PART 3. "The best financial advice I´ve ever received or given". The most successful investors share their wisdom with us
John Rogers, chairman of Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based investment manager
My basketball coach, Pete Carril (head coach at Princeton University from 1967 to 1996), said you had to think about your teammates first. There's no excuse for acting selfishly and putting yourself ahead of your teammates. That's been critical to me in business: looking out for the best interests of the team and our investing clients rather than my own.
When you think about it, in any organization—whether it's a business or a nonprofit—it's critical that people know you are thinking about the team first, because then they'll want to work with you as someone who's looking out for them. They will work harder when they know the leaders are doing their best to help everyone around them succeed.
Seth Klarman, president of the Baupost Group, a Boston-based hedge fund
Wally Carucci (of brokerage firm Carr Securities), a dear friend who passed away this last year, was an amazing mentor to me 30 years ago. The wisdom he gave to me was "You have to feed the birdies when they're hungry."
There are two ways to interpret that. There's the superficial meaning: Don't forget to sell, and always remember that it's easier to buy than to sell. But what he was really talking about is that liquidity is ephemeral. Wally was best known for his research on very illiquid, thinly traded stocks. What he meant on the deeper level is that when people want to take you out of an asset for a full price, don't hold out for the last dollar.
Carl Icahn, activist investor
When friends and acquaintances are telling you, you are a genius, before you accept their opinion, take a moment to remember what you always thought of their opinions in the past.
Jane Mendillo, chief executive of Harvard Management Co., the university's endowment
"Take the long-term view" was the best advice I ever received. If you take the long-term view, you will see things others miss. Nearly everyone thinks about next month, next quarter. Jack Meyer, who ran [the] Harvard endowment for 15 years, taught me that when you think about multiple years or even decades you see opportunities to create value others might not see, and you make different judgments today as a result.
Charles Schwab, chairman of Charles SchwabCorp.
A friend said to me, Chuck, you're better off being an owner. Go out and start your own business.
Alexandra Lebenthal, chief executive of Lebenthal Holdings, a money-management firm
Read all your statements and prospectuses closely. Don't depend on your adviser to do it for you. Everyone has the responsibility to know what they are investing in.
