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Charlie Ellis

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2015-03-28

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2015-03-28

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1. “Because I would have made a larger financial success. I would have had a greater amount of excitement and fun in many ways, but I wouldn't be nearly as proud of what I had been doing as I'm able to be now looking back on the work that we did as a firm for the clients that we served. And that, to me, is the ultimate expression because I am, ultimately, whether I like it or not, I'm much more inclined towards the professional disciplines in whatever I'm doing than the business disciplines. I love smart people. I think that's just terrific. But I'd rather work with them on the drive for competition for best ideas than the drive for competition of making the most money.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

2. “The information flow is simply terrific. And the last is candidly. And you notice what's really sad about it? I'd have been wrong.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

3. “Oh boy, quite a lot. First of all, investing is a long wavelength activity. And the fact that the stock exchange is a short wavelength activity and most of the chatter about investing is short wavelength activity should not distract you from the serious work of long wavelength and real investing is so different from stock trading that you really ought to know which is it that you're going to do. I have nothing against people wanting to do stock trading for the rest of their lives. I don't have any interest in that. I'm interested in investing in just a very different discipline. Second thing is I wish I had known how much fun it would be because then I would have settled in with even more confidence to it because I really enjoyed it. And it's partly the activity of the game, but it's mostly the privilege of working with extraordinarily bright people who are very articulate and very competitive and striving all the time to learn about new things and talking about new things.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

4. “That really levels the playing field. All those different things, and there are a lot more that you can add on top of that. It's very hard to see the business today as being anything like the business was 50 years ago, except we use some of the same terms. We didn't have digitized pricing. We had eighths and quarters and halves open callout on the floor of the stock exchange was so different from what the volume is today. We do a thousand times more trading today than we did a day then, and that's in the cash market. Derivatives are at least as large. And you think, oh, he smokes, 2,000 times as much volume going through. That's really something, isn't it? Yeah, sure is. And there are all those other changes and not changes that you can add together. They multiply across each other. So the compounding is simply astonishing.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

5. “Well, there were only 10 of those machines out in the whole world at that point. And I was able to access one just by walking out of my office and turning left. And it was terrific. It's a long way from there to today with the kind of factual information that's accessible in every minute to everybody who's actively involved in the business. Second thing is very few people are involved in research as analysts. Now there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world who are really serious about being experts on industries, companies, demography, economics, politics, all kinds of different facts. So any kind of factual information you'd like to have access to, you can get access by pick up your phone, but you can also get it just by letting the inquiring through the internet, through the people who've most recently made contact with you. Terrific factual information. Third thing is regulation. There's been a huge change in regulation. It used to be that you couldn't do insider trading. Fine. But today, the SEC requires that you make all information available to all investors.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

6. “And Jack had figured out that everybody who's in the investment business would like to be able to find out what the price of a stock is without calling a broker. The only way you could find out in those days was call a broker who might or might not remember what was the last price or be able to look up on a chalkboard where a bunch of teenage kids were rapidly trying to keep up with 2 million share a day trade volume stock market as to what was the last price of General Motors, IBM and so on. And Jack Scantlin's idea was, no, no, punch my keypad with a stock exchange symbol and I'll print out for you on heat sensitive tape what the price is, most recent trade, what the highest price of the day, the lowest price of the day, and even the volume. And you could do that, and it was just magical.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

7. “Seminole, everything. Well, it seems to me that's a pretty good fair summary. The first day I walked into the Rockefeller family office, I was introduced to a Scantlin machine. Interesting product. Jack Scantlin was a technical genius, and Lawrence Rockefeller was a venture capitalist, and they had come together to create a company called Scantlin Electronics.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

8. “And a lot of them Which is exciting and wonderful for those who are clients. On the other hand, most people don't have that kind of money. And they would like to have somebody who pays some attention and avoid the big mistakes. So if your attitude, mine would be, when you're looking for an advisor, what are you trying to do? You're trying to avoid a serious mistake. And the robo advisors can do that at a local cost, and therefore you don't have to pay a high fee.”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

9. “I don't know, but I think it's a very interesting opportunity, and I would bet that it will work for a large number of people. Quite well. You know for sure that there will be a lot of competition. There is now, and there'll be more competition. So the best quality of service will be the ones that work out over time. I think this is a very attractive thing for individuals One of the big problems is if you go to an investment management firm and say, I'd like to be a client, the first thing they have to ask you is, well, what are your assets? And if you don't have...”

