Latest News and Articles

Professor Aswath Damodaran’s latest analysis challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding alternative investments, revealing significant gaps between marketing promises and actual performance. Aswath examines how institutional and individual investors have increasingly embraced alternatives like hedge funds, private equity, and venture capital, often with disappointing results despite decades of compelling sales pitches. Alternative investments have gained mainstream acceptance over the past two decades, moving beyond their traditional institutional confines to target individual investors. The core argument for these investments rests on two pillars: their supposedly low correlation with traditional stocks and bonds, and their potential to generate excess returns through superior management
Michael Mauboussin, Head of Consilient Research at Morgan Stanley, delivered a compelling keynote presentation at the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing's 2025 conference, addressing how the rise of intangible assets has fundamentally altered the landscape of value investing. Drawing from nearly a century of investment wisdom while adapting to modern realities, Mauboussin argues that traditional accounting methods have become increasingly inadequate for evaluating companies in today's intangible-heavy economy. His presentation reveals that intangible investments now represent 1.7 times tangible investments in the U.S. economy, a complete reversal from 1977 when tangible investments dominated by a factor of 1.4.
Clifford Asness of AQR Capital Management revisits his 1999 rejected paper that challenged one of the most common arguments against market timing. The widespread belief that missing just a few of the market's best days destroys long-term returns is fundamentally flawed, according to Asness. His analysis shows that while missing the best performing days does hurt returns, missing the worst performing days provides symmetrical benefits. The author demonstrates through both historical data and simulations that this "evidence" against market timing is mathematically obvious and essentially useless for investment decision-making. Asness argues that legitimate criticisms of market timing should focus on
In this special celebratory episode from The Investor's Podcast, host William Green shares his personal observations from attending the annual shareholder meeting in Omaha where the announcement was made, describing it as the most joyful meeting he's ever attended. The episode features powerful highlights from Green's previous conversations with legendary investors including Joel Greenblatt, Nick Sleep, Thomas Russo, Chris Davis, Chuck Akre, and Christopher Bloomstran, all discussing Buffett's profound influence on their investment approaches.
Two legendary portfolio managers, Chris Davis and Bill Miller, engaged in a comprehensive discussion about navigating today's volatile investment landscape, drawing from their combined decades of experience managing billions in assets. The conversation, structured around nine key topics, covers everything from investment temperament and market volatility to emerging technologies and geopolitical challenges. Miller, famous for outperforming the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years while managing the Legg Mason Value Trust, and Davis share insights on stewardship, patience, and contrarian investing approaches. The discussion emphasizes the importance of long-term thinking, adaptability, and maintaining perspective during uncertain times.
Michael Mauboussin from Morgan Stanley Investment Management have published a comprehensive analysis examining stock market drawdowns and recovery patterns from 1985 to 2024. The research reveals that even the most successful investments experience severe price declines, with the median stock suffering an 85% drawdown that takes 2.5 years from peak to trough. The study analyzed over 6,500 companies and found that more than half never recover to their previous highs. Michael’s work demonstrates that large drawdowns are an inevitable feature of equity investing, affecting individual stocks, mutual funds, and even portfolios with perfect foresight.
In his interview, Tom Gayner, CEO of Markel Group, reflects on investment principles shaped by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and offers a detailed assessment of Novo Nordisk. Gayner praises Novo Nordisk for its business quality, global leadership in diabetes treatment, and strong growth trajectory. He credits the company’s disciplined management and innovation in pharmaceuticals as exemplary, aligning with his own standards of long-term value creation.
In this article, Michael Mauboussin explores how investors can generate excess returns by focusing on the gap between price and value, emphasizing the practicalities and psychology of expected value in investment decisions. He explains that while price is observable, value is inherently probabilistic, requiring careful estimation of possible payoffs and their probabilities. The paper covers the challenges of modeling uncertainty, the importance of considering both probabilities and payoffs, the psychological hurdles investors face (like loss aversion), and best practices for applying these concepts across asset classes.
In the 2025 UBS Berkshire Hathaway Fireside Chat, Bill Ackman and Ryan Israel from Pershing Square Capital discuss investment philosophy, market volatility, the impact of tariffs and geopolitics, and lessons from Warren Buffett. The conversation covers how to identify durable, high-quality businesses, the importance of long-term thinking, and the evolving landscape for activist investing. Ackman shares personal reflections on resilience, mentorship, and the role of free speech, while both speakers provide practical advice for young investors and fund managers.
VALUExBRK 2025 is a value investing event hosted by Guy Spier and the Aquamarine team, held in Omaha in May of 2025. The gathering brings together leading investors and thinkers ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, featuring a diverse lineup of speakers from the investment and business world. VALUExBRK serves as a platform for sharing investment insights, networking, and discussing current trends in business and finance among a global audience.