I have some exciting news to announce. I will be publishing a new book later this year that was titled “The Holy Grail of Investing”. I say “was” because some guy named Tony Robbins just announced that he published a book by the same name today. When I heard this I was both mad (at myself) and intrigued by the Robbins book. I’ve always enjoyed Tony’s work and his foray into the investment world has been interesting. His first book on money was primarily about All Weather strategies, which I wholeheartedly endorse for the right people. The book was a bit salesy, but whatever. This book took a different route altogether and pitches private investments as the “Holy Grail”. I am not here to review the book and my good friend Nick Maggiulli already did a thorough review so go have a read if you want a review. I’ll just peek into the work I’ve been doing on the “Holy Grail” since I am taking a pretty different approach to this topic.
My book will cover the pros and cons of many popular strategies with the goal of helping investors better understand the strategies and how they might be a good or bad fit. I’m even going into how to implement the portfolios. The goal of the book is to help you avoid some of the portfolio “divorces” that I’ve experienced over the course of my investing career so you can find the portfolio you’ll settle down with til death do you part.
In my experience as a long time financial advisor and portfolio manager I have come to the conclusion that the Holy Grail portfolio is the one you can stick with. This portfolio is unique and different for everyone. Finding a great portfolio is a lot like searching for true love. You shouldn’t search for the person who is a good match for someone else. You search for the person who is a good match for you. Great investors find a strategy that is appropriate for them and then stay loyal to that portfolio for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer. For example, people think that Warren Buffett is a great stock picker, but Buffett’s real super power is that he is supremely loyal, disciplined and patient with a strategy he implements. Anyone can find a good portfolio, but staying disciplined and patient with it is the hardest part.
In general, the Holy Grail portfolio should be:
- Low cost
- Diversified
- Consistent with your financial needs
- Behaviorally robust
This portfolio could include many asset classes including private equity, public equity, bonds, cash, real estate, etc. But it is rarely, if ever, one single asset class and certainly not a high fee, illiquid portfolio and high risk asset class like private equity is.
Anyhow, much more to come on this in the coming months. In the meantime, I’ll start working on a new title….