Money and Finance

Monday Interview: Man on the money with Buffett

Thanks Linc!

Over the years, generations of investors, chief executives and journalists have wondered why Mr Munger has stayed happily in the background for almost half a century as Mr Buffett forged a reputation as the world's greatest stock-picker.

"Warren is peculiar, and I'm peculiar," says Mr Munger, who is also Berkshire's vice-chairman. "We've got our own peculiar operating model. Nobody else operates the same way or stays in the game in a major corporation as long as we have, so we've got a different model. And we like it that way."

Working 1,500 miles apart – Mr Buffett remains in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska – the two "intellectual pals" have built up a stellar record by sticking to the basic principles of value investing: they buy companies in industries they understand, with managers they trust, at cut-rate prices. "We think all intelligent investing is value investing," he says. "What the hell could it be if it wasn't value?"

While Mr Buffett's mentor, the economist Benjamin Graham, is considered the father of value investing, it is Mr Munger who is credited with helping Mr Buffett evolve beyond buying stocks for no other reason than that they were cheap.

"That worked fine in the period after the 1930s," Mr Munger says. "I don't think it works nearly as well now. Too many people are doing it."

Many of Berkshire's holdings, from longtime investments such as Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo to last year's purchase of General Electric's preferred shares, are blue-chip companies considered the best at what they do.

The strategy sounds simple enough, but Mr Munger says few investors practise it. "You can't believe the way that conventional wisdom invests money," he explains. "They tend to rush into whatever fad has worked lately. In my opinion, a lot of them are going to get creamed."

There are no regular meetings at Berkshire, no corporate-speak or standard management memorandums that help define the cultures of so many companies.

"The legally required meetings for corporate governance, we do those," Mr Munger says. "Everything else is ad hoc."

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