This week’s podcast is on the well-known 7 Powers framework by Hamilton Helmer. I go through some of its limitations and where I think it works best. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. Hamilton Helmer’s fundamental equation for value creation and capture Value = M0*g*s*m = […]
This is Part 3 of my visit to Berkshire 2019. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Question on online furniture retail and strategies where you go for customers first and profits later. There was some discussion about Amazon. On the strategy of going for customers first and profits later, he mentioned Amazon has […]
This is Part 2 of 3 on my visit to the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Part 1 is here. I got to the CHI Health arena in downtown Omaha at 5am. Yes, this was a bit crazy. But last year, I went with my parents and we got there around 7am, basically when the […]
On February 17, 2017, I took 20 Peking University students to Omaha to spend a day at Berkshire Hathaway. The trip included 3 company visits, a 2.5 hour Q&A with Warren Buffett, and then a steak lunch with him. I’ve written up the whole experience and have posted it. This was his first meeting with Peking […]
In February 2017, I took twenty Peking University students to Omaha to spend a day at Berkshire Hathaway. The trip included 3 company visits, a 2.5 hour Q&A with Warren Buffett, and then a steak lunch sitting with him. I’ve written up the whole experience (see below). The Q&A is located here and below. But looking […]
An interview with David Riedel, founder of equity research firm Riedel Research Investing outside of the West brings a host of challenges for value investors. There are different politico- economic systems, rapidly changing economies, unfamiliar cultures, different consumer habits, different languages, limited information, weak governance, and so. These types of uncertainties can be challenging for […]
Guanghua Press release – Chinese version. The link is here 由光华管理学院和麦肯锡公司（McKinsey & Company）合作的校企课程——当前中国投资与战略专题（Current Topics on Chinese Strategy and Investment）于本月18日晚热烈开讲。今年是该校企合作课程开设的第三年，与前两年一样，该课程一开讲便立即受到MBA同学的追逐和热捧。 课程第一讲由Jeffrey Towson先生主讲，Jeffrey Towson先生在从事投资行业的同时还在剑桥大学任EMBA课程教授，他是畅销书的作者。他的研究领域集中于新兴市场（中国，中东，拉丁美洲等），以及他们与西方日渐增长的互动关系。 Jeff一开场便向大家提出了Carlos Slim及其名下公司、迪拜塔和中国移动的问题。在新兴市场中，这三者都在自己的行业领域中处于全球首位或者接近全球首位（Carlos Slim还是是世界首富）。随着Jeff的讲解，这些在新兴经济国家里读MBA的学生们，很快就领悟到了问题的要点——新兴经济体在过去十年中获得了巨大的经济增长。 接下来课程进行了对上海迪士尼项目的案例分析。同学们分组讨论并扮演不同的角色——上海市政府、本地开发商和合作伙伴、迪斯尼和国际合作伙伴以及中间人：投资银行和顾问。问题集中于讨论项目对各方的利益、动机、挑战、以及合作利益。 几轮讨论之后，大家一致认为该项目有利于各方合作从而获利。接下来，Jeff抛出一个问题：如果上海迪士尼项目的规模增加一倍，两倍，或膨胀至迪拜乐园（上海迪士尼项目的12倍）的规模后是否还能一样获利呢？规模如此巨大但已经被证明并不经济的项目是否会使中国经济受重创呢？中国经济未来注定会面临迪拜似的崩溃吗？由于中国的内部需求潜力和对其面临的挑战的意识，Jeff并不认为中国经济注定要崩溃，这让在座的同学们松了一口气。 Jeff对新兴市场的洞察与他丰富的投资经验让这门课充满了与时俱进的味道并且具有权威性。他独特的讲述风格牢牢的吸引着、激励着大家去思考。同学们没有被牵着鼻子走，而是通过讨论和思考，共同领悟了课程的中心思想。
(Reposted from the Peking University Guanghua Webpage. Here the link) On Oct 18th, at Guanghua School of Management , students gathered for the “Current Topics in Chinese Strategy and Investment” class by Jeffrey Towson. Jeff is an investor, best selling author (USA Today and Inc. Magazine) and Clinical Professor for Investment & Strategy at Guanghua, […]
I found my life got dramatically more effective – and a lot less anxious – at two key moments. The first was when I realized I didn’t really understand business. I could quote past studies. I could fill charts with data. I could recite various pieces of wisdom from various people. But my understanding was […]
Western investors and Latin American are the “odd couple” of value investing. In terms of geography, culture and even language they are quite close – especially when compared to other developed to developing economy situations. And you have a long history of personal relationships between the regions which is critical for cross- border deals. And […]