I am a huge fan of Rob Vinall of RV Capital, a 1-man fund in Switzerland. I'm a fan not bc Rob is a fantastic investor, which he is, but bc he selflessly has tried to help those who wanted to follow a similar path...to start their own fund.

Advice for emerging inv managers...

When I first came about Rob's advice to emerging managers and Q&A youtube videos, I wondered why he goes through all this work hosting young guys at no benefit to himself and at a potentially dis-benefit if he considered these guys potential competitors?

Now I think I have a better idea why he does this. After @Greenbackd had me on his podcast a few months ago, I've been inundated by young, motivated guys obsessed w/ investing, seeking advice bc they also want to start their own fund one day.

Like RV Capital, Saga will always be a small drop in the bucket in the investment management industry. Its not our goal to be the biggest manager just to do the best job we possibly can in our tiny niche. If we can help others achieve their dreams & manage money better then AMEN!

It also dawned on me after I watched @valueDACH's fantastic interviews of other extremely impressive investors, how many others were influenced by Rob when forming their funds. While each has their own philosophy, their mindset & structure seem to have some inspiration from Rob.

Rob's advice to emerging inv managers:

1. Get the structure right from day one

2. Don't sell equity in your business to a seed funder

3. Keep costs low

4. Don't bother marketing

5. Be transparent

6. Get investors to self select into fund

7. Say no to the wrong investors

8. Take ownership of your mission. Managing OPM is a privilege/honor. Be the best fiduciary you possibly can be.

9. Provide value & build a moat

10. Seek great partners

https://www.rvcapital.ch/post/some-thoughts-on-becoming-an-independent-fund-manager

These are obviously not hard & fast rules, but they have helped guide me as I thought about where I see Saga long-term. You want to have an idea of where you are going or else you might get lost.

FYI this route may take longer to scale but it's more durable over multiple decades

The future of investment management will be a balance between passive indices and these relatively small, niche active managers. Not all money can be passive & theres little value from highly diversified mutual funds that track the benchmarks & largely underperform after fees LT.

Rob is not on twitter but I hope to be able to thank him in person one day for influencing me on my journey of being an independent investment manager.

Hope I can forward on Rob's message/advice to those budding managers out there! I've spoken to quite a few of you so far!