   2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

10. “friendship It was complicated, but I have a very bright friend who was on the governing board at Yale, got to know her that way. She introduced me to the idea, and they and I had conversations and it just seemed to make sense to see if there is a way to reduce the cost of delivering investment management services to people who just don't have the time to waste. Paying attention to it, but wants somebody to be paying attention and using pretty simple metrics. And it's not complicated work, but it does help if you're alert and paying attention.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

11. “The two different things that I think he really is right on. Number one, fees are high, much higher than people realize. And secondly, that return success is not a regular repeating thing. So if somebody's had a very good run for three or four years, the odds are stacked against him for the next year. Somebody said a bad run, but it's pretty damn capable. Pretty good chance he'll do better next year.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

12. “Well, that's a little bit of a tough article because he said year after year after year after year. And it is very hard for anybody to beat the market significantly. He had top quartile of investment results as his target. To be in the top quartile year after year after year after year is really hard. So I thought that was A little bit unfair”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

13. “Oh my goodness, you mean he's getting 85%, and I'm only getting 15%? That's right. And what about an average manager? Well, I'm sorry, but the average manager actually gets beaten by the market over the long term. So the fee is actually infinite as a fraction of the incremental value. That's right, Charlie. It's the only service in the history of the world that has a fee that is infinite.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

14. “Do you mean by value? Well, I can get a commodity product in the DEX fund for 10 basis points, one tenth of 1%. So if I want to get a custom tailored active management from a really brilliant hardworking guy who's just marvelous to talk to and terribly well informed, what is he charging incrementally over that commodity product? 90 basis points, nine-tenths of 1%, maybe a little bit more. Okay, and what is the return? Well, let's assume that he's a very good manager, and he's getting a better than market rate of return. Maybe he's on average getting 15 basis points over the market. That would be a worldwide hero, 90, 110, the fee is actually running pretty close to 85% of the returns.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

15. “Four-letter word single number, only one percent. Fees are small, only is the right word if it's 1%. But what if it's not 1%? What do you mean? Well, what I mean by that is 1% of my assets, but wait, wait, wait, I already have the assets. So I'm not buying from you the assets. I want from you the returns, right? Yeah, yeah. Charlie, you get the returns. Right. So 1% of assets is how much of a percent of returns. You know, it varies a lot. Yeah, but how much on average is it? Well, let's call it 15% of returns is a 1% fee of assets. Okay, but I studied economics more than one semester, and in the second semester, is it all prices are relative to values? Yeah, what does that mean? Well, what is the value of active management and what is the fee for active management?”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

16. “Amazing discovery that I had missed the most important point for a long, long time. Investment manage, I was an investment committee listening to investment manager explain how things just hadn't worked out, but it was going to be better soon. And on average, they were really terrific and so on and so on. And I'm looking at the numbers. I said, you know, it's interesting. It's interesting. I have thought for years that fees were inconsequential. Just realized they're the big number. How did I get there? Let me go through the drill. It's really interesting. Number one, we all said.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

17. “We all make mistakes, and the biggest thing we can do to make our successes more frequent is to make fewer mistakes. And the answer to that is don't do the things that lead to making mistakes. For example, I don't gamble. You've heard that. Understand. I'm an indexer. I believe in indexing. Why? Because the other guys are so damn good. They're so smart. They're so hardworking. They're so skillful. They're so informed. They've got access to all kinds of information and they're really willing to commit anytime to making a decision. So I can sit back and say, I bet they've figured it out. I bet they've got it right. Maybe not perfect. Of course not perfect, but pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. Better than I could do? I think so. I'm sad to say that. I'd like to be better than they are, but I'm not. And the other thing, I avoid the fees. And those fees are very low. Well, very, let me put it to you. One day, 10 years ago, I had this”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

