Which "gurus" and/or investment celebrities do you follow?

This is being discussed so much that I think it deserves its own thread. So, in short: Which investment world “gurus / celebrities” do you follow and why?

I follow the following:

  1. Warren Buffett - an excellent letter once a year + some public appearances. Timeless investment wisdom and good observations about investing that suit my own investment strategy.

  2. Anders Oldenburg (Seligson & co.) - an excellent blog published about twice a month, which discusses general investment matters in addition to the fund, with a lot of timeless wisdom here too. In addition, a couple of pages of overview in the company’s fund quarterly reports (which are good reading otherwise as well).

Sometimes I read others randomly, but these two are under permanent observation in such a way that I read all their blogs/letters etc. through.

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I’m following the following people, and I greatly appreciate those who make it to this list because I find a lot in common with them in terms of investment style and thinking. I have also invested in the same companies and sometimes even followed their ideas. In parentheses are companies that I have found for my long-term portfolio / received a lot of help “watching” through these gurus:

@Mikael_Rautanen (Revenio, Remedy, Qt, Siili)
@Verneri_Pulkkinen (Incap, Remedy)
@Joonas_Korkiakoski (Incap)
@Petri_Kajaani (Kamux, Harvia, Orthex)
@Arimatti_Alhanko (Harvia)
@Johannes_Sippola
Mikko Mäkinen
Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger (Berkshire)
@Juha_Kinnunen (Talenom)
@Sauli_Vilen
The Swedish investor
Heikki Keskiväli (Vontier)

There would certainly be many other gurus I would appreciate if I could better understand their investment styles, but these individuals have been sufficiently open and consistent in their actions for me to learn long-term thinking and investing - ownership from them. And why not shorter-term holdings like Mikko and Johannes :pray:

edit: there are also many people behind pseudonyms on this forum who I follow for the same reasons, but I won’t start listing them all here :wink:

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Syrjälä, Kaloniemi and Kakkonen…:slight_smile:

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For me, the gentlemen from abroad who have resonated the most are Charlie Munger and Howard Marks. Actually, I first encountered Munger’s ideas in an investment book that presented his investment strategy and thoughts on investing in general. “Growth at a reasonable price,” summarized, is his idea, and everything in it seemed to make perfect sense to me regarding how to invest optimally. I also like Munger’s straightforward style; his words contain no unnecessary circumlocution or evasion.

I first stumbled upon Howard Marks by chance through an interview on YouTube. From the very first minutes, his delivery was so brilliant that I listened to the entire hour-plus interview in awe, right then and there. I have since delved deeper into Howard Marks’ ideas through his investment books, memos, and interviews, and virtually everything he says and thinks about investing sounds reasonable to me, and I always learn something new.

Then, of course, Verneri, known to us all, has taught me a huge amount of general knowledge about investing and economics through his writings and videos. Analysts provide very detailed information about companies, but Verneri teaches things related to the bigger picture. Additionally, Verneri’s own thoughts and investment strategy made me question my chosen value strategy for the first time when I strayed down that path at the very beginning of my investment career :smile:

This forum also has many excellent users from whom I have learned a lot here and there from their writings. This is a great community; in fact, without this forum and without actively reading it, I don’t believe I could have learned as much so far, no matter how many investment books, etc., I might have read.

I cannot identify with staunch value investors or those with a heavily mathematically-oriented approach to investing. I find categorizing oneself into the value camp too narrow-minded, and a too mathematically-oriented approach easily leads to labeling some companies “expensive” too early when one doesn’t focus on trends, the macro environment, and where the world is headed.

