Finance and Economics;Walter Schloss; Death of a non-salesman;
財經;沃爾特·施洛斯;他不是一個推銷員;
The passing of a truly contrarian investor;
一位真正的逆向投資者離世;
Walter Schloss was never a face on financial television programmes. Nor was he known for marketing his skills to investors (he was indifferent to collecting clients and only 92 managed to sign on). His death last month, at the age of 95, garnered little public comment but among a certain crowd it meant the loss of a mind that was courageous, independent and utterly distinct from much of modern finance.
沃爾特·施洛斯既不是財經類電視節目中常常出現的名人,也不是靠教授投資技巧而出名(他并不關心有多少顧客,所以只有92人真正和他簽約)。他與上個月去世,享年95歲,他的死并沒引起公眾注意,但是在特定的領域里,他的死意味著一種勇敢、獨立、與現代金融學的很多東西完全不同的一種思想的流逝。
Mr Schloss was part of a small group who worked with Benjamin Graham, a Columbia Business School professor whose most famous disciple is Warren Buffett. Mr Schloss did not spend time tailing corporate managers. His research team doubled in size when his son joined. He favoured discarded “cigar butt” stocks that could be swept off the floor. Often, they weren't worth much but they sold for far less.
施洛斯先生是少數曾經和本杰明·格雷厄姆共事的人之一。格雷厄姆是哥倫比亞商學院教授,他最有名的一個學徒名叫沃倫·巴菲特。施洛斯沒有花時間去糾纏公司的經理們。在他的兒子加入后,他的研究組擴大了一倍。他偏愛被遺棄的滿地都是的“雪茄屁股”股票。它們通常不值多少錢,但是價格遠低于其他股票。
As for high-flying shares, he was not afraid to go short. During the late 1990s, when a “new era” caused many people to throw out any normal valuation measures as hopelessly obsolete, Mr Schloss stayed firm and bet against some of the most popular and inflated names.
對于高價股票,他從不擔心會賣空。20世紀90年代末,當一個“新的紀元”使許多人把所有正常的評估措施當做過時的廢品扔掉時,施洛斯仍堅定不移,并打賭,某些熱門的、價格飛漲的品種也有下跌的時候。
In part, he could do so because of a famously frugal cost structure. In part, he was protected by an extraordinary long-term record. When he ceased managing money for outsiders, his returns were reported to have averaged 16% annually, six percentage points higher than the market. He had other tactics, too. In 1999, when his portfolio was composed of everything no one wanted, he was asked how, even if his own convictions were unshaken, he could ensure that his investors stuck with him. Being a true contrarian required just one rule, he said: “Never tell a client what they own.”
他這樣做一方面依據的是著名的節約成本結構。另一方面則是那段非同尋常的長時期記錄幫助了他。據報道稱,停止為一些門外漢理財后,他的收益已經達到了年均16%,比市場回報率高出六個百分點。除此之外,他還有另外一些策略。1999年,他的證券投資組合中全是沒人要的股票,有人問他,即使擁有堅定信念,他是如何確保投資者對他的支持。他說道,作為一個真正的逆向投資者只要具備一條:“不要告訴自己的客戶他們擁有什么樣的股票。”