MICHEL PIREU: Importance of finding a real edge to beat other investors in the market
To do better than average, your thinking has to be better than that of others, both more powerful and at a higher level
Successful investors want to beat the market. “In my view, that’s the definition of successful investing,” says investor Howard Marks, “doing better than the market and other investors. To accomplish that, you need either good luck or to be better than average, your thinking has to be better than that of others. You must find an edge they don’t have.” Therein lies the problem. As Morgan Housel suggests, “Every investor should go to investment conferences, if only to meet 400 other people who look like you, think like you, speak like you, work like you, went to the same school as you, and look at the same data as you, all of whom claim they have an edge over everyone else in the room.” Retail investors are not the only ones who delude themselves into thinking they have an edge in the market, as Wesley Gray and Tobias Carlisle conclude in their book, Quantitative Value: “We had hoped that having tested every model and approach under the sun we would be able to triumphantly announce th...
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