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My watchlist is very long, with links available on my blog. My current interests are perhaps in this order:

  1. Warren Buffett
  • Excellently simplifies things and presents important points in plain language
  1. Charlie Munger
  • Unusually blunt and skilled at explaining the quirks of the human mind
  1. Mohnish Pabrai
  • Pabrai shares his thoughts on investments exceptionally openly; his portfolio is very concentrated; he learned from those mentioned above
  • Regularly chats with students, which is educational to watch
  1. Mikko Mäkinen
  • Nomad Invest could certainly be here, but Mäkinen’s insights there particularly interest me
  1. Jukka Lepikkö
  • Summarizes macro and market situations well
  1. Björn Wahlroos
  • When Nalle (Walhroos) presents or speaks, I usually follow
  1. Swedish Investor
  • I listen to their videos on YouTube
  1. FastGraph
  • Their videos are on my watchlist, good valuation highlights for closer inspection
  1. Jason Fieber
  2. Dave Van Knapp
  3. Aki Pyysing
  4. Titaanien taisto/Titaanit (Clash of Titans/Titans)

From Seligson, I read Oldenburg’s and Seligson’s quarterly reports.

Howard Marks and Ray Dalio occasionally; I don’t try to read everything, often too broad for my taste.

Older guard from whom things come less frequently:
Peter Lynch
Soros
Jim Rogers
Petri Deryng
Vesa Puttonen
Kim Lindström
Erkki Sinkko

Should Heikkilä&Vilen be added to the list?
I’m on the Inderes forum, so Inderes’s millionaire voices are being followed :star_struck: :money_mouth_face:

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At the moment, I mostly listen to Aswath Damodaran’s YouTube channel. His blog posts are interesting, and he’s been the best teacher/course for valuations I’ve encountered so far.

Highly recommend him. My other inspirations have already been mentioned above.

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Gurus:

  1. Warren Buffett - a lot of wisdom, incredible amounts of information condensed into a few words.

  2. Peter Lynch - a slightly different perspective on stock picking, but also many similarities to Buffett, quantitively much less to offer.

Mini-Gurus:

  1. Mikko Mäkinen - I always listen with keen interest when Mäkinen has something to say. Finland’s toughest investor? I also appreciate his calm and understanding attitude, from which I, as a hothead, could learn a lot.

  2. Petri Deryng - his investment style and principles were quite similar to my own (not that we are comparable in any way). I have listened to his visit on the Inderes podcast twice already and will surely listen to it many more times.

Talking Heads:

  1. Inderes analysts - special mention to @Joonas_Korkiakoski. The analyses dissect the stock’s return potential, risk, and the company’s longer-term outlook in a way that suits a return-oriented investor. From Joonas’s analyses, the target price and recommendation should be removed entirely, so that the reader would be forced to actually read the analysis itself. They are so well presented there with strong justifications.

  2. @Verneri_Pulkkinen - brings out diverse perspectives. Sometimes comments more firmly on matters that are perhaps misinterpreted among investors (pension companies’ returns, fear of indebtedness, etc.). I always take these observations to heart. Taught me a lot.

  3. Jukka Lepikkö - Traders’ Club was the number one place to stay on top of what was happening in the market. Lately, he might have gotten too absorbed in the stock market bubble himself with producer Tuomas. Perhaps a bear market would bring a much-needed shot in the arm for market analysis.

Wild Card:

  1. Aki Pyysing - our investment styles are naturally different (one is a millionaire and the other is poorer… I mean younger) but Pyysing’s delivery is absolutely top-notch and his stories are always a pleasure to listen to. He is very understanding towards all creatures of the investment world but does not tolerate bullshit. We need barking dogs.
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I only and exclusively listen to our country’s leading stock guru, Jukka Oksaharju.

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Benjamin Graham’s teachings and, of course, Warren Buffet. Graham’s teachings need to be applied to the present day to some extent, but Buffet is always solid.

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I don’t know if these are considered gurus or even celebrities, but I’ve been following these people.

