This is the second well-written book of 蔡東豪 that I read. Actually, he is already a successful guy in finance industry. He interviewed 5 Money masters (葉維義、林少陽、鍾民穎、陸東和陳鎮洪)who are all famous investors in HK and wrote the book from the perspective of a knowledgeable insider. This book is awesome and interesting. Unlike other finance books teaching the skills, it illustrates and emphasizes more on people. It is always good to learn from others’ experience and know more about those working in the finance industry.
I actually find some similarities from those successful investors.
1. They are all men (Why? Men are more analytical? Quantitative? I don’t really know the reasons…)
2. They are filled with passions in their career path and are willing to face new challenges and changes
3. They are all self-disciplined not only in the aspect of investing but also in their daily life
4. There are no strict rules / theorem in investing, they all develop their own investment philosophies through their experience
5. They are all hardworking and acquire knowledge which is not restricted to only economics and finance, but also history/ literature
Among those 5 interviewees, I found that陸東is very charming. I am interested in his personalities because it is hard to see a person to be so confident like him or some may perceive that is arrogant. But I really like his speaking style: very precise, well-organized, and insightful. And he is the handsomest among all! (smile) Maybe I will soon become one of his fans.I will get his book -《智者傲行》to read later.
Btw, it is a good book. I highly recommend everyone to have a look and you will find it interesting even if you are indifferent about the finance field. I will read the 《金錢之王2》later.
I have had a good discussion with a friend who is now a manager working in the finance field and thinks that the academic finance stuffs are meaningless and not practical at all and I replied him with a different point of view. He said “我每日用隻手食飯,我個人無乜興趣同我同枱d人解釋我嘅二頭 肌同手指點配合！Hayley, 信我! 睇書學游水真係唔work ka！危急果陣會乜都唔記得! 你想學就搵d機會睇吓d實際操作la! “ And another finance guy ( maybe his colleague, I am not sure) said” 始終理論歸理論、實戰歸實戰…世事如棋局局新~~投資市場更要精準快到方能運籌唯握, 讀書係用IQ分析投資市場…但係投資致勝最緊要係EQ…反而呢家嘢讀書好難身同感受…始終善戰者勝！” Frankly speaking, I know why they said so and I agree with them because I am also a practical person. Compared with experienced and knowledgeable guys like them, it may not be so meaningful. But I am just a baby beginner and thus I am learning how to 二頭肌同手指點配合before 用隻手食飯…to me, it is not an impulse response…As an undergraduate, those must-learn things have to be handled and thus I can have something in mind to實戰 because it is deplorable if making mistakes that everyone can know from the books.
This is what I can do at this stage. If I have a chance to have a real taste of it, then it will be awesome because it is always true that learning by doing is much more powerful.
Points To Note:
-"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise." - Ted Turner
-Investing through discipline
- value investing > the larger the margin of safety >low/fair price high value (value-price= margin of safety) > also focus on the future growth of company ( patience and time matter a lot) it is a framework/ the thinking guidance but not a strategy
-Warren Buffett > value investing > oxymoron and redundant (investing based on value and price, or else it is speculation
- the style of investing can reflect one's personalities
-" buy and hold "doesn't mean value investing> have to know when to long
-Law of big numbers
-the basic fundamental of hedge fund (a few fund managers have close relationships and knows the need of clients for asset management> will not be a big business) not absolute return but to reduce risk ( a business of people+trust initially)
- PEG price earning to growth ratio > high PE may have growth potentials ( the growth rate of revenue)
-Tony Measor is not willing to invest in retail companies which require the sense of fashion trend of the management, but invests in simple business which nuts can also manage
-index fund 2800 (low transaction cost)
- the components of a successful fund manager : framework, listening, cherry pick, mental strength> have to consider the overall performance of the investment portfolios instead of personal beliefs or a certain market tread
- " you can be right for the wrong reasons, or wrong for the right reasons" market trend is hard to interpret
- 林少陽 recommends not to buy IPO, red chips and he buys what he know best
-"Originally all short-term investors are all long-term investors, but human easily changes"
-陸東believes the power of market and the business cycle
-HK govt >preemptive instead of responsive> not visionary
- " 八萬五" is a failure>govt affected demand and supply > increased supply> price of property decreases > the supply exceeds demand >surplus> deflation > cannot help HK economy> so should depend on the market force
- "Balance Bubble" - work/life balance cannot help to achieve the goal as concentration, passion and time are required
-私募 Private Equity > invest in the investees - companies which are not listed on the stock exchange> internal growth/integration/acquisition of investees> private equity gain money if the investees are listed on the stock exchange/ sold
-venture capital funds (refers to new established enterprises usually in the IT field> look for long term investors （at least one to two years）> low liquidity> high risk enterprises> not more than 20-30 companies> consider the ability, visions, integrity of the management , growth rate, execution ability, rate to increase market share> not capital-driven companies> give financial support to new companies for their grow> earnings and get money after a few years when the companies are listed on the stock exchange market/ integrated/ acquired ( however, GEM stock market is not a good place> low liquidity and high risk and thus the fund managers are not willing to invest in those stick and the estimated value is low compared with the main board)
-3 stages of VC ( VC funds normally are invested at the first 2 stages)
-VC risk diversification > there must be losing and winning companies> as long as what can gain from the winning companies outweigh the loss form the losing companies will be fine
- C.f. 基礎投資者 ( less than 1-2 years before the companies issue IPO) > doesn’t belong to private equity investor
-Warren Buffett > not to solve difficult business problems but to avoid them > “ To the extent we have been successful, because we concentrated on identifying one-foot hurdles that we could step over rather than because we acquired any ability to cleat seven-footers.”
-when the VC is successful> whether the investors/shareholders hold similar point of views, same visions and similar wealth background, continuous supportiveness matter a lot
