Buffett Letter: 1965 semi-annual 1

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1965

Semi-annual 1
  • Mr Buffett again says that for an investment vehicle like his partnership returns have to be looked at over a minimum period of 3 years
  • The point on performing comparatively better in declining markets over beating the index handsomely in a bullish market again finds mention in the letter
  • He says that his aim is to achieve a long term advantage of 10% over the Dow. In my opinion this is a very tough target to achieve for fund managers
  • Mr Buffett again compares his returns to those of 2 largest open ended mutual funds and another 2 close ended funds. He has a good take on the performance of mutual funds. Quoting below:
    • Last year I mentioned that the performance of these companies in some ways resembles the activity of a duck sitting on a pond. When the water (the market) rises, the duck rises; when if falls, back goes the duck. The water level was virtually unchanged during the first half of 1965. The ducks, as you can see from the table, are still sitting on the pond.
    • Utilizing a somewhat more restrained lexicon, James H. Lorie, director of the University of Chicago’s Center for Research in Security Prices was quoted in the May 25, 1965, WALL STREET JOURNAL as saying: “There is no evidence that mutual funds select stocks better than by the random method.”

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