18. “But you know, the secret of success in any line of work is being rational, disciplined, and knowing what the Dickens you're doing and what the world of, wherever you're competing, what that world is really all about.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

19. “All of us tend to think if we got it right that it was because we were brilliantly successful, if we get it wrong, we get angry and irritated and think somebody shouldn't have done something or something like that. If you're not close to rational, you don't belong in the investment management field. I think the best illustration of that is a beautiful woman at a dinner party happened to be sitting next to Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett, she said, I am so glad to meet you. I've heard all about you. Now you're a brilliant investment manager. How did you get to be so good as an investment manager? He said, I'm rational. And she said, I'm sorry, but I didn't quite hear what you just said. Would you repeat that? And he said, I am rational. And she looked at him and said, is that all? Oh, and turned talk to the other person.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

20. “First of all, in any game, you could play offensor defense. Everybody else who's playing offense, so your chances of being better at whatever you're competing in by playing a really good defense will show up. And you'll see that when you watch a pro football team playing against another pro football team, some are really strong on defense, some are really strong on offense. Amateurs don't usually pay very much attention to that. We all tend to think in terms of let's try harder to do better and therefore offense. But the defense can be a wonderful way of coming out as a success. Back to the losers game and tennis again. If you can get the ball back three times on every point, you will win every set for the rest of your life.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

21. “Yeah, but we should rephrase that son. It's not keep it simple, stupid, but keep it simple, sweetheart. Okay. Because people who do keep it simple are happier and therefore they're nicer to be with, but they also have more success.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

22. “But the people who are swimmers should concentrate on being really gifted capable swimmers and take that discipline over and over and over and over and over again hour after hour after hour perfecting their conditioning so that they can be champion athletes.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

23. “No, don't play. Just don't play at all. Play your own game. I give you an example. You could say, okay, you're going to play against the Olympic team, and some of the people are going to be downhill skiers. Some of the people are going to swimmers. Some of the people are weightlifters. Some of them are balancing beams. There are a whole bunch of different skills, and they're all going to be out there. Which one do you want to play against? The answer is you don't want to play against any of them. And you certainly don't want to play one after another after another after another when they've been specializing their particular capability.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

24. “Well, that's another question. What should an individual do is first recognize that the people who are really out there all the time and dominate the market or people who are really skilled at their particular game and they're playing it all the time? All the time.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

25. “Boy, is that true? The secret there is be optimistic because if you're optimistic you think something might work out and if you think something might work out you'd be surprised how often you can find something that sort of works out. If you're pessimistic and think it'll never work out you're probably right about that too.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

26. “But then it's Kennedy, and what you did with it, I mean, he really was heroic in the way in which he took care of every one of those sailors and really hard, the physical strain of swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, pulling people along with him.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

27. “He said, life itself is unfair, and then through the catechism. Some people live at a time when there's no war. Some have wars but never serve. Some serve but never leave the country. Some go overseas and never see combat. Some see combat, but nothing actually happens. And other people get killed or wounded. And they have that forever. And it was a very good reminder that the experiences that we all have aren't really ones that we chose and designed for ourselves. The fit happens”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

28. “Well, there are two kinds of people those who know that they were lucky and those who haven't figured it out yet, among those who've had a wonderful life. And the truth is most of the people that have really been hurt badly in life and are come out at the low end of the spectrum That's been luck too. Bad luck But it's really been luck. Life itself is unfair, is what Jack Kennedy said one day when he was asked, Mr. President, how do you feel about those boys who are called up for the Berlin crisis?”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

29. “Andreld, who for years taught the investment management course at Harvard Business School and is now an active practitioner. Bill Sharp, absolutely wonderful human being and a very, very thoughtful guy, a man named Claude Rosenberg, who started a firm called Rosenberg Capital Management in San Francisco would be another. There are probably a dozen people at Capital Group or the American funds that would fit into that category start with Mike Shanahan and Jim Rothenberg, but then just keep right on going with one after another after another, just terrific people I'd need a pencil, a piece of paper to make a list that I thought was anywhere near fear because it just all over the place. And I've known people in the United Kingdom that were just terrific.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

