“Money can buy you happiness.” So said Tiger Wood’s now ex-wife Elin Nordegren, after they were divorced last week and she walked away with a reported $100m settlement.
It certainly pays a few bills and buys Ms Nordegren’s confidentiality.
That is going to become one of the quotes of the year and will, no doubt, be rolled out for years to come in every article about divorce settlements.
Another quote that caught my eye last week is this one: “Our society is a society of fear and what people want is a moment of authentic happiness. That means, give them truth not exoticism.”
Not the words of a divorcee, a philosopher or fund manager, but a simple French cake maker.
According to The Times the French are beginning to eschew the exotic cakes of the last few years in favour of simpler, more traditional varieties – clearly another sign of the austerity impinging on Western society!
I roll out these quotes because this week’s Investment Week is partially devoted to celebrating the 80th birthday of Warren Buffett.
Buffett is famed for one-liners, which, as he has become older, have been poured over with the reverence of a religious tome.
He is as a close to a god as you can get in investment markets and is one of the few fellow investment professionals Neil Woodford is supposed to want to meet, and is sometimes quoted by Anthony Bolton.
No doubt we will find out over the next few days how Mr Buffett celebrated his birthday – probably with a modest trip to a diner and a Walmart cake, instead of anything too fancy.
Buffett’s charm is twofold. He has had exceptional performance over the decades – which, as he acknowledges, is as much to do with his less well-known sidekick Charlie Munger as it is with him.
And he keeps it simple – or at least appears to. He is fabled for his investments in Coca-Cola and Gillette razors – simple businesses anyone can understand.
In recent years however, Berkshire Hathaway has strayed into areas such as reinsurance which, you might say, is a little more complex than having a shave!
Arguably, the lesson Buffett teaches all of us, and one the likes of Woodford and Bolton have followed for decades, is that of patience.
Buffett makes few investment decisions and he finds the right time to make them – concentrating on the price he pays.
He suffers periods of underperformance – as have Woodford and Bolton – and admits when he may have made mistakes.
Too much of our industry is about second guessing the next hot market or asset class or chasing the top-performing fund. Doing this gives us a lot to write about and fund managers a lot to talk about, but is it really to the benefit of investors?
It is not for nothing that Buffett’s favourite book is called The Intelligent Investor – ever read it? It is worth a look. Happy birthday Mr Buffett – your card is in the post!
Lawrence Gosling is the founding editor of Investment Week. His views are his own, any comments to him at lawrencegosling@sky.com
