Category: Michael Mauboussin

Michael Mauboussin: How to Handle Intangibles in Modern Value Investing

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.

Michael Mauboussin: Drawdowns Are The Unavoidable Cost of Long-Term Investing

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.

Michael Mauboussin: Put Expected Value In Your Valuation Toolkit

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.

Counterpoint Global: Investing in Second-Order Effects of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are rapidly transforming the business landscape, with profound implications for companies, workers, and investors. In their April 2025 report, Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global explores how the adoption of these technologies is driving efficiency, reshaping workforces, and creating new investment opportunities-especially through “second-order effects.”

Michael Mauboussin: How to Measure a Company’s Moat

In his latest article, Michael Mauboussin provides a detailed approach to measuring a company’s moat by analyzing strategic positioning, industry dynamics, and financial metrics to assess long-term value creation potential.

Michael Mauboussin: Everything is a DCF Model

In this article, Michael Mauboussin argues that whenever investors value a stake in a cash-generating asset, they are essentially using a discounted cash flow (DCF) model, whether explicitly or implicitly.

Michael Mauboussin: How to leverage investment patterns

In this episode of Capital Allocators, Michael Mauboussin explores one of his most recent pieces on “Pattern recognition”. Examining when it is effective and when it falls short. It then transitions to discussing the evolving nature of public markets, inspired by another of Mauboussin’s recent research reports titled “Birth, Death, and Wealth Creation.”

Michael Mauboussin: Understanding Valuation Multiples

Michael Mauboussin recently publisted an article discussing the use and misuse of multiples in valuation and investing. He covers what multiples miss, why they differ and their link to business fundamentals.

Michael Mauboussin: the tech adoption stages

On the recent ‘Invest Like The Best Podcast’ podcast, Michael Mauboussin discuss the different kinds of increasing returns to scale, the issue of regulatory capture, AI, and hardware.

Michael Mauboussin: Expand your investment toolbox

Many interesting reflections from Michael Mauboussin, focusing on three main themes: – Return on invested capital (ROIC) – Assessing a company’s competitive advantage – Management’s ability to invest the company’s

Find financial wisdom in unconventional places

Mouboussin gives us an insight into his extremely well-equipped toolbox. He covers both classic investment topics with references to Buffett and Graham and takes the reader on a wide range of topics such as casino gambling, psychology, horse racing and evolutionary biology.