Growing Rich with GROWTH STOCKS
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Growing Rich with GROWTH STOCKS WALL STREET’S TOP MONEY MANAGERS REVEAL THE 12 RULES FOR INVESTMENT SUCCESS Kirk Kazanjian New York Institute of Finance Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kazanjian, Kirk. Growing rich with growth stocks / Kirk Kazanjian ; foreword by Don Phillips. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-13-017579-x 1. Stocks. 2. Investments. 3. Corporations - Valuation. 4. Rate of return. I. Title. HG4661.K34 1999 332.6322 - dc21 98-56048 CIP Acquisitions Editor: Ellen Schneid Coleman Production Editor: Sharon L. Gonzalez Formatting/Interior Design: Robyn Beckerman © 1999 by Kirk Kazanjian All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher. Although the information and data in this book were obtained from sources believed to be reliable, neither the author nor the publisher assumes responsibility for their accuracy. Under no circumstances does the information in this book represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks or funds. ISBN 0-78-658709-1 To my mom, Linda Kazanjian, with thanks for making so many wonderful investments in my life ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would never have been possible without the help of a long list of talented people. To begin with, I want to thank each of the experts profiled in these pages and their able assistants for sharing their time and wisdom with me. I feel deeply honored to know Don Yacktman, Bob Stovall, Shelby Davis, Roy Papp, and Liz Bramwell; I am sure you will find their insights to be as valuable as I did. Thanks also go out to Don Phillips, who is arguably the most influ- ential voice in the mutual fund industry and an extremely nice guy to boot. I am grateful to Don for writing the book’s foreword and for his support of this and many other projects I have been a part of. Finally, I want to applaud the fine folks at Prentice Hall, including my editors Ellen Schneid Coleman and Barry Richardson, for doing such a great job of shaping this book into what it is today. Because of our collective hard work, readers around the world will now know the secrets to “Growing Rich with Growth Stocks.” Contents Foreword by Don Phillips vii Introduction ix Rule 1 Forget About the Market 1 Rule 2 Invest Like a Tortoise, Profit Like a Hare 13 ONE-ON-ONE: DONALD YACKTMAN 19 Rule 3 Buy the Best at Bargain Prices 47 Rule 4 Take a Good Look Around You 61 ONE-ON-ONE: ROBERT H. STOVALL 70 Rule 5 Get to Know Your Partners 94 Rule 6 Avoid Unnecessary Risk 106 ONE-ON-ONE: SHELBY DAVIS 123 Rule 7 Travel Around the Globe, but Stay at Home 145 Rule 8 Be Willing to Change 156 Rule 9 Never Underestimate the Power of Technology 164 ONE-ON-ONE: L. ROY PAPP 170 Rule 10 Read the Fine Print 185 Rule 11 Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin 196 Rule 12 Know When to Say Good-bye 199 ONE-ON-ONE: ELIZABETH R. BRAMWELL 206 FOREWORD I started investing when I was 14 years old. That’s when my father bought me shares in the Templeton Growth Fund, explained how the fund worked, and showed me how to look up its price in the daily newspaper. While that gift didn’t cause me to stop reading Boy’s Life in favor of The Wall Street Journal, it did make a lasting impression. By giving me this fund, my father not only introduced me to Sir John Templeton, one of the twentieth-century’s greatest investors, but he also established himself as an important role model. He taught me that investing was a part of his life and could be a part of mine, too. In time, I came to see investing as an activity for all responsible adults. By setting aside today’s gratification to ensure tomorrow’s well-being, we demonstrate our maturity. These are hard lessons to learn. The temptation to spend today is always great. I’m constantly reminded of this lesson as I watch my sons grow up. Seeing the world through their eyes reminds me of how many messages we receive on how to spend and consume. Commercials, fast-food promotions, the toys of friends - all send countless messages about the instant grati- fication of consumption. Apart from me, I often wonder where my sons will get lessons on the discipline of saving and investing. Too many of us grow up without investment role models. The subject rarely comes up even in schools. We spend a lifetime fine- tuning our shopping skills, but we don’t work nearly as hard at our investment skills. The same person who will drive across town to save 50 cents on a six-pack of cola will throw thousands of dollars at a stock or a mutual fund on the basis of a hot tip or an unsubstantiated