Walter Schloss' maxims

It has been one year since Walter Schloss passed away, aged 95, due to leukemia.

Walter had an incredible investment return record that hasn't been matched by anyone else. He managed investor's money for 47 years, on average beating the S&P 500 during that time frame by an annual average of six percent.

Walter outlined some of his best ideas in a list of 16 "Factors needed to make money in the stock market". On the anniversary of his passing, here are his 16 simple and elegant maxims.

1. Price is the most important factor to use in relation to value
2. Try to establish the value of the company. Remember that a share of stock represents a part of a business and is not just a piece of paper.
3. Use book value as a starting point to try and establish the value of the enterprise. Be sure that debt does not equal 100% of the equity. (Capital and surplus for the common stock).
4. Have patience. Stocks don’t go up immediately.
5. Don’t buy on tips or for a quick move. Let the professionals do that, if they can. Don’t sell on bad news.
6. Don’t be afraid to be a loner but be sure that you are correct in your judgment. You can’t be 100% certain but try to look for the weaknesses in your thinking. Buy on a scale down and sell on a scale up.
7. Have the courage of your convictions once you have made a decision.
8. Have a philosophy of investment and try to follow it. The above is a way that I’ve found successful.
9. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to sell. If the stock reaches a price that you think is a fair one, then you can sell but often because a stock goes up say 50%, people say sell it and button up your profit. Before selling try to reevaluate the company again and see where the stock sells in relation to its book value. Be aware of the level of the stock market. Are yields low and P-E ratios high. If the stock market historically high. Are people very optimistic etc?
10. When buying a stock, I find it helpful to buy near the low of the past few years. A stock may go as high as 125 and then decline to 60 and you think it attractive. 3 years before the stock sold at 20 which shows that there is some vulnerability in it.
11. Try to buy assets at a discount than to buy earnings. Earning can change dramatically in a short time. Usually assets change slowly. One has to know much more about a company if one buys earnings.
12. Listen to suggestions from people you respect. This doesn’t mean you have to accept them. Remember it’s your money and generally it is harder to keep money than to make it. Once you lose a lot of money, it is hard to make it back.
13. Try not to let your emotions affect your judgment. Fear and greed are probably the worst emotions to have in connection with the purchase and sale of stocks.
14. Remember the work compounding. For example, if you can make 12% a year and reinvest the money back, you will double your money in 6 yrs, taxes excluded. Remember the rule of 72. Your rate of return into 72 will tell you the number of years to double your money.
15. Prefer stock over bonds. Bonds will limit your gains and inflation will reduce your purchasing power.
16. Be careful of leverage. It can go against you.

Five year performance update

During the early days of 2013, I quietly updated the portfolio performance page. I didn't do the obligatory blog post with explanation of the results, until today.

End of the 2012 marked five full years I have been managing my portfolio. Five year is perhaps the earliest milestone in the long investing journey ahead. It is also a good time to look back and introspect. The annualized performance record is shown as follows.

Ironically, five years is a complete career for professionals-- going from scratch to stardom and bust before the end of the fifth year.

Is it beginner's luck? It is certainly a possibility, but I hope that there is some genuine skill involved. Only time will tell. I certainly do not expect the 30+% yearly returns to repeat very often as time goes on.

Asset allocation

As of Dec 31, 2012, the portfolio had 27.2% in cash and equivalents, which continues to earn a pittance. It continues to be a drag on the portfolio's performance-- a risk that I am willing to accept. The large allocation to US listed equities is largely due to the healthy rise of some of the US equities in the portfolio, specifically Bank of America (BAC) and Cisco (CSCO). I continue to hold these equities.

Winners

The biggest winner in the portfolio would have to be Bank of America. I started buying a significant position in BofA in mid 2011, as it was trading near 1/3 or tangible book value. During 2012, BofA rose close to 100%. I continue to view this giant bank as significantly undervalued in the market. It continues to sell at a mild discount to tangible book. I believe the market will slowly but surely realize the continuing improvement of BofA's earning power.

Other winners included Canam Group, Cisco and Markel.

RIM: Final exit

Since my me culpa post regarding the investment in RIM, I have sold off my entire position.

In hindsight, this could have been a very profitable investment for me. But it didn't turn out to be. Over all, this position was sold at a loss.

The big thing that stopped me to buy more during the sharp price decline of 2012 was my lack of deep conviction regarding this business-- leading me to limit the size of this position. In my heart I did, and still believe that RIM/Blackberry is not going to survive in the long run. I have no reason behind this, but it is a feeling.

The core mistake I made was that I was thinking of RIM position in an emotional way, rather than rationally.  This connects with the mistake I outlined in my last post-- the mistake of not focusing on the balance sheet. Which further exacerbated the problem because the margin of safety I demanded was based on an analysis of cash flow rather than the balance sheet.

I have learned my lessons from this, and have survived to live another day. In spite of the disaster that was RIM, the portfolio had a very favourable 2012. I can only hope that future years continue to offer such returns.

Full Disclosure: No position in Blackberry / RIM.