Benjamin Claremon – Know What Kind of Investor You Are

<p><strong>BIO: </strong>Ben Claremon joined Cove Street in 2011 and has been a Co-Portfolio Manager for the Classic Value | Small Cap PLUS strategy since its inception in 2016.</p><p><strong>STORY: </strong>Benjamin has made the biggest mistakes and lost the most money by buying cheap companies that get less valuable over time.</p><p><strong>LEARNING: </strong>Know what kind of investor you are and let your portfolio reflects that. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you have to buy it. Invest in a business you can own for years.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="ql-align-center"><strong>“It’s hard to establish a true margin of safety when the intrinsic value is falling over time. It’s like catching a falling knife.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote class="ql-align-center">Benjamin Claremon</blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Guest profile</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-claremon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Ben Claremon</strong></a> joined <a href="https://covestreetcapital.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cove Street</a> in 2011 and has been a Co-Portfolio Manager for the Classic Value | Small Cap PLUS strategy since its inception in 2016. His background includes positions on the long and short side of hedge funds as well as commercial real estate finance and management. Ben is the proprietor of the value investing blog <a href="http://inoculatedinvestor.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Inoculated Investor</a>, the founder of the 10-K Club of Southern California, and the host of the podcast <a href="https://compounders.podbean.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Compounders: The Anatomy of a Mutlibagger</a>.</p><h2>Worst investment ever</h2><p>The place where Benjamin has made the biggest mistakes and lost the most money is with companies that get less valuable over time. These are businesses facing secular headwinds or outright secular decline. Every day, the businesses become worth a little bit less. They seem lucrative