30. “Work our way through the list? Well, Warren Buffett goes right to the top and David Swinson goes right to the top. And those two par are equal. Jack Meyer, who managed the Harvard Endowment for many years, would be another at the top. Tremendous.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

31. “Boy, there are an awful lot of them because I've been privileged to know a large number of people in the investment management world.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

32. “And at that age, it's pretty easy to internalize when with people that have got that wonderful quality of genuine caring.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

33. “Miss Walsh was a hero for me, and she was magic. And it's not something you could walk away from because Miss Walsh had said it. It's a little bit like Al Gross was our scout leader. And he was a very thoughtful man who didn't happen to have any children. So he had decided he would get into Boy Scouting and he would take you aside and say, here's some suggestions I think might be a good idea. Or you could go over to his home and he would give you a little bit of extra help on learning how to pass a merit badge. Never, ever made it soft. Always the standard was high, but he would help you learn how to do it and show you the pathway to being able to do it. So you would be able to be successful because he would help you understand what the challenge was, you could pass. It was a terrific lesson in leadership.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

34. “And she said, Charles, I'm very disappointed in you. I said, Why, Miss Walsh? And she said, Am I right that you were found fighting with Peter Nealey on the school playground? Recess, and I said, Yes, Miss Walsh, but I could explain, Charles. I said, Ms. Walsh, he was picking on the little kids and he was throwing snowballs at them, and he was putting cinders in the snowballs, and he was putting rocks in the snowballs, and he wouldn't stop. So I was trying to make him stop. Charles. Realized she had something else in her mind, Charles. I expect more of you than you would bring yourself to the likes of Peter Nele. That will be all That's the best lesson I ever had from anybody. Miss Wash was some wonderful teacher.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

35. “Oh, I've had so many different people that have taught me a lot. You'd have to go back to... Without a doubt, the most powerful teacher I have ever had was Miss Nelly Walsh, who was the sixth grade teacher in the Elbridge Gary School in Marblehead, Massachusetts. And she stood in front of the class one day and said, Class. You were supposed to be 26 or 27 or 28 in number, you are forty two. I am Miss Wals US forty two and I as a single teacher are going to do some very interesting things because we are going to cover all of the sixth grade work this year together. She was a wonderful teacher. We all loved her. One day I was called to go to her office because she was also on the side the principal of the school. I was surprised I had no idea what could possibly have gone wrong, but I went down and”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

36. “There are no, if a good case at the Harvard Business School, there is no clear-cut answer, no yes or no. Everything is about different ways you could approach it so you could make a yes out of going to the left. You could make a yes out of going to the right. You could make a yes out of going a little higher, going a little lower. You could also make no's out of each of those things. And you realize how complicated the world is and how important making good judgments can be and how important having the right facts can be. And whenever you come to a conclusion, how terribly important it is to lead other people towards the same analysis so they can see why you've come out the way you have and they can either agree with you or say, no, I'm sorry, Charlie, that's not quite right. This is what you ought to do instead and you listening to them and you come out with better answers.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

37. “There are a whole bunch of different things. Number one is you're about the right age for this sort of an experience early 20s. All of us are going through lots of changes. So we ascribe. The positives to the institutions we were at probably more than we should, but that's all right. Second thing is the school. Brings together some very bright people and challenges each and every one of them to think for themselves and to think about what the other person is saying. So you learn to listen and you learn to speak up and articulate your own views. And they require you three times a day, three different problems every day, to work your way through a problem that does not have an answer.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

38. “But the pay has been increasing and increasing and increasing. So now it's a wonderfully paid line of work. So people who go into the business or into the field tend to be attracted because the compensation is terrific. And they'll say right away and it's really interesting and there are wonderful people in it and you get to spend your time doing one of the most interesting, almost Without doubt, the most interesting competitive game to play, and you do it all day, every day. No heavy lifting, no outdoor work, no pain in anguish, everything about it is absolutely marvelous. So you attract an extraordinary group. But the dominant reason people go into investment management today is because it pays very well.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

