Eternal Values

What is the definition of the West, anyway? Without its values and institutions, there would be no Gutmann Viewpoint newsletter. No investing. No private property. Stephen Kotkin, the U.S. historian and author of a multi-volume biography of Josef Stalin has aptly described this ideological place (source: newyorker.com).

The West is a series of institutions and values. The West is not a geographical place. Russia is European, but not Western. Japan is Western, but not European. “Western” means rule of law, democracy, private property, open markets, respect for the individual, diversity, pluralism of opinion, and all the other freedoms that we enjoy, which we sometimes take for granted.

The people in Ukraine are currently fighting for exactly these freedoms. They are steadfastly defending Europe and Western ideas. It should be all the more imperative for us to preserve these values with our possibilities and convictions.

Education and training

In Austria, these two pillars mentioned above are underrepresented. However, these cornerstones are particularly important - in times of major geopolitical and economic challenges: on the one hand, the values and institutions of the West and, on the other, financial education. The two go hand in hand to a greater extent than is apparent at first glance.

We need to make our youth aware of them and educate them so that they know the importance of values and institutions, internalize them, protect them and develop them further. At the intersection with financial education, our children, nieces, nephews and young friends will realize where the prosperity in the Western world comes from. Not from a state authority, but from the many entrepreneurs who offer products, services and new ideas.

On the other hand, there is a demand that is constantly changing. In the interplay with free markets, entrepreneurs rise to the challenges and adapt their contributions, change and develop them further and thereby, become stronger.

Successful entrepreneurship

The investment industry would do well to return to the origin of returns. It does not come from complex financial mathematical factors, but from successful entrepreneurship and the environment, that makes this possible.

Gutmann Viewpoint is always looking at entrepreneurial investing. A reader and customer asked me last week whether we really live this long-term investing credo and focus on the business model ourselves.

The answer is a resounding yes, confirmed by the long holding periods of the stocks in our funds. You are also certain to take notice of the intensive examination of business models during the presentations of our fundamental equity strategies.

Dissatisfaction as a driver

We can always do better, and that is why we must never, ever be satisfied with what we do and how we do it. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos repeatedly emphasized this view in his shareholder letters, “One thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontent.” Bezos has long recognized that customer expectations “are never static – they go up. It’s human nature.”

We have to evolve and get ahead of your demands, dear clients. We have to develop intrinsic dissatisfaction one-step ahead of you, or to put it positively: we get a little better every day. Hardly noticeable from day to day and week to week, but it causes significant improvements in the long term.

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