Investing, the Marshall Style

Marshall can mean “to place in proper rank or position” or “to bring together and order in an appropriate or effective way,” or simply “to arrange clearly.”

When I began learning investing, I often found that it was hard to find clear and objective information. Many finance professionals seemed to intentionally cause confusion by using unnecessary complex terms and jargon. This was particularly frustrating for someone trained as an engineer and accountant that wanted to develop a successful and repeatable lifelong investment strategy.

It’s my hope that The Investing Marshall will not only help you achieve great investment returns but also to help you learn the process of investing using clear principles and everyday language.

Over time, using a variety of official sources (such as the CFA and a Master of Business), blogs, podcasts, mentoring by other fund managers, and personal experience, I have developed and implemented an investment strategy based on:

• Independent and Rational Thinking

I believe in conducting my own research and determining my own value of the businesses in which we invest, independent of public opinion, hype or sentiment.

• Disciplined and Repeatable Process

Because I apply a rational process to determining the business drivers and value of each business, I believe that this can deliver consistent results over very long periods of time (decades!).

I do not gamble, speculate, or make any forecasts about the economy or politics. I do not invest in things I do not truly understand (such as pharmaceuticals, many types of software), and I do my best not to make emotional decisions, particularly those based on fear or greed.

• Long Investment Horizon

It’s important to let your companies and their management teams go to work. It can take time for things to play out as you expect, but usually you will see results within 3-5 years.

• Patience

Patience is critical for long-term investment success—both waiting for the investment thesis for each business to come about and to enable the power of compounding returns.

“Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.”
Warren Buffett, Chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway