Moat: Competitive Advantages In Companies (Part 3) (010)
Part three of an ongoing series on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's 4 principles of investing. We walk through these investing principles in the form of a checklist that you can download here: https://www.aahus.com/2021/05/one-of-most-important-artifacts-or.html We go through these 4 steps in a company before we invest in its stock. There are 2 rules of investing according to Warren Buffett: Rule #1: don't lose money, and Rule #2: never forget Rule #1. We don't want to lose our hard-earned money so that's why it's important to do this "homework" before we buy any stocks. The 4 investing principles/steps we discuss in this series are: 1) Understanding the business (circle of competence), 2) Management (honest & competent), 3) Moat (favorable long term prospects), and 4) Margin of Safety (available at an attractive price). When we invest in a wonderful company, it's because it has a durable, competitive advantage that is known as its moat. Many companies might not have a moat at all, so it's key to identify the business's strengths and weaknesses. Much like the medieval castle moat, a business moat helps prevent its competitors from taking away market share. You want to look for business advantages that sustain the business for a long period of time, such as these moats: brand, switching, network effects, secrets, toll bridge, price/cost. We discussed examples of moats. Note: We apologize for some audio issues we had in this episode, and have made adjustments for improved future episodes. Thank you for understanding.
How To Analyze A Company's Management (Part 2) (009)
Jan 31 2023
How To Analyze A Company's Management (Part 2) (009)
Part two of an ongoing series on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's 4 principles of investing. We walk through these investing principles in the form of a checklist that you can download here: https://www.aahus.com/2021/05/one-of-most-important-artifacts-or.html In this style of investing, we learn a lot about companies before we invest in their stocks. The 4 investing principles/steps we discuss in this series are: 1) Understanding the business (circle of competence), 2) Management (honest & competent), 3) Moat (favorable long term prospects), and 4) Margin of Safety (available at an attractive price). Today we're focusing on the role and expectations of a company's management, especially the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Board of Directors also makes up management, and their job is to choose and oversee the CEO. We discuss both quantitative and qualitative ways of evaluating the CEO's performance in running a company. Can we trust and believe the CEO? How do we know they have integrity and talent? While the CEO is often known as the company's top salesperson, arguably the CEO's most important role is that of a capital allocator. How they decide to allocate capital in the form of human resources or money is important to analyze as to whether they are making the appropriate decisions to grow the company. The more you study a company's management, the more you can envision whether a company is aligned with your values and expectations as an investor.
Finding Companies In Your Circle of Competence (Part 1) (008)
Jan 24 2023
Finding Companies In Your Circle of Competence (Part 1) (008)
This podcast episode is the first in a discussion series about Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's 4 principles of investing. We walk through these investing principles in the form of a checklist that you can download here: https://www.aahus.com/2021/05/one-of-most-important-artifacts-or.html In this style of investing, we learn a lot about companies before we invest in their stocks. The 4 investing principles/steps we discuss in this series are: 1) Understanding the business (circle of competence), 2) Management (honest & competent), 3) Moat (favorable long term prospects), and 4) Margin of Safety (available at an attractive price). Today's deep dive is focused on the circle of competence or working toward the point where we truly believe we understand the business. We provide new investors with ways they can brainstorm in getting to know a company they might wish to invest in. We also discuss how guru investors (the best investors) can give us ideas about potential investments we may wish to study. One way that we learned how to figure out what businesses could be within our circle of competence is called the "Three Circles Exercise." Learn more about how this exercise works by watching Michelle's video: https://youtu.be/7HP5Ky__zso Before we invest, we want to make sure the business matches our personal values and ethics. We also consider how the company impacts the world. It's also important to define the boundaries of our knowledge so that we don't invest in companies or industries that we don't fully understand.