Low enough prices make success almost inevitable
“All that we observed in the autumn was that barring a catastrophe, indeed in some cases perhaps even including a catastrophe, prices were so low that long-term success was almost inevitable.”
Business
When management diworsify, returns decline
“All too often however management become sidetracked and misallocate capital usually through diversification or in the words of Peter Lynch, ‘diworsification’. The result of which is that aggregate returns on capital decline and the share price falls to discount poor performance.”
Fund managers straight-jacketed by narrow mandates
“The system has become rules-based and managers straight-jacketed into geography, sector, style, market capitalisation or security type specific mandates (this list is not exhaustive).”
Market share follows share of voice
“For a consumer goods company [spending heavily behind brands] is often a powerful combination, as market share tends to rise or fall in the direction of share of voice.”
Investor quality matters once the doors shut
“We have only one chance to grow Nomad to a reasonable size before it is closed, and the quality of investors when the doors are shut is of great importance to us.”