The risk of an investment is described by both the probability and the potential amount of loss. The risk of an investment-the probability of an adverse outcome-is partly inherent in its very nature. A dollar spent on biotechnology research is a riskier investment than a dollar used to purchase utility equipment. The former has both a greater probability of loss and a greater percentage of the investment at stake.
Seth KlarmanTo value investors the concept of indexing is at best silly and at worst quite hazardous. Warren Buffett has observed that "in any sort of a contest - financial, mental or physical - it's an enormous advantage to have opponents who have been taught that it's useless to even try." I believe that over time value investors will outperform the market and that choosing to match it is both lazy and shortsighted.
Seth KlarmanOne must understand the importance of an endless drive to get information and seek value.
Seth KlarmanHereโs how to know if you have the makeup to be an investor. How would you handle the following situation? Letโs say you own a Procter & Gamble in your portfolio and the stock price goes down by half. Do you like it better? If it falls in half, do you reinvest dividends? Do you take cash out of savings to buy more? If you have the confidence to do that, then youโre an investor. If you donโt, youโre not an investor, youโre a speculator, and you shouldnโt be in the stock market in the first place.
Seth Klarman