YouSaid · the spoken record

Joe Mansueto

lines on the record: 71
first: 2017-02-07
most recent: 2017-02-07
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I think it's a little of both. You know, it's funny you mentioned arbitrage because my mom would often tell the story when I was a little kid. I was probably about 11 years old and at the time was interested in ham radio, amateur radio, and we'd go to these called ham fests. People would sell used equipment. And I was with a friend of mine and his parents. This guy was selling this Drake 2B receiver. And he wanted to get out of the ham radio business. And I knew that this thing was worth $250 at least. And he just wanted to get out of the business, was selling it for $100. So I convinced my friend's parents to lend me the hundred bucks.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Power plants, but he lined up utilities who needed power. And then he convinced General Electric to finance hundreds of millions of dollars of turbines because he could create the power plant to sell. He had lined up the customers and so he didn't have to put up any money. GE financed this whole thing because they wanted to sell the turbines. He lined up the power. And so he understood this, that somebody else could finance this without him. And then he sold this for many hundreds of millions of dollars, this company. But it's a way, again, it's just one example. But understanding this float, you know, making sure that you're not laying out a ton of money and then getting paid later. You know, it's a powerful concept. Buffett uses it, obviously, with insurance companies.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I knew enough as an analyst to know that that was one of the reasons I could get into this business was float, that I didn't have a lot of capital. I started in my apartment, but because of the float, it would make it economically possible. In fact, when I talk to entrepreneurs today or would-be entrepreneurs, I go through the same concept of float and talk about how important it is to understand a cash flow cycle. Because most businesses, you lay out the money first. Maybe it's a retail store, you've got to build inventory, and you get paid as you sell it. And so that's a very negative cash flow dynamic. But with Morningstar, it was very positive, and I cited other many other entrepreneurs who have used float. You know, there's a guy here in town, a friend of mine, Michael Polski, built up a big energy company that he runs today. But, you know, he got started. He's an engineer, knows how to build power plants, immigrant from the Ukraine, but was working for a big company building.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Pay barons for the ad, money was coming in. So I took out the ad yeah, and I had that float. And so, and that's really what funded the growth of Morningstar for all these years. People paid us in advance for publication services to be rendered in the future.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of each mutual fund. So Peter Lynch was running the Magellan Fund at that time. He had over a thousand holdings. So his listing was probably about 10 pages in this book. But you could see, and it was ranked order by largest to smallest holding. And then I had the printers shoot it down eight and a half by 11. So I printed out these big oversized pages. They must have been three feet by two feet. And then make the little dots go away. I had the printer shoot it down to eight and a half by 11. And I had a 400-page book called the Mutual Fund Sourcebook took out an ad in Barrens in their mutual fund quarterly with an ad, long copy ad, announcing a new tool for the smart investor. And you could buy one copy for $32.50, subscribe for a year, four copies for $110. And so I took out an ad and even before I had to pay the printer to print this book, even before I had to”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, the first product was called the Mutual Fund Sourcebook. It was a quarterly, and it covered all of the equity funds in the country. And so I just simply wrote away to every equity fund in the country, asked them to send me all their material, prospectus, shareholder reports, and price dividend histories, all of that, and databased it. So I bought a bunch of PCs. I know enough about technology and programming, created the database, hired a few people to punch in all the data. And basically, I wrote a long computer program to output from the database. This is before desktop printing. So if you remember.matrix printers, I printed these big oversized pages in dot matrix with a dot matrix printer, and it had the performance history. It had the investment philosophy. Then it had all the whole.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And at the end of the day, you know, we stack all the empty bottles, and it didn't really take much time. But we'd each make like 500 bucks a quarter. And it was just fun. But, you know, it was fulfilling a need. You got to meet people. I enjoyed that interaction with people. And it was just a lot of fun.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was the room 607 Soda service. So my roommate and I, we just cleared out our living room. We had a two-bedroom unit in the dorm. And we got rid of our beds and filled them with refrigerators, called up the Coke and Pepsi distributor. And they would come every week and unload cases and cases of Coca-Cola and munchies. And then we'd put signs in the lobby, you know, the room 607 Soda service opened 24 hours. And basically if our dorm door was opened, you could come in and buy soda. And then it was just the honor system. You know, we had a couple refrigerators there, and you would go in, you'd pick out your soda, you'd pay for there would be a change jar there. You'd pay yourself, and we'd be there studying, you know, at our desk. People would come in and out. So it was great. We got to meet everybody in the dorm. Super social activity.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And now I'm on the inside of a fun complex. We had the Agorn Mutual Fund. So I'm seeing what the institutional side of a mutual fund organization is like. And I really wanted this concept validated. So I thought there's two paths I can go with my career. I could go work as an analyst, portfolio manager, and that might be a fine way to proceed. Or I have this entrepreneurial idea, let's see if it stands the test of time. And so the longer I work, the more I could see the fund assets were growing in the industry. This is a really good idea that to bring this together, really people buying funds at the time didn't have good sources of information to make an investment decision. I saw they were making bad decisions. They're buying funds based on total return, really not understanding the manager's philosophy, not understanding what are in the portfolio, what the holdings are. And I thought I could really tell that complete story and help people make smart”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because I'd look at some of the holdings I was interested in, and I'd always see Harris Associates as a kind of a major owner. So I called them up, got an interview, they hired me. And I had a great experience there. You know, I got to cover Berkshire Hathaway. We were the largest institutional owner of Berkshire. And I got to cover it. And I still have my Berkshire Hathaway Analyst Reports, which I actually, I think I sent those to Warren Buffett at one point. At least I didn't say sell. I said hold. Berkshire at the time was $1,200 a share. These are the A shares. Today it's $240,000. But it was great people. I had a great experience there. But at the same time, this idea for Morning Stars in the back of my head.