Benjamin Graham?s Principles Applied

Although it provides a summary introduction to the theory of Benjamin Graham?s classic deep value (net-net and discount-to-book value) strategy, Bos?s ?Deep Value Investing? is decidedly a practitioner?s guide, not a philosophical work. More accurately, it?s a collection of case studies for observation and analysis? what did and didn?t work in various key examples from Bos?s own investment portfolio.

This is the book?s strength, and weakness. It is a strength because any opportunity to peer into the portfolio of a working money manager and see not only what he?s done, but why he has done it, is often worth the price of admission. Bos gets hands on with the reader and provides the relevant information in each case study, including the start and end date and price of each trade, the relevant balance sheet information and per share calculations and a helpful chart of price movements over time to put it in perspective.

Most importantly, though, Bos provides a lot of qualitative detail that helps to flesh out the simple quantitative analysis. Many curious students of value investing will be happy to see Bos not only explains what piqued his initial interest in each security, but that he also talks about how long and why he waited to get involved in each opportunity and how he interpreted business developments in each case (positive and negative) along the way. He also provides an explanation as to why and how he exited each investment, whether it was a winner or a loser.

This is something that?s missing in most investment case study discussions and it?s a real value add with this book. Another value add is the online support materials for the book, including a record of all relevant publicly available information for each investment that Bos used in his analysis (so you can follow along and see if you can see what he saw), as well as a free eBook version of the title accessible with a special link.

As mentioned, the weakness of the book lies in the fact that it?s mostly a collection of case studies with little else to structure it. In that sense, while the material is approachable and certainly not technical or difficult by any means to comprehend, this is not a ?beginner?s book? but better for a reader who has already read a more philosophical work such as Graham?s ?The Intelligent Investor? or ?Security Analysis?. After reading those, revisiting Bos?s ?Deep Value Investing? should yield many profitable insights and appreciation for what he has managed to accomplish.

Additionally, a bit of information that is normally found in these ?how I do what I do? guides, that being whether or not the author supports diversification or concentration of portfolio positions and how he sizes his positions and manages his portfolio as a whole in general, are noticeably absent. The mere addition of this insightful information might have pushed this book into the ?4-star? range in terms of usefulness and candor. As it is, it?s a ?3-star?, though a strong 3-star candidate. A good read, but not essential in any library and by no means a classic like ?Security Analysis?, though of course it has no pretensions of being so.

If you?re ?deep? into deep value strategies, or want to watch over the shoulder of a talented operator, Jeroen Bos?s ?Deep Value Investing? is well worth picking up! Even veteran value guys have something to learn from Bos?s ?qualitative-quantitative? combined approach and especially his criteria for exiting a successful investment as it ?transforms? over time from a balance sheet to earnings play.

Other Notes

Some of my other favorite observations worth noting:

1.) Liquid assets are what we?re really interested in, for the strongest margin of safety
2.) Share prices tend to be volatile, but book values tend to be stable over time
3.) Service companies tend to offer good value opportunities because they?re light on fixed assets and heavy on current assets; they also have flexible business models that can quickly scale up or down depending on business conditions
4.) Cyclical stocks always look cheapest on an earnings basis at the top of their cycle and most expensive at the bottom of their cycle (which is ironically when they?e a best buy)
5.) To better understanding accounting statement terms, compare treatment of confusing items across different companies in the same industry
6.) When evaluating trade receivables, it?s important to understand who the company?s clients are
7.) Check lists of new 52-week lows for good value investment candidates