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The Billion Dollar Partnership: Buffett and Munger

This article was originally published on Quadrant Group’s website. Quadrant Group was acquired by Progeny in March 2017.

Simon and Garfunkel, Woodward and Bernstein, Fred and Ginger, Morecambe and Wise…

Great partnerships – they’re a firm fixture of our culture. There’s something about a successful partnership that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. A certain alchemy in the relationship that allows both partners to bring out the best in each other, inspiring an exponential leap to achieve things that, alone, would remain out of reach. A powerful partnership takes on its own persona: it’s not two people, it’s one partnership, and all the more potent for it.

Buffett and Munger – The Secrets of their Mega-Success

Few partnerships, however, have achieved the success of Warren Buffett and his lifelong business partner Charlie Munger, who have been working together for more than 60 years. They were both born and brought up in Omaha and forged a partnership in the late 1950s which has brought tremendous success to their company, Berkshire Hathaway, making billions of dollars for each of them and the business in the process. Buffett, 86, serves as Chairman and CEO and Munger, 93, is Vice Chairman of the multibillion-dollar business which owns more than 60 companies and posted $24 billion in profits in 2016.

Reading any interviews with the pair, it’s instantly clear that they have a tremendous rapport and theirs is a relationship built on respect and shared ideals, as Buffett points out in a recent TV appearance with Munger on CNBC: “Obviously, we like each other a lot. We have minds that work the same way to a great degree. We find the same things quite humorous (and) the things we deplore we agree on.” There’s also a rich seam of humour running through the bedrock of the relationship, evident when Munger explains how they deal with disagreement, explaining that, ultimately, Buffett “will end up agreeing with me as [Buffett’s] smart and I’m right.”

They attribute their shared outlook to their Omaha upbringing coupled with strong moral convictions that doing the right thing is important, whatever your line of business. “We both have the theory that you should hang around good people and always behave better every year than you behaved the previous year” Munger has said, adding they worked out quite quickly that “the world would reward us better if we behaved that way.”

The Benefits of a Healthy Financial Partnership

At Quadrant, we’re proud of our team-based approach. The Quadrant Wealth Partnership is our process of getting to know you and goes far beyond the sometimes limited constraints of traditional financial advice. We focus on gaining a full understanding of your values and aspirations in life before creating a financial plan to get you from where you are today and on the road to financial freedom and the ultimate achievement of your financial goals.

What sets us apart from many other financial advice firms, where advisers often work independently and have responsibility solely for their own individual clients, is that our approach takes teamwork. We get better results by sharing information and skills together, collaborating to create an excellent quality and service for our clients that only strong partnerships can achieve.

What are the Advantages to Partnering with Quadrant?

It’s understandable that investors can get caught up in the ebb and flow of the markets, responding to rises and falls in a way that might not best serve the long-term objectives for their portfolio. Quadrant Group has over two decades of investment experience managing wealth for a large number of clients and we have a robust financial planning process based on sound evidence, research and data. Our advisers are able to keep emotion out of financial decision-making, remaining focused on the long-term plan and employing their insight and experience when responding to market fluctuations.

Structuring the right portfolio can take effort and expertise. Matching it with an acceptable level of risk for the client while remaining on course to achieve their financial goals demands a carefully calibrated and diverse selection of investments. Our expert advisers will structure a portfolio of diverse assets with a broad geographical spread. As diversification means more than just a pick and mix of different investments, they will also employ assets that behave differently, and include non-equity assets such as bonds and property.

We’re in regular and close communication with our clients – by mail, email and by meeting face to face. It’s our job to ensure they are fully informed on the progress of their investments and that they are kept up to date on news and regulatory developments in the financial and investment sector.  Regular and comprehensive communication inspires the confidence that helps them to stick to their financial plan over the long term, which is vital in successfully achieving their financial lifestyle goals.

Not all of us can be Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger but we can all benefit from rewarding and productive financial partnerships. If you would like to find out more about the advantages of partnering with Quadrant, get in touch and we will be happy to discuss your plans.

This article does not constitute financial advice. Individuals must not rely on this information to make a financial or investment decision. Before making any decision, we recommend you consult your financial planner to take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of an investment and the income from it may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. This document may include forward-looking statements that are based upon our current opinions, expectations and projections.

This article is distributed for educational purposes and should not be considered investment advice or an offer of any security for sale. This article contains the opinions of the author but not necessarily the Firm and does not represent a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed.

Past performance is not indicative of future results and the value of investments can fall as well as rise. No representation is made that the stated results will be replicated.

Andrew Pereira

Director, Wealth

Andrew has been working with families, high-net-worth clients and business owners for well over 20 years.

Learn more about Andrew Pereira