The Rise of Intangible Value Investing with Kai Wu
Lead-Lag Live
Intro
This chapter explores the shift towards intangible value investing, contrasting it with traditional methods based on physical assets. Through examples like Google and Apple, the discussion highlights the growing significance of intellectual property, brand value, and human capital in the modern economy.
Warren Buffett himself called our economy "asset light" – and for good reason. Today's most valuable companies derive their worth not from factories or equipment, but from intellectual property, brand equity, human capital, and network effects. Yet traditional value investing metrics, developed in the industrial era of railroads and utilities, completely miss these crucial drivers of modern business value.
Kai Wu, founder and CIO of Sparkline Capital, takes us on a fascinating journey through the evolution of value investing and explains why it's due for a radical update. With 50-80% of US company balance sheet value now coming from intangible assets, investors relying solely on price-to-book ratios find themselves increasingly unable to identify true value in today's markets.
The problem extends beyond mere definition. Our accounting standards systematically distort company valuations by expensing rather than capitalizing R&D and other intangible investments. This creates the paradoxical situation where companies investing heavily in their future appear less profitable in the present – a disconnect that creates tremendous opportunity for investors willing to look deeper.
Sparkline's innovative approach leverages artificial intelligence and big data to analyze unstructured information sources, from patent filings to social media, quantifying what traditional financial statements miss. This methodology bridges the growing divide between growth and value investors, applying timeless valuation principles to the digital economy.
Wu shares a compelling case study of NVIDIA, which Sparkline owned when it traded at a seemingly astronomical P/E ratio of 100. After adjusting for NVIDIA's extraordinary intellectual property and innovative culture, their models showed the stock was actually undervalued – a perspective completely missed by traditional metrics.
For investors looking to apply these insights, Sparkline offers two ETFs: ITAN for US markets and DTAN for international developed markets. Both funds seek companies rich in intangible assets but trading at reasonable valuations – essentially value investing adapted for the digital age.
Want to dive deeper into Kai's research? Visit sparklinecapital.com to explore his published papers and learn more about investing in the intangible economy.
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