From the Inside Archives - Become a Better Investor

You Must Make the World a Better Place Because the Woke ESG Movement Won’t

By Alexander Wetterling | January 31, 2023 |

Your investments are about your values, and you are responsible for your decisions. Don’t consider ESG standards an easy way to be granted an indulgence.

7 Fatal Mistakes MBA Students Make in Startup Business Case Presentations

By Andrew Stotz | February 19, 2018 |

I have had the unique pleasure of serving as judge, juror, and, occasionally, as executioner for many business case competitions. During my tenure in these roles, I’ve noticed over the years a couple of mistakes that MBA students consistently make. I wanted to highlight the top 7 here and provide some methods for avoiding them.

Lessons Learned from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

By Andrew Stotz | July 6, 2017 |

It’s now 20 years ago the Asian Financial Crisis hit. Thailand was the epicenter of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. I had moved to Thailand in 1992, become a bank analyst in 1993 so I lived through the boom of that time.

What Type of Investor Are You? Active, Passive or DIY Investing?

By Alexander Wetterling | March 23, 2017 |

You are your own worst enemy when it comes to investing. You can either decide to let someone else do it for you or create a solid investment framework to improve your chances of investment success.

10 Ways Ethics Adds Value to YOU

By Andrew Stotz | August 19, 2016 |

Within the financial world, there are many areas of focus such as accounting, economics, valuation, or derivatives. And, of course, there is ethics. I want to teach you 10 ways that ethics can add value to you.

Why We Stopped Performance Appraisals at CoffeeWORKS

By Andrew Stotz | July 1, 2016 |

Twenty years ago I co-founded a coffee roasting factory in Bangkok, Thailand while I was head of research at an investment bank in Bangkok. I learned more about investing and valuing businesses from that experience than I ever learned from all my studies of finance, including my CFA exams.

The most valuable thing I learned is that you get the most from employees when they love their jobs and respect their teammates and the people they work for.

Noodles in Exchange for Investing Advice

By Andrew Stotz | March 25, 2016 |

During my recent trip to China, I explored the topic of the Chinese stock market, which appears cheap at a 13x price-to-earnings (PE) ratio. However, this is distorted by a very low PE financial sector that is a third of overall stock market value. While visiting Hefei, Anhui province a friend took me to a noodle shop in. The owner of the shop had asked my friend if he knew anything about investing because he had lost a lot of money in the stock market.

I Lost for 14 Years in a Row

By Andrew Stotz | March 11, 2016 |

I can remember within the first few months sitting down with my boss and telling him I want to be the number one analyst in Thailand. Year after year there were rankings of analysts by fund managers. My name never appeared for many years. But over time, my name started to appear, unfortunately at the bottom of the list.

The Trade-off between Simplicity and Precision

By Andrew Stotz | February 19, 2016 |

In the trade-off between simplicity and precision, I choose simplicity. I have more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry. First as an analyst, then as Head of Research. Over those decades, my thoughts on the trade-off between simplicity and precision have, to put it mildly, evolved. These days I love to keep it simple!