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One of the best book’s ever written on investing is Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman. In one passage in particular Klarman illustrates how interplanetary visitors would question the intelligence of human beings if they examined the behavior of financial market participants. Here is an excerpt from that book: If interplanetary visitors landed on Earth and examined the workings of our financial markets … Read More

Much has been written about the best way to calculate the present and future values of a business for investment. But as Seth Klarman points out in his book – Margin of Safety, the reality is: “Even if the present could somehow be perfectly understood, most investments are dependent on outcomes that cannot be accurately foreseen.” Klarman goes on add there … Read More

Some years ago Seth Klarman gave a fantastic speech at the MIT Sloan Investment Management Club. During his speech Klarman suggested that the mainstream approach to investing has is backwards saying: “Right at the core, the mainstream has it backwards. Warren Buffett often quips that the first rule of investing is to not lose money, and the second rule is to … Read More

Several years ago Jason Zweig did a great interview with Seth Klarman titled – Opportunities for Patient Investors, which was published by the CFA Institute. While the entire interview provides a number of value investing insights, one answer in particular provides a unique insight into Klarman’s psychology towards investing saying: “In investing, whenever you act, you are effectively saying, I know more … Read More

Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman is one of the best books ever written on investing and a must read for all investors. One of the most important investing concepts discussed in the book is the ‘margin of safety’, popularized by Ben Graham. Seth Klarman describes the ‘margin of safety’ as follows: “The best investments have a considerable margin of … Read More

Seth Klarman wrote an investing classic called – Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor. There’s one passage in particular in which Klarman encapsulates his entire value investing strategy saying, “A margin of safety is necessary because valuation is an imprecise art, the future is unpredictable, and investors are human and do make mistakes.” Here is … Read More

Good news for value investors as the WSJ reports that Seth Klarman at Baupost is still finding value opportunities in firms being attacked by the likes of Amazon, saying: “Increasing technological disruption is already pushing some securities well below our assessment of underlying value,” writes Mr. Klarman, “as legitimate concerns are, in some cases, carried to excess.” Klarman also sees … Read More

Here’s a great article at the The Outstanding Investor Digest that includes comments and answers from Seth Klarman at a symposium entitled “Celebrating 75 Years of Security Analysis”. During the symposium Klarman provided a number of valuable investing insights and honored the legacy of Graham and Dodd saying, “Graham and Dodd teach us not only about investing, but also thinking about investing”. … Read More

As we’re currently in the midst of a sustained bull market it seems like a good time to reflect on the 2008 financial crisis and some of the lessons we should remember when everything appears to be rosy in the stock market. Back in 2010, Value Investors Insight printed a great article, with permission from Seth Klarman, which included 20 lessons from … Read More