The Bet with Buffett (Capital Allocators, EP.05)

<p>Today’s show is a little different from my ongoing series of conversations with Capital Allocators.  As you probably know, about 9½ years ago I made a bet with a certain Oracle, in Omaha, that pitted the performance of a group of five hedge fund of funds against the S&P 500.<br /> <br /> In this year’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren wrote extensively about his views. You can find that letter at <a href= "http://www.berkshirehathway.com/letters">www.berkshirehathway.com/letters</a>.<br /> <br /> Now I haven’t said a lot about the bet, although fairly often I’m asked how it came about, why I made the bet, what I really think about hedge funds and the market, and of course, who's winning.<br /> <br /> I thought long and hard about whether to share my views publicly, and had been leaning towards staying out of the limelight.  But my guest on Episode 2 of this podcast, André Perold, convinced me that I should share the many other investment lessons the public can learn from this exercise.<br /> <br /> I thought a podcast would be a perfect venue to discuss my thoughts, so I asked my friend Patrick O’Shaughnessy to discuss the bet with me, and that conversation follows.<br /> <br /> Before we dive in, I thought it might help to let you know where to find answers to some of those common questions I’m asked.<br /> <br /> For starters, Carol Loomis, the legendary and recently retired Fortune columnist, wrote a wonderful piece called “Buffett’s Big Bet” back in 2008 that described in detail how the bet came to pass.  You can find her piece at <a href= "http://www.capitalallocatorspodcast.com/bet">www.capitalallocatorspodcast.com/bet</a>.<br /> <br /> On that same page, you can find links to some of my written thoughts – both at the time of the bet’s inception and two years ago. Next week, I’ll add another link with some concluding thoughts.</p> <p> </p> <p>For more episodes go to <span style= "color: #3366ff;"><a style="color: #3366ff;" href= "http://capitalallocatorspodcast.com/podcast">Capi