39. “The business side gradually becomes dominant almost for sure. Let's go back a little bit. When individuals decide they want to go into investment management, in my age group back in the 60s, it was because it was interesting, because it was fun. That's what it looked like something you might do it, absolutely. Absolutely.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

40. “It's human nature. Same thing, dancers. How about conversationalists? How about sense of humor? How about kissing and hugging? Everybody gives themselves a little bit above average rating or 80% do. And that's been true of all kinds of things. So why can't we do that in an investment management?”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

41. “And we also think we're smarter than we are, which is why we all laugh about Lake Wobagon and 80% of the kids are above average, because that's the way we feel about ourselves. If you ask people candidly compared to your peers, would you rank yourself above average or below average as a driver? Eighty percent of people rate themselves above average.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

42. “We don't remember what the appendicitis felt like. We don't remember what it was like to get hit in the drawer by that big kid down the block. We don't remember what it was like when that girl that we just saw was absolutely wonderful says, Dear John, I do not want to see you anymore. All that sort of stuff fades away, and we do remember the positive things.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

43. “School teachers taught you try harder, you'll do better. And you think, I think I'll take a turn at it. I think I'll give it a try. We're sort of programmed to give one more try, one more try, one more try. And then we're also very good at not remembering the things that hurt. If you take back, if you sat down a piece of paper and a pencil and said, I'm going to have to fill up one side of one sheet of paper with memories. I can promise you that most of your memories will be positive memories. Why? Because we're good at obliterating from memory those things that were painful.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

44. “Too soon old, too late smart. It's hard to give up on something that we've all learned as kids. Try harder, you'll do better. Try harder and you'll do better. And we also have kind of an instinct for giving it a try ourselves. So I don't ever gamble in casinos. I know enough about the take from the owners of the casino and they're very good at it and they can mathematically change the take on a slot machine from 8% to 7% to 6% if the traffic isn't high enough. At 8% they'll bring it down until people start saying, hey, look at all the winning. And I understand that it's fun for people to do gambling. Why? I don't understand, but I do understand that people do enjoy it. If you kind of like gambling and if you kind of like your...”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

45. “The last is I did have the privilege of knowing a lot of very, very bright people in the academic community, and I knew what they were doing, and they were doing research that kept coming up with this stuff that people are doing actually cancels itself out. These people are really brilliant. They're really hardworking, but they're not actually beating each other because they're so damn talented. So then I started paying attention to that. And then I could see, my God, it's coming true. So it wasn't a stroke of genius. It was just a matter of being there at the right place at the right time to see it.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

46. “Well, first of all, I had the privilege of working directly with quite a large number of very good investment managers. And therefore, I came to a realization faster than most people would be able to that there was really a lot of really smart people out there, and they're all competing trying to beat each other. And they all underestimate the competition because they don't realize how many other really smart people are out there. So that's one. The second is year after year after year, I would watch perfectly wonderful people trying the hardest they could, disappointed in themselves because their particular organization or their particular portfolio came in short. The third is that I was working with research data that gave access to very strong judgments right across the marketplace. And that helps a lot for learning at a fast clip.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

47. “And it makes it very comfortable position to be in for the people inside the firm to know that they're really delivering great value and that clients like it.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

48. “Well, we really cared about our clients and we really worked with our clients People can tell when you're the real thing, and people can tell when you're doing better than you claimed you were doing, and people can tell when you've got a really good value to deliver. People in the financial world are smart and they can catch on pretty quickly for people who are not all that good, but they can also catch on pretty quickly for people who are really good.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

49. “Most all of our clients were the sellers or offers of financial services. We did a little bit of work once in a while for the Federal Reserve Bank or for central banks, but not very much at all.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

50. “Worked with the same clients year after year after year after year after year, then people get used to saying this is really very helpful.”

    2015-03-28 · Masters in Business · CFA Charlie Ellis: Masters in Business (Audio) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source