The Courage of Being Alone

Being alone is scary for most, and a celebration for few. For most, alone is an exposure of their weaknesses, an awkward situation to avoid. But for the few that venture alone, it is being first, being at the forefront, being a leader, being an innovator. It is comfortable to stay with the pack, walk on a known path like many. Safe but average outcome.  

However, being alone takes courage and fortitude. The reward you have at the end of a lonely march may be all yours. 100%.

This is an #investment as well as a life philosophy. I will stick to my primary competency as an investment professional. Life coaching is something beyond my skills as my children have already determined.

In 2011, Warren #Buffet made a $5 billion investment in Bank of America when very few where investing in the financial sector in the wake of the global financial crisis. But the most astute investor of all times dared to do what most investors shunned. Six years later, he sold his investment for $17 billion (Buffet invests in Bank of America). Buffet is known for making contrarian decisions. He never walks with a crowd. Always alone.  

In one of my finest moments, I invested in an #infrastructure company in #China. The structure, geography and strategy was unique. My investment committee was unconvinced, but thankfully, could not rationally counter my investment thesis and continuous insistence. The most senior committee member, a high profile investment banker from New York, repeatedly said that there was no way to get my projected returns from an infrastructure investment. Seven years later and after a lot of hard work, that investment returned at exit $175 million, six time the original investment. Although I have walked that path alone, the reward, in this case, was divided amongst all the team, including that suspicious senior member. Life in reality is unfair!

Contrarian investing has a simple logic. It can be explained on the back of an envelop. Its value is real and realizable. Its simple logic may not be obvious to most, but it has to be obvious to the few. Many may knew of the opportunity, but few have the courage to believe in it.

In the case of my Chinese investment, a heavily discounted acquisition price in a booming economy was a no brainer. But it took courage for a #privateequity investor from #GCC to believe in these simple fundamentals and reach out all the way to an unknown province in #China. The courage was to take such a leap into an unknown land. Wholeheartedly. The rest was details, a lot of airline miles, and many sleepless nights.  

ONLY the courage of the few will unlock the abundance of this universe.

#investment #privateequity #china #GCC #lifelessons 

@iighandour