  1. Ben Felix, who has a self-titled YouTube channel “Ben Felix”. His videos are 10-20 minutes long, very strongly based on research data, and cover interesting investment/wealth topics such as “Renting vs Buying a Home: How to Decide” and “Understanding the Fed’s “Money Printer” (QE, the Stock Market, and Inflation)”. In addition, Ben co-hosts the Rational Reminder podcast with Cameron Passmore, and they often have real investment gurus as guests (e.g., Kenneth French, Roth Family Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College).

  2. Cullen Roche, a macroeconomist and founder of Discipline Funds ETF. He makes a number of appearances on various investment podcasts and, in my opinion, gives a very balanced view of the general state of the economy. He also actively writes blogs on his own website, www.pragcap.com. He doesn’t predict the end of the world any more than a new utopia where everything always goes up and nothing bad ever happens. In short, perhaps “the voice of reason”.

  3. Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist. In my opinion, she represents the same caliber as Cullen Roche; no extreme opinions in one direction or another, but rather a sensible and research-based discussion of issues. She is a proponent of Bitcoin, but in my opinion, she provides the most reasonably expressed justification for the topic. No #tothemoon stuff. She also talks a lot about longer credit cycles and their impact on the global economy. She makes many appearances on various podcasts and writes blogs on her own website, www.lynalden.com.

What unites all of them, in my opinion, are the same factors: a worldview based on research data and facts. They all also have excellent communication skills and can explain things simply. I definitely recommend everyone to check out what they offer.

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Everything Money channel on YouTube. They scan companies through the eyes of a value investor.

I also follow Lyn Alden. I like her delivery and the interesting topics in her longer articles, even if they don’t directly affect my own investing.

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Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett are my favorites.

I also like to check out the thoughts of Chuck Akre, David Gardner, Howard Marks, Inderes analysts, and Anders Oldenburg from Seligson when I come across them. :slightly_smiling_face: Peter Lynch rarely comments on anything these days, but his books are solid gold to me. :muscle:

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I made this list on a whim, so my list might look a bit different next week, which means it’s very incomplete in a way, and many important names might be missing. I made my list with the idea of mentioning at least some important people I follow:

  1. @Verneri_Pulkkinen looks at things comprehensively and openly without being naive. I also appreciate his diverse education and general open-mindedness. Verneri brings up things that are rarely discussed generally.
  2. Mikko Mäkinen is the person whose name I would say if I had to choose the best Finnish investor. No unnecessary biases, no excuses, just excellent work with open criticality. He doesn’t preach and writes about difficult topics in a very understandable way.
  3. Inderes’ (Finnish financial analysis company) analysts are the most important people in my investment activities; I don’t even need to justify it.
  4. There are many excellent people on the forum, and I don’t want to make a long list of names; if I were to list the most important ones, there would probably be dozens and dozens of names, and someone would always be forgotten.
  5. Mika Heikkilä needs no justification. Who can you trust if not Mika? The Arvi Lind of the investment world, who has vast experience and an immense amount of knowledge, and who knows how to present things simply enough without making them unnecessarily complicated.
  6. @Marianne_Palmu is an excellent and versatile economist. I appreciate quite a few different economists, but I think Marianne stands out very strongly from this group for many different reasons. She writes about important matters really clearly so that everyone, from beginners to veterans, gets a lot out of her texts. She doesn’t preach or speculate unnecessarily but provides excellent tools for understanding things.
  7. @Heikki_Keskivali has the skill to compile really good and clear information packages from a vast amount of data. With Keskiväli’s thoughts and teachings, one can grasp the big picture and truly learn. A lot of what is generally available in the investment world is quite difficult for me to read, although of course, part of the fault lies with the reader, i.e., myself.

I enjoy reading the texts of these people without getting bored.

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I’ll do this myself then, so we can get more action in this thread. They are not in any particular order, and I won’t put anyone before anyone else, as ranking would take a long time. I’ll also largely omit criticism and “bad sides” because, overall, I believe the good outweighs the bad, which is why I follow them. Here are a few different people, so it’s not just the biggest knowledge bases presented: :cowboy_hat_face:

• David Greene, Rob Abasalo, and Joshua Dorkin from Biggerpockets. I’ve listened to hundreds of podcast episodes, read their literature, and followed them on various other platforms. They offer balanced views on topics, have great guests, and overall provide quality content.

