AN EDGE?

"First answer the question, 'What's your edge?" Seth Klarman

“Investors operate with limited funds and limited intelligence; they do not need to know everything. As long as they understand something better than others, they have an edge.” George Soros

“Defining what your game is, where you are going to have an edge is enormously important.” Warren Buffett

"I was recently on a panel that was asked what gave our firms their edge. One panellist responded “we have 160 analysts around the world”. To me, that response demonstrated a total lack of insight. Unless those 160 analysts are more astute than the average investor, they’ll contribute nothing. Certainly another 160 wouldn’t double the managers ability to add value (if they could everyone would be an analyst).” Howard Marks

“Every investor should be in a position where they can identify what their edge is.” Seth Klarman,

“The person who is better prepared, the person who has done the most work, has a huge edge because most people are lazy.” Marc Lasry

"Assume you may have an edge only when you can make a rational affirmative case that withstands your attempt to tear it down. Don't gamble unless you are highly confident you have the edge. As Buffett says, ‘Only swing at the fat pitches.’” Ed Thorp

“Both poker and investing are games of incomplete information. You have a certain set of facts and you are looking for situations where you have an edge, whether the edge is psychological or statistical.” David Einhorn

“We’re always looking for something where we think we have an insight which gives us a big statistical advantage. And sometimes it comes from psychology, but often it comes from something else. And we only find a few, maybe one or two a year.” Charlie Munger

"You have to figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don't, you're going to lose. And that's as close to certain as any prediction that you can make. You have to figure out where you have an edge. And you've got to play within your circle of competence." Charlie Munger

“Your investor’s edge is not something you get from Wall Street experts. It’s something you already have. You can outperform the experts if you use your edge by investing in companies or industries you already understand.” Peter Lynch

“Given the competitiveness of the investment business, we believe it is important in every investment to have an edge, an advantage over the herd. This edge could be a willingness to take a long-term perspective in a short-term-orientated market, a tolerance of complexity when others crave simplicity, or the absence of constraints which either impede the ability of others to act or force them to act in uneconomic ways.” Seth Klarman

“If you’re going to come to the poker table, you’re going to have to beat me. … We have 1500 people who work at Bridgewater. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on research and so on, we’ve been doing this for 37 years.” Ray Dalio

"Investment edges are not constant. Each firm's edges (if they have any to begin with) can grow or shrink as competitive forces and markets evolve. Some of our own edges have diminished or disappeared over time." Seth Klarman

"In order to invest, we need to understand why the opportunity exists and believe we have a sizeable analytical edge over the person on the other side of the trade." David Einhorn

"Our equity focus will remain on those situations where we have an identifiable edge. The edge may come from superior insight derived from deep research, but it can and often does, come from the ability to take advantage of market dislocations and investments others don't want to or, for a variety of reasons, can't." Jim Mooney

"Always try to find an edge…" Israel Englander

"Finding an edge really only comes from a right frame of mind and years of continuous study." Li Lu

"To outperform over time, managers must find edges that enable them to earn excess returns. We believe, we have real edges as a firm, such as our truly long term focus and flexible investment mandate (including the ability to hold significant cash balances)." Seth Klarman

"There are a lot of trends going on now that make the business very tough. You've had a lot of smart people come into it, making it much harder to find opportunities. You need to determine what your real competitive advantage is." John Phelan

"Having an edge will help you make money in stocks." Peter Lynch

"We are always seeking to identify or develop new investment edges." Seth Klarman

"I also believed then, as I do now after more that fifty years as a money manager, the surest way to get rich is to play only those gambling games or make those investments where I have an edge." Ed Thorp

"Every successful manager has some kind of an edge. That's how you get to be a successful manager. It's important to remain completely focused on taking advantage of that edge, and maintaining discipline." Israel Englander

"Playing poker in the Army and as a young lawyer honed my business skills .. What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don't get a big edge often." Charlie Munger

"I think Julian Robertson said it best, I think to some extent that's why the Tiger Cubs have been so successful, [he said] 'what is your edge?' When having a bear or bull discussion, he would constantly say 'what is your edge?', 'what do you know that the market doesn’t?' And that applies, I think to fund managers generally. What is in your process that gives you an edge whether it’s trading wise, whether it’s research wise that basically sets you aside that you see things differently and you see you see the reality versus the perception of reality." Jim Chanos

“Knowing when you have an edge is very difficult, but in my experience it is the critical factor that allows us to stand out in the ultra competitive world of institutional money management.” Brian Bares

“Ask yourself: Can I analyze the company? Everybody has a good idea of what McDonald's does. But it's hard to analyze biotechnology companies or computer software companies. So ask yourself: Do you know something about the company? What can you add to the math? Do you have an edge? You need an edge on something.” Peter Lynch