Mohnish Prabai is a legend in the halls of value investing, but not that many people really know him. His thoughts on investing and capital markets and making sense of it all are worth reading and thinking about carefully for anyone aspiring to improve their investing skills. This interview conducted by the famed Graham and Doddsville newsletter out of Columbia Business School brings Mr. Prabai’s core investing theses home in a way I’ve not found from other sources. Maybe the fact that there is a Columbia student interview him allows him more mental freedom? I don’t know.
Prabai speaks about a number of things in his interview, but by far the most telling and helpful are on pages 2-4.
- Where do you hunt for ideas?
- What characteristics do you look for in investable companies?
- How do you think about downside risk?
- When do you think about selling? (tough one for a long term investor!)
- How did you know when you’d made a mistake?
- How do you incorporate Munger’s Latticework theory?
…are just some of the gems in this interview. It’s worth your time to have a read of this short but impactful piece. If you’re still interested in learning more about Mr. Prabai, he’s written a number of value investing books as well under his own name.
In the meantime, Invest Intelligently!