Value After Hours S06 E25: Luca Dellanna on his books Winning Long-Term Games and Ergodicity
Jul 22, 2024
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Luca Dellanna, an author known for his insights on long-term thinking and ergodicity, delves into compelling concepts like survival versus performance and its impact on success. He clarifies ergodicity, emphasizing practical applications over theory. The discussion highlights the importance of long-term strategies in risk management, likening it to understanding car brakes. Dellanna shares thoughts on sustainable investment strategies and the need for moderation in risk management, all while weaving in personal anecdotes and a lighthearted take on his recent trip to Australia.
Ergodicity emphasizes that participation, rather than just performance, significantly influences outcomes in both sports and financial investments.
Effective risk management should be viewed as essential for facilitating growth, ensuring protection against worst-case scenarios while pursuing investment opportunities.
A long-term focus in investing allows for better decision-making and sustainable growth, highlighting the value of using extended time horizons for achieving financial goals.
Deep dives
Understanding Ergodicity
Ergodicity is illustrated through a skiing example, highlighting that outcomes can differ significantly based on participation, not just performance. A skier with a 20% chance of winning could theoretically win two races in ten, but the reality is that if they sustain an injury, they lose the opportunity to win in subsequent races, leading to a reality of only 0.71 wins. This concept emphasizes that in many areas, especially in finance and investments, losses are irreversible, meaning they impact future potential gains. It suggests a focus on consistent participation and long-term survival over short-term wins.
Risk Management as a Strategy
Effective risk management is likened to car brakes, not for slowing down, but for enabling faster and safer driving. The focus is on protecting against the worst-case scenarios to optimize opportunities for growth. When applied to investing, this means adopting a strategy that allows investors to take calculated risks with the understanding that managing potential losses is essential to long-term success. The discussion also emphasizes that having a long-term perspective can ease pressure and foster healthier decision-making.
Long-Term Focus in Investment
Adopting a long-term focus allows individuals to make better decisions, increasing their chances of success over time. A scenario is presented where having more time to pay off a debt enables better financial options, illustrating that increased time horizons provide clarity and strategic advantages. The principle indicates that by focusing on long-term objectives, individuals can avoid the pitfalls of comparisons with those pursuing short-term gains. Therefore, pursuing actions amenable to long-term benefits can lead to more sustainable growth and fulfillment.
Reproducibility in Strategies
The importance of reproducible strategies is highlighted, reinforcing that successful outcomes viewed in isolation do not always represent sound strategies for others. For example, in investment, one successful individual may not indicate a viable strategy for all, distinguishing between strategies that can yield consistent success versus those based on luck. It stresses the need to critically assess and learn from various success and failure narratives to avoid following non-reproducible paths. Ultimately, focusing on replicable methods can guide more sound investing behaviors.
The Role of Time Horizons
Understanding appropriate time horizons when making investment decisions is crucial, as shorter horizons can lead to unnecessary stress and suboptimal choices. Individuals often mistakenly adopt brief time frames that do not align with their life expectancy, compromising their overall investment strategy. The discussion reinforces the notion that the optimal time frame should ideally extend across a lifetime, allowing for a broader view on risk and opportunity. Consequently, this longer perspective fosters peace of mind and better investment practices by reducing the need for frequent adjustments.
Value: After Hours is a podcast about value investing, Fintwit, and all things finance and investment by investors Tobias Carlisle, and Jake Taylor. See our latest episodes at https://acquirersmultiple.com/podcast
We are live every Tuesday at 1.30pm E / 10.30am P.
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Hi, I'm Tobias Carlisle. I launched The Acquirers Podcast to discuss the process of finding undervalued stocks, deep value investing, hedge funds, activism, buyouts, and special situations.
We uncover the tactics and strategies for finding good investments, managing risk, dealing with bad luck, and maximizing success.
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ABOUT TOBIAS CARLISLE
Tobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple®, and Acquirers Funds®.
He is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon’s Business and Finance The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market, the Amazon best-sellers Deep Value: Why Activists Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations (2014) (https://amzn.to/2VwvAGF), Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors (2012) (https://amzn.to/2SDDxrN), and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World’s Greatest Concentrated Value Investors (2016) (https://amzn.to/2SEEjVn). He has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation, public company corporate governance, and corporate law.
Prior to founding the forerunner to Acquirers Funds in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer. As a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions he has advised on transactions across a variety of industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Guam.
He is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Australia with degrees in Law (2001) and Business (Management) (1999).
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