How I Invest with David Weisburd

E203: How Elite Endowments Invest w/John Felix

Aug 22, 2025
Guest
John Felix
In a thought-provoking discussion, John Felix, General Partner & Head of Research at Pattern Ventures, dives into elite endowment investing strategies. He explains how concentrating on top ideas leads to better performance and shares insights on differentiating true specialists from mere pedigree. The conversation highlights the critical differences between access and selection, emphasizing the importance of filtering for quality managers. Felix also discusses the intricacies of portfolio construction and the importance of operator empathy in making sound investment judgments.
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INSIGHT

Training In Concentrated Fundamental Research

  • John Felix learned deep fundamental research and long-term, concentrated investing culture at Washington University in St. Louis.
  • He attributes that training to studying classics like Ben Graham and Philip Fisher and focusing on margin-of-safety thinking.
INSIGHT

Short-Term Inefficiency, Long-Term Convergence

  • Felix believes markets are often inefficient in the short term but efficient over the long run.
  • He looks for mispricings that will converge to fundamentals given enough time.
ADVICE

Force-Rank Managers Annually

  • Force-rank managers and require a reason to keep each one in your portfolio today.
  • If you wouldn't re-underwrite and invest with them now, cut them to remove inertia bias.
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