Insights & News
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Thoughtful perspectives on wealth, decision-making, and what matters most.
Thoughtful perspectives on wealth, decision-making, and what matters most.
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The Rugby World Cup Final is being played overnight and either South Africa or New Zealand will create history by winning it for the fourth time. Ireland and France are two great teams who have fallen short, by the smallest margins. In fact, there is no difference between these four teams.South Africa and New Zealand are rugby nations.
There are very few rugby supporters or connoisseurs who saw it coming. Even the most ardent Springbok supporters wouldn’t have expected such as emphatic victory. England were the outright favourites and expected to demolish South Africa in the World Cup Final – but the opposite happened.
I’m in the Kruger National Park in South Africa during a short holiday and as I watch an unlucky buffalo being eaten by 14 lions, I’m reminded of how stark the laws of nature can be. There’s no room for sentiment: Eat, avoid being eaten and protect the next generation – that’s it. The rules are clear and breaking them usually means death.It made me wonder whether we - as human animals - are a little too smart for our own good. Maybe applying the rules of nature would make life not only simpler, but also more successful.
As some of my more avid readers may remember, last summer I wrote about my fairly tedious method of entering the ocean. I’ve always enjoyed having fun in the ocean but entering the ‘cold water’ has never been something I’ve enjoyed. So I developed a slow and meticulous method to deal with it.
Destructive patterns are bad habits. For investors they can be dangerous things. So why is it so difficult for us break them, when we probably know how much damage is being done?
In 2011 the first technology stock that Warren Buffett invested in was IBM (Buffett doesn’t invest in Microsoft because of his friendship with Bill Gates). IBM’s motto is “Think”, and it proves that motto every year by developing more patents than any other company – last year over 9000 new ideas were patented by IBM.
Trust is accepted as a core ingredient in any success – without it, nothing is possible. It’s what most human beings rely on when making their biggest decisions. In fact, one dictionary definition of trust is “feeling safe when vulnerable.”
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I did a presentation to a group of young rugby players recently– around 35 of them – mostly men but some women. A number of them came up to me afterwards to ask questions. Others hung around the questioners listening to the discussion and most, stayed away and chatted to their friends over a few drinks.
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At a dinner party, a friend mentions that he has been given an opportunity to invest into a private equity investment. He explains that, because of the particular circumstances and the plans for it, it’s going to produce a fantastic return. The friend is very excited and says that he is lucky to have been given the opportunity.
The state election took place yesterday and the voting queues were lengthy. As I waited to vote, I wondered how people were going to make their decisions.
While watching a documentary on wildebeest migrating, there was one scene where after days of traversing the African veld, the wildebeest arrive at the Mara river.
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Tracey owned a relatively small business with a partner and after running it for nearly 10 years was made an offer which sounded very attractive as a part of her final exit strategy. She was paid cash and retained a small shareholding in the new venture. Her role was to drive sales and help to grow the total business with the plan to exit after 5 years.
A 45 year old fund manager with 3 children, Nigel would admit that to some extent he has had his fair share of luck. ‘You make your own luck’ he always says and I’ve been in the right place at the right time to be opportunistic.
When Paul and Sophie first came to us, they had some fairly common concerns. They wanted a plan for the future and included in it was whether they would have enough for their children’s education.
Peter 49, married with 3 children in their late teens and early 20s, has been in a professional services firm all his life and a partner for 8 years. He has been very successful throughout his career and says he loves dealing with clients and ‘getting the work’ but doesn’t enjoy actually doing the crunch work behind the scenes.
After changing careers and requalifying as a lawyer, Cameron joined a large firm. He was loving the law and doing very well. His previous role in commerce gave him an edge over his peer group and he was on track to being a successful lawyer in a large firm.
Steve is 39, married with two young children. His wife is qualified but doesn’t work and they live in a home worth approximately $1.2m with a $400k mortgage. Steve works for a bank in their investment banking division and is a property specialist. His salary is $380k p.a. and he has earned bonuses exceeding his salary for the last 4 years.