• Marko Kaarto. The first Finnish book on real estate investing I read was by him. It was a very easy-to-read work, and after that, I started following him.

• Harri Huru. Finland’s best “Asuntopodi” (Housing Podcast), a fantastic blog/book, and even content on TikTok now. I also really like him as a person. I remember when I first found his podcast, I listened through it in a few months during the summer. One of my investing goals is to be a guest on that podcast. He is also one of the people who sparked my interest in real estate investing. I still remember a boring hour-long break at work, during which a tiny interest in researching real estate investing came to mind. Through this, I decided to watch his content to kill time smartly. That spark then turned into a greater interest, and now I’ve absorbed knowledge on the topic like a sponge. It’s funny because the topic of his book is also the snowball effect :slightly_smiling_face:

• Gary Keller. I’ve gained a lot of different insights from his books/content. I’ve been less focused on him lately, but I’ve still internalized a lot from him.

• Heikki Keskiväli. Probably a familiar person to many, but definitely one of my favorites from Finnish investing circles. He seems like an honest person who provides rich discussions in podcasts and similar platforms. He knows how to explain things and share them with listeners/readers of different levels.

• Martin Paasi. He does important work on the Rahapodi (Money Podcast) with Miikka Luukkonen, and has surely planted the seed of investing in many, which will have a greatly positive impact on the finances of investors of different levels in the future. When I started, I certainly got a lot of information from those two. Nowadays, I look for a slightly more “advanced” listening in addition to these, even though I’m still quite a novice, so I’m not trying to be “snobby” or anything. However, he played a big role back then, and I still listen to the episodes. I also follow Paasi’s other content.

• Clint Wetherill and Scott Adams. Their show is a newer acquaintance, but these two’s more conservative view on real estate investing among gurus has led me to follow them. I find them to be very “down to earth” types and they question many of the same things.

• The Inderes team. I’m not classifying any single person here, because it’s together that they create this whole. I started by listening to their podcast, and that has somehow led me to write here.

• Manny Khoshbin. A very interesting story/person. He has a lot of aggressive advertising, but otherwise, I’ve enjoyed watching his analyses/produced content. Nothing specific to say.

• Henry Aflecht. Just fun chatter about crypto. Definitely not serious information, but I’ve followed him on social media precisely because of the lighthearted content.

• Buffet/Munger. No need to explain much otherwise, but these gentlemen have interesting backgrounds/stories. Both also offer easily digestible perspectives on things, even a donkey would understand.

• Peter Lynch. I’ve been reading his thoughts for a long time, and he was also one of the first recommendations for me.

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Now that it’s been brought up and I’m also following the list, can you tell me why Stockmann isn’t on the list at all? All other listed companies are there, or at least I haven’t noticed any other missing ones.

Could it be related to the list’s rules that a company undergoing restructuring is not eligible, I can’t think of any other reason for its absence.

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Timon’s list calculates a ranking for companies using some formula and some key figures/parameters. Is it that these figures are not available for Stockmann in some data source? Couldn’t almost any key figure be calculated from the numbers provided in the income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet? In this age of computers, it would sound rather odd if this couldn’t be resolved.

No other reason, but it would be very interesting to see Stockmann’s ranking on the list and its upside/downside potential.

@Contrafun is worth following on this forum; he does a lot of commendable digging for us lazy people.

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I am utterly outraged that Marek from Poland, Mariusz Skonieczny, has not been mentioned. Mauri has, after all, brought Oroco, Voxtur, and now Aduro to the masses. Mauri is also very impartial; Mauri is never paid by a company when he makes a video about them. Praise Mauri, comrades!

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