rumor. We are, despite much well-intended educational efforts, a nation of investment illiterates. We need help. We need role models. That’s where Kirk Kazanjian’s Growing Rich with Growth Stocks comes in. Kirk has gone right to the best investment role models out there: top, time-tested managers such as Don Yacktman, Liz Bramwell, and Shelby Davis. These experts share their secrets with Kirk, who in turn has translated their collective wisdom into a sound agenda for KIRK KAZANJIAN any investor looking to learn the ropes. In a field still too dominated by get-rich-quick schemes, Kirk has sought and found a different breed of investor, one who accumulates money through diligent re- search and patience. The advice of these managers isn’t flashy, but it works. Investing is a simple activity at its core. Buy low and sell high isn’t a tough lesson to learn. It’s just phenomenally difficult to put into practice. If you’re going it alone, it can be maddening. With the counsel of these great investors at your side, however, the road will not only be smoother, it should also be much more profitable. My best to you on your journey. May you truly grow rich with growth stocks. - Don Phillips viii INTRODUCTION The roots of growth stock investing are very rich indeed. Among the sport’s earliest players was T. Rowe Price. This venerable Wall Street legend preached the merits of buying quality companies with accelerating earnings, even if it meant paying a slight premium for the privilege. Price was among the most influential portfolio managers of the early twentieth century. He went on to build a mutual fund empire that has grown exceedingly faster than most of the stocks he ever owned. While many of his peers agreed with his philosophy, few followed it as religiously as he did. As a result, their performance suffered, while his earned widespread praise. Growth stock investing has come a long way since Price rose to prominence. Among the more modern-day practitioners of this art are billionaire Warren Buffett, arguably the most successful and ad- mired living investor, and former Fidelity Magellan manager-turned- author Peter Lynch. It is clearly the investment discipline with the widest following on the Street today, largely for one important reason: It works. Unfortunately, most who proclaim to follow the tenets of growth stock investing never reap its rewards, for finding companies with lasting staying power is no easy task. They come in every size and industry. But failing to separate the genuine growers from the one- hit wonders leads many investors astray. That’s why so many profes- sional money managers fail to even keep up with the computer-run stock market indexes. Surely their performance would be greatly en- hanced if only they knew the 12 rules for successful growth stock investing, as revealed in this book. These rules are based on lessons I have learned through interviewing and observing five of the top growth stock managers watching over other people’s money today: Elizabeth R. Bramwell, Shelby Davis, L. Roy Papp, Robert H. Stovall, and Donald Yacktman. These luminaries have more than 170 years of combined investing experience and have amassed some of the most impressive performance records on public display. Investment professionals of this caliber are precious indeed, for they are few and far between. While each investor has a slightly different way of choosing com- KIRK KAZANJIAN panies for his or her portfolio, they all share a dozen key traits. In this book, you’ll discover their secrets. If you take the time to learn and master each rule, something that is clearly within your reach, you can begin to share in the tremendous financial rewards bestowed upon those smart enough to know a promising investment when they see one. Before we begin this journey into successful stock picking, let me briefly introduce you to the five minds behind the concepts. (You will get to know them in greater depth as you read their “One-on-One” profiles throughout the book.) Donald Yacktman is president and chief investment officer of Yacktman Asset Management in Chicago. Before starting his own firm in 1992, he managed the Selected American Shares fund for al- most a decade. Yacktman likes to buy growing, and often boring, companies when they’re beaten down and selling below their estimated intrinsic value. In other words, Yacktman is a growth investor who uses value techniques for choosing stocks. He favors big companies and believes in holding a concentrated portfolio. Robert H. Stovall first began observing the Wall Street scene as a 14-year-old messenger boy for the brokerage firm Reynolds and Company.