๐ฃ๏ธ Investor Talk #44: Clay Finck
Podcast-host We Study Billionaires
Welcome to Investor Talk โ where we interview successful investors to uncover their journeys, strategies, and the lessons they've learned. Get inspired by real stories and gain valuable insights to sharpen your own investment approach.
Every interview follows the same set of sharp, insightful questions โ such as โWhat is your investment strategy?โ, โWhat are your highest conviction stocks?โ, and โWhatโs the biggest investment mistake youโve made?โ
๐ Check out all previous Investor Talks here
Including interviews with Brian Feroldi (Founder - Long Term Mindset), Shay Baloor (Host of Stocktwits) and Gav Blaxberg (CEO - WOLF Financial).
In this edition, we have the pleasure of interviewing:
Name: Clay Finck @Clay_Finck
Age: 30
Residence/Country: Omaha, United States
Invests since: 2015
๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
I first got introduced to investing when I picked up "The Snowball", a biography on Warren Buffett, when I was 18. Ever since, Iโve been enamored by the idea that I could have my money working for me. The competitive nature of the stock market was also interesting to me. Itโs like the intellectual Olympics, and the best ideas tend to win over time. After working a few years in the insurance industry as an actuary, I decided to pivot to the world of investing in 2021 after joining The Investorโs Podcast Network @TIP_Network. Itโs been an amazing journey that has allowed me to continuously learn and meet wonderful people. With TIP, I am a host on the We Study Billionaires podcast, and I also help run our TIP Mastermind Community, which is a community of like-minded value investors.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐?
I prefer to invest in the best of the best businesses. Typically, these businesses are growing their intrinsic value by 15%+ and have a long runway to grow. These types of companies are rare, so once you find them, itโs essential to purchase them at a fair price and give them many years to compound earnings and grow. To quote Charlie Munger, "Inactivity strikes us as intelligent behavior."
๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ผ?
I currently have 9 positions in my portfolio.
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป?
I am sector agnostic, although my portfolio tilts toward software.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐?
$CSU.TO - Constellation Software
$TOI.V - Topicus.com
$LMN.V - Lumine Group
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป?
$CSU.TO - Constellation Software โ +102% on my initial purchase.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ?
My biggest mistake is certainly not starting earlier. While I was familiar with investing early on, I didnโt take it seriously enough. My second biggest mistake was focusing too much on headline valuations early on. This led me to selling great companies like Netflix $NFLX and Tesla $TSLA because I thought they were way too expensive โ which I was quite wrong about! Truly exceptional businesses tend to look optically expensive over much of their history.
๐ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐
Favorite book: 100 Baggers by Chris Mayer @chriswmayer
Favorite podcast: We Study Billionaires & Richer Wiser Happier
Favorite quote: "The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more." - Charlie Munger
Favorite FinX account: My favourite account on X is C.J. @CJ0pp3l
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐?
You can find me on the We Study Billionaires podcast:
https://theinvestorspodcast.com/we-study-billionaires/
The show is on all podcast apps as well as YouTube. Since 2014, weโve studied and interviewed the worldโs greatest investors, including Warren Buffett @WarrenBuffett, Charlie Munger, Howard Marks @HowardMarksBook, and Mohnish Pabrai @MohnishPabrai.
Thatโs a wrap!
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