"The wisest thing is time; for it discovers everything."

Tales of Miletus (585 B.C.)

Being a successful investor is a full-time activity

The Public Pension System has a serious sustainability problem that forces us to take action on a personal level

Pension plans, far from being a strange or unknown product, are a good basis for our retirement.

Para que un árbol nos proporcione sombra hay que regarlo a lo largo de su vida para que crezca

Opportunity cost reflects the close relationship between scarcity and choice.

It’s important to have a strict discipline in decision-making that allows us to escape the noise.

“Welcome to the world of having to think long and hard before doing anything”

Investors' error criteria can be false positives and false negatives

A good “growth” investor understands “s” curves, which depict the typical trajectory of growth companies

Investors should always be able to choose the product that best suits their risk profile without having to make a minimum investment

At Cobas we work with wide safety margins and that gives us a great deal of peace of mind

Spaniards tend to invest at the wrong time, when things have gone well and they are already very expensive, and get out when things have gone badly and they are cheap.

The lower the PER of what we buy, the sooner we will recoup the investment and the higher our return.

El mundo ha evolucionado y se ha complicado, dificultando la posibilidad de predecir las rarezas.

Cognitive biases are alterations that occur in our minds and cause us to have a distorted view of reality.

Si le ofrecen hacerse rico de forma fácil y rápida, desconfíe. No existen fórmulas mágicas, si alguien la tuviera, ¿por qué iba a querer compartirla?

Closing positions at times of utmost negativity in the market means consolidating losses at the worst time.

Irrationality and unjustified falls are always an opportunity to buy at very attractive prices.

There are no investment philosophies better than others, but ones more suitable for us and the achieving of our goals.

In 2019, we welcomed 2,528 new unitholders and ended the year with over 2 billion euros under management.

These days it feels like you can’t pick up a financial newspaper without reading an article or an advert mentioning ESG, SRI or Sustainability...

Obsequiemos a nuestros hijos con algo para un futuro cada vez más incierto y con una educación financiera que les valga para toda la vida.

Let's give our children something with which to tackle an ever more uncertain future and a financial education that will be of use to them throughout their lives.

Indeed the oil and gas industry complex is so out of favor these days.

Comparison of the investment in an investment fund and a pension fund, assuming that the portfolio, management and fees are identical.

Buffett: “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient”

Generating a new category of companies that are self-sufficient, prosperous and beneficial for themselves and for society as a whole.

Knowing the value of the companies in which we invest allows us to be disciplined and not get carried away by emotions.

The market is unpredictable in the short term, but in the long term it always reflects the ability of companies to create profits

Para un inversor acostumbrado a las operaciones de compra de compañías no cotizadas, las valoraciones que ocasionalmente ofrece el mercado resultan increíblemente atractivas.

Quality, empathy and transparency are the clear objectives of the Investor Relations Department.

Value investors are patient when they know what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and how long it will take for their investment to show a return.

You need to think long and hard before investing in stocks, because there's no room for promises or guarantees

Although I've only been investing for three years, my limited experience can perhaps serve as an example for any young people thinking of start out in investing and are not sure how to take their first steps.

Very good Value!

The manager-investor link is not occasional but continued and reaches its maximum expression not in the periods of bonanza, but in those of tempest.

The prime exponents of investing in companies with these characteristics are Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, considered to be two of the best asset managers in history.

When I first started investing I had no idea what compound interest was. Then I saw how the money I had regularly invested gradually grew.

We can use cycles in a myriad of sectors to invest in quality businesses and assets, run by outstanding managers, at bargain prices.

Despite the technological disruptions to the asset management sector, in the world of value investing it will be difficult to replace an experienced manager who is able to find value in a sea of opportunities.

We have gone over the sharpest falls in our investments in our more than 30 years of management and we can clearly see that after a storm comes a calm.

Cobas already has two analysts in Asia to approach investments in that area

Value School, a project whose over-arching goal is to help people gain financial knowledge so they can take the best saving and investment decisions, recently had celebrated first anniversary.

Life is an undulation
"Montaigne"

It takes years to test the robustness of an investor´s investment process and risk management

In recent years, we have become accustomed to seeing our savings grow. But history is full of dramatic circumstances and, when that time comes, it is essential that you remain faithful to your investment philosophy.

When talking investments, the dread of losses is the worst enemy of value investors. Retreat is by no means cowardly, but it does mean the loss of a great opportunity to recoup expected returns.

A small university finance club introduced me to the philosophy of value investing, a philosophy that has changed my life, and if things go well, will change the life of those around me.

Rushing headlong, bluffing and going for broke do not work in the market. Only meticulous work, character (stamina and humility) and patience do.

The excitement and effort expended by children when they practice sport can be rewarded through a scheme that also fosters a long-term saving mindset, as shown by the author of this post.

