TIP734: My Investment Philosophy w/ Clay Finck

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

Stig Brodersen

Education, Investing, Business

4.6 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Clay shares the key principles behind his personal investment approach. His approach has been shaped by over a decade of experience and lessons from great investors like Charlie Munger, Nick Sleep, and Chris Mayer. He explains how he builds a portfolio focused on high-quality businesses and long-term compounding. It’s a candid look at how he filters out the noise and plays the game on his own terms. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:19 - How Clay defines and pursues financial independence through investing. 05:22 - The lessons Clay learned from Charlie Munger, Nick Sleep, and Chris Mayer. 08:35 - How Clay constructs and thinks about his personal portfolio. 16:22 - Why great businesses often beat cheap stocks over the long run. 27:05 - What “sidecar investing” means and how to apply it. 58:08 - The importance of simplicity and ignoring market noise. 01:04:26 - Why patience may be the biggest edge in investing. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join Clay and a select group of passionate value investors for a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Learn more ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join the exclusive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Mastermind Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Richard Zechhauser’s paper: Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable. Related Episode: TIP598: A Tribute to Charlie Munger. Related Episode: TIP492: The Best Investor You've Never Heard Of (Nick Sleep). Related Episode: TIP677: Why Most Stocks Will Lose You Money w/ Hendrik Bessembinder. Related Episode: TIP713: Why Serial Acquirers Outperform w/ Niklas Savas. Clay’s podcast episode on Constellation Software. Clay’s podcast episode on Topicus. Clay’s podcast episode on Dino Polska. Clay’s podcast episode on Booking Holdings. Clay’s video on Lumine. Follow Clay on X and LinkedIn. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠We Study Billionaires Starter Packs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Finance Tool⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our ⁠sponsors⁠: SimpleMining⁠ ⁠AnchorWatch⁠ ⁠Human Rights Foundation⁠ ⁠Onramp⁠ ⁠Superhero Leadership⁠ ⁠Unchained⁠ ⁠Vanta⁠ ⁠Shopify HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rating and review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TIP.
0:02.0	In 2013, I bought my first stock at the age of 18 and managed to lose all my money.
0:09.0	I was quite devastated, but that did not keep me from trying to figure out where I went wrong
0:13.0	and how I could do better next time.
0:15.0	Luckily, I bought Apple shortly after that first investment, which made me multiple times my investment in the years
0:21.4	that followed. Over the past 12 years, I've made countless other mistakes and learned many
0:26.3	lessons the hard way. In 2021, I managed to get my dream job working with the Investors Podcast Network,
0:32.8	and that's when the learning went into hyperdrive. In this episode, I'll share my overall
0:37.2	investment approach, the potential edge I havedrive. In this episode, I'll share my overall investment approach,
0:38.4	the potential edge I have as an individual retail investor, what asset classes I invest in,
0:44.1	some of my portfolio holdings, and much more. My investment journey has been quite a wild ride,
0:48.9	and I feel a great privilege to being able to share it with you all here today. So with that,
0:53.6	let's get right
0:54.3	into today's episode on My Investment Approach.
1:00.7	Since 2014 and through more than 180 million downloads, we've studied the financial
1:06.5	markets and read the books that influence self-made billionaires the most. We keep you informed
1:11.9	and prepared for the unexpected. Now for your host, Playfink.
1:20.1	Welcome to the Investors Podcast. I'm your host, Clay Fink. In today's episode is a bit of a different one.
1:30.4	While most of my episodes on the show are interviews with great investors or a review of some of the
1:35.5	best books on value investing, today I'm going to talk specifically about my own personal
1:40.5	investment approach in some of my portfolio holdings. Since I joined the Investors Podcast
1:45.7	Network in October of 2021, my investment philosophy has changed drastically. That's not to say
	...

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