Peter Cundill famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

Protect the downside. Worry about the margin of safety.
-- Peter Cundill

#Worry #Safety #Insightful
They really canâ€™t afford to be contrarians. A major investment house canâ€™t afford to do research for five customers who wonâ€™t generate a lot of commissions.
-- Peter Cundill

#House #Research #Investment
I suspect that my thinking is an eclectic mix, not pure net-net because I couldnâ€™t do it anyway so you have to have a new something to hang your hat on. But the framework stays the same.
-- Peter Cundill

#Thinking #Hats #Framework
Try to pick a fund manager who has a well-defined strategy, has been through these things before, and go invest and stay with him.
-- Peter Cundill

#Trying #Strategy #Wells
I bought stuff at 3.5 cents once and I thought it canâ€™t go down to zero. It can.
-- Peter Cundill

#Zero #Stuff #Cents
To my knowledge there are no good records that have been built by institutions run by committee. In almost all cases the great records are the product of individuals, perhaps working together, but always within a clearly defined framework. Their names are on the door and they are quite visible to the investing public. In reality outstanding records are made by dictators, hopefully benevolent, but nonetheless dictators.
-- Peter Cundill

#Running #Reality #Doors
You find bargains among the unpopular things, the things that everybody hates. The key is that you must have patience.
-- Peter Cundill

#Hate #Keys #Having Patience
Just as many smart people fail in the investment business as stupid ones. Intellectually active people are particularly attracted to elegant concepts, which can have the effect of distracting them from the simpler, more fundamental truths.
-- Peter Cundill

#Smart #Stupid #People
Sooner or later, the market will do what it has to do to prove the majority wrong.
-- Peter Cundill

#Majority #Prove #Sooner Or Later
All we try to do is buy a dollar for 40 cents.
-- Peter Cundill

#Trying #Dollars #Cents
The difference between the price we pay for a stock and its liquidation value gives us a margin of safety. This kind of investing is one of the most effective ways of achieving good long term results.
-- Peter Cundill

#Differences #Giving #Long
What differentiates us from other money managers with a similar style is that weâ€™re comfortable with new lows.
-- Peter Cundill

#Style #Lows
The most important attribute for success in value investing is patience, patience, and more patience. The majority of investors do not possess this characteristic.
-- Peter Cundill

#Important #Investing #Majority
There will be losing years; but if the art of making money is not to lose it, then there should not be substantial losses.
-- Peter Cundill

#Art #Loss #Years
To put money into anything, anywhere, provided that the downside is measurable and acceptable and the chances of a good profit appear to be better than 50%. I will not take gambles, but it is part of my job description to be ready to take very carefully calculated risks.
-- Peter Cundill

#Jobs #Risk #Chance
I think that intelligent forecasting (company revenues, earnings, etc.) should not seek to predict what will in fact happen in the future. Its purpose ought to be to illuminate the road, to point out obstacles and potential pitfalls and so assist management to tailor events and to bend them in a desired direction. Forecasting should be used as a device to put both problems and opportunities into perspective. It is a management tool, but it can never be a substitute for strategy, nor should it ever be used as the primary basis for portfolio investment decisions.
-- Peter Cundill

#Intelligent #Opportunity #Thinking
There is almost always a major blip for whatever reason and we have learnt to expect it and not to panic.
-- Peter Cundill

#Panic #Reason
We always look at the margin of safety in the balance sheet and then worry about the business.
-- Peter Cundill

#Worry #Safety #Balance
We do liquidation analysis and liquidation analysis only.
-- Peter Cundill

#Analysis
There is always something to do. You just need to look harder, be creative and a little flexible.
-- Peter Cundill

#Creative #Littles #Needs
Iâ€™m lucky to have the kind of life where the differentiation between work and play is absolutely zilch. I have no idea whether Iâ€™m working or whether Iâ€™m playing.
-- Peter Cundill

#Play #Ideas #Lucky

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