Peter Drucker stated that the purpose of a business is “to create customers”. Our purpose at Cobas is not to create but rather to take care of our customers.

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt" - Bertrand Russell

Deviating from the investment thesis of the majority, with their convictions and prejudices, is a complicated affair. However, if we come up with contrary – yet correct – ideas, they will be cheaper and offer greater potential.

Before I turned 35, I’d made five investment mistakes due to my lack of knowledge and failing to seek good advice, diversify and think long-term. I’m outlining my experiences here to help others avoid the same pitfalls.

First, I was impressed by Zinedine Zidane. Then, I started playing basketball and moved to Ray Allen. Now, I'm 20 and studying Economics and Finance and my idol is, naturally, Warren Buffett.

True value managers work full time to come up with original ideas. They look for the gold nugget, the one that's hard to spot and identify.

We investors often wonder why an asset manager offers funds subject to Luxembourg law and others subject to Spanish law. What’s the difference between them? What are the advantages of each? This post aims to answer these questions.

We have just held our Annual Investor Conference in Madrid and Barcelona, with the attendance of more than 1,800 shareholders and 3,000 others following along via streaming.

This post is especially important at this time of volatility for all those of us who are “value” investors and who have savings invested in equities.

Some foundations invest their assets in equity funds too. One such example is Fundación Carmen Gandarias. Over the last 24 years, this Foundation has been able to use its yield of 489% to advance its social projects.

Why is there an American, living in London, working with Madrid-based Cobas Asset Management?

Volatility has reared its ugly head again, panic (and blood) has struck wall street and Bitcoin-land. What should you do? Run? Fight? Play dead?

Promoting savings in the form of long-term investment is a core principle at Cobas and there are different ways of doing so. One of our investors tells us about an ingenious initiative he has developed to introduce the youngest members of his family to this line of thought.

"Investing is fun, exciting and dangerous if you don't do your homework". Peter Lynch.

A few weeks ago, Francisco García Paramés and Mingkun Chan travelled around Japan to meet with several companies and investors in the country. As a result, in this post Mingkun explains why Cobas Asset Management invests in Asia, and what benefits it gives us to have a personal presence in that continent to thoroughly analyse their markets.

Every year around this time we think about a gift we should ask the Three Kings to bring our children which they'll be able to enjoy for a long time and that's also useful. Some time ago I opted for a long-term value investment for my daughters. They didn't understand it at first and called me a weirdo, but now they're more and more grateful with each passing day.

"I have known no wise people who didn't read all the time". Charlie Munger

Anyone who has ever paid any attention to the investment world knows the legendary Warren Buffett, but fewer people have heard of his partner and friend, Charlie Munger, and his major contribution regarding competitive advantages of companies.

Investors who are new to us often ask about some of the concepts that we tend to employ in our letters and presentations. What follows are some informal definitions which should help understanding the logic behind our thinking.

Over the last twenty years, investing in stocks - both directly and indirectly - has become ever more popular, rising fourfold. This has accompanied an increase in the range of possibilities on offer to investors.

Perseverance, patience and commitment to an investment philosophy are the indispensable cornerstones of value investing

In his previous article – " To be or not to be… a fortune-teller, that is the question" – Andrés Allende made it very clear that in his opinion, in order to invest you do not need to guess, there is more to it than that, you need to get away from anything that is remotely similar. Now, the author offers us some key guidelines to follow to make a good investment.

The majority of those buying and selling on the Markets are not looking for value but rather profits, which are usually found in a cyclical and reckless manner between loss and loss. They are not looking for good businesses to buy, but rather winning tickers on which to bet.

Being an analyst requires effort and perseverance so as to be well prepared, combined with an ability for continual learning and underpinned by a financial framework.

The Cobas Asset Management team would like to thank over 12,000 investors who have entrusted their savings to our great endeavour.

Cobas Asset Management ha alcanzado un acuerdo con la editorial Deusto para financiar una parte de la traducción y publicación en castellano de libros considerados importantes en el mundo de la inversión y del ahorro.

The virtuous circle of hard work at some point turned into the vicious circle of fortune telling. In many ways the toughest words in finance are “I DON´T KNOW”.

Refinement is the fruit of time, dedication, intelligence, a deepening of knowledge and maximum self-rigour

In the spring of 1991, two friends of mine encouraged me to get on board a venture headed up by Francisco García Paramés. Now, here I am again, with my money under Francisco's guidance, after so many years and such great returns – subject though they of course were to natural ups and downs over time.

If we don't want our retirement to depend solely on economic circumstances, political decisions, birth rates or employment figures, the best option is to put our savings into a long-term investment plan

An investment philosophy must keep faith with certain immovable principles. We need to protect ourselves from our own emotions and biases.

Media noise and confusion makes it harder for us to see the bright side, which means the pursuit of investing becomes more complicated.

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