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Money managers in the world at pennies on the dollar. And it's a very democratic notion. Previously, you know, only the Rockefellers could hire great money managers to manage their wealth. Now with funds, you know, Joe Sixpack can go and hire John Templeton. And I just thought it was a cool idea. But, you know, it was a good idea, but I thought I'm in my early 20s. What do I know? I better go get some work experience. And so I worked briefly at a venture capital firm to see what that was about. I decided I learned a lot there, but I was up till five in the morning sometimes working hard. And, you know, I saw what being a venture capitalist was like, and I really wanted to get to more security analysis. And so I left and I went to Harris Associates here in town, which practiced a war and still practices a Warren Buffett style of investing, a very value-oriented philosophy.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The insurance filings of the Berkshire Hathaway Companies saw what he was buying and selling. So I got really interested in investing. And really that's when the idea for Morningstar came to me. You know, as I would write away to really smart money managers who I admired, people like John Templeton, Michael Price at Mutual Shares, I would get their reports and I'd look to see what they're buying and selling to teach myself, why is Templeton buying HSBC? What does he see in that? I had to go look at HSBC. But it's had all these mutual fund reports on my table. First of all, I thought it'd be great if somebody compiled all this great information, all these letters that these smart managers are writing, all their holdings. There's a lot of good content. Somebody ought to put these together into a compendium. I would buy that. I'm in my early 20s and I'm just, and then I got to look at mutual funds. I thought these are great vehicles for most people to invest in. Here I can hire the very best.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Started the business. And I spent a year doing that really to see what putting a business together was all about. Not that I wanted to be in the radio business. Again, that was his passion. I did that for a year, helped him get that going. He still does that today. And then I left after a year. And really what I discovered during this time through reading is that I got really interested in investing. And even though I studied investing at business school at Chicago, but I learned about efficient markets. And the message was fire your stock analyst. You can't beat the market. Didn't resonate with me. I understood it, learned it. But fortunately, I came across Warren Buffett, read the Money Masters by John Train, which is an awesome book. If you want to read a great book on investing, and there's a chapter on Buffett in that got me really excited about investing, went back, got all the Berkshire Hathaway annual reports, read them all, got all the stock reports.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“84. Yeah, I think I tried to expose myself to various things and kind of a bit of trial and error like a lot of young people. But I went to undergrad at Chicago. I'd done a few little side businesses, if you call them that, you know, selling Christmas trees from a lot, selling soda from my dorm room. So I got a taste of business, and it seemed like a very creative thing. I'd read the biography of Ray Kruck, how he started McDonald's. And I thought, you know, it's pretty cool to be able to start a business. And this is a time, remember, when Steve Jobs starting Apple as a young guy, Bill Gates, a young guy, starting companies. And so it wasn't crazy to think of, you know, early 20 something kid starting a business. I didn't have much business experience. And so right out of business school, my college and roommate and I, we actually started a business doing research for radio stations of all things. And this was really my one of my best friends today. His passion is radio. And so I wanted to see what's starting a business was like. And so he and I started this business. So after we graduated, we took the weekend off.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And that you'll be find some success in life if you kind of focus on that. And these are all great messages for a 22-year-old.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it would be. I mean, it's one that had the most impact on me, and it's a very self-affirming book. It kind of gives you confidence to think for yourself, make your own decisions. And I think the lessons, you know, beware of any new enterprise that requires new clothes. Yes. You know, there's just so much good advice. And that, you know, if you hear a drummer, a different drum beat, you know, follow that, even if other people are doing other things. And so I think there's a nice lesson to, you know, kind of be yourself, have confidence in yourself. You don't have to do what other people are doing. That's very reassuring. And, you know, giving you confidence to dream, you know, build your castles in the sky and then put the foundations under them.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, actually, everybody at Morningstar, after their three year anniversary, we give them a copy of Walden, and it's part of our culture here.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I read it all the time, you know, not the whole thing, but I'll pick it up and kind of read parts of the conclusion. And I think a lot of what's in Walden is just timeless. I mean, one of the things going through my head right now is, you know, is lines simplify, simplify, simplify, you know, really trying to simplify your life. And I've made some changes in my career recently. And one of the things I'm trying to do is simplify things. Whether it's how I run my investments, how I spend my time. And there's a tendency, just in this day and era of just complicating things. You add in more things. You try and do more things. Information coming at you, and it's really hard to kind of simplify, get some free time. And so that message of simplification that comes from Thoreau, I think is really great advice. But no, I'm always picking it up, kind of looking through various passages. And so it's a book that's really stayed with me.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Still just getting started. It's a very optimistic statement that no matter where you are in life, you're still a rising sun. And then I just, I like the word Morningstar. It had a very positive ring in my ear. But it's all about Thoreau and his independence and Morningstar is all about independence. And that's where the name derives.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Over the quads, I'm in the fourth floor of Regenstein Library. The snow is falling, and I read that line, the sun is buddy, morning star, and I think to myself, what the hell does that mean? And it kind of stuck with me, and I had to think about it. And to me, it meant something that's been around as long as the sun is still in its infancy.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The name Morningstar comes from the book Walden by Thoreau. It's the last line of that book The Sun is but a morning star and it was one of the first books I read as a first year student in college at the University of Chicago and to me that book is all about independence, about thrift, self-reliance. And so when I was looking to name the company, I thought those were all good qualities for a company to embrace embody. And so the name harkens back to that last line, the son is but a morning star. And I often tell the story where I remember being a first year student at the UFC. And if you've read Walden, the conclusion is very powerful. And I'm wondering, how is Thoreau going to end this book? And so I get through the conclusion. I get to that last line, the sun is but a morning star. And I still remember very vividly I put the book down on my lap.”
2017-02-07 · Invest Like the Best · Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23] · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source