There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach [Paperback]

Christopher Risso-Gill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2011

Peter Cundill, a philanthropist and investor whose work has been praised by the likes of Warren Buffett, found his life changed forever when he discovered the value investment principles of Benjamin Graham and began to put them into action. There's Always Something to Do tells the story of Cundill's voyage of discovery, with all its ups and downs, as he developed his immensely successful investment strategies. In the context of recent financial upheavals and ongoing uncertainty, Peter Cundill's wise and frequently funny reflections are more important than ever. In a seamlessly assembled narrative drawn from interviews, speeches, and exclusive access to the daily journal Cundill kept for forty-five years, Christopher Risso-Gill outlines Cundill's investment approach and provides accounts of his investments and the analytical process that led to their selection. A book for everyday investors as much as professional investors and investment gurus, There's Always Something to Do offers a compelling perspective on global financial markets and on how we can avoid their worst pitfalls and grow our hard-earned capital.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book and a fresh contribution to the subject of value investing, through the compelling life of one of its key thinkers and practitioners. There's Always Something to Do should prove fascinating reading for both Canadian and foreign investors." Karl Moore, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

"Having known Peter Cundill for thirty-five years, and participated with him in many investments, There's Always Something to Do tells the tale of one of the great value investors of our time. It includes stories of many small and mid cap situations that the large cap, institutional world wouldn't otherwise know. This is a must read for the value crowd, right up there with Buffett and Klarman." Michael Price, MFP Investors Inc.

About the Author

Christopher Risso-Gill lives and works in London and for ten years was a director of the Cundill Value Fund.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Mcgill Queens Univ Pr (February 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773538631
• ISBN-13: 978-0773538634
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Remarkable Story of a Value Investing Legend, March 23, 2011

By 

AdamSmythe - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach (Paperback)

Peter Cundill, the subject of this book, took control of the All-Canadian Venture Fund in 1975 (which became the Cundill Value Fund), and over the next 33 years he averaged a compound annual rate of return of 15.2%. Put differently, $10,000 invested in Cundill's fund in 1975 grew to over $1 million during that time. The assets under his management in this fund jumped from about $8 million to $20 billion over the same time (obviously, there were inflows to the fund). That's significant, because keeping a very strong track record becomes progressively harder as the amount of money you are managing gets large. Cundill's success over such a long period of time is simply remarkable. Okay, so how did he do it? Please read on.

The title of this book is taken from a quote by value investor, Irving Kahn: "There's always something to do. You just have to look harder, be creative and a little flexible." That's a good description of the work process for any value investor, and it's an especially good description of what Peter Cundill did to earn his success.

Way back in 1968, a book titled "The Money Game" (about the go-go investing years during the 1960s) became a best seller. The book's author followed with another, not-quite-as-popular book, "Super Money." It was "Super Money" that 35-year-old investor Peter Cundill read during a plane trip in 1973. In that book, he read about Benjamin Graham's (and David Dodd's) classic book, "Securities Analysis," and after reading Graham and Dodd's book Cundill seriously took up in-depth value investing. Benjamin Graham had that kind of effect on people. Years earlier, a young Warren Buffett read Graham's "The Intelligent Investor," and remarked that "the scales fell from my eyes." (By the way, just about all of these books are still available, and they may rightfully be described as almost timeless.)

Basically, Cundill came to the realization that a stock isn't necessarily cheap simply because it has a low price-to-earnings ratio, a nice dividend yield or even a high growth rate. All these things may be good, but a stock is cheap when careful analysis of the company's balance sheet reveals that the stock's price is meaningfully lower than its intrinsic value. That's classic Graham-and-Dodd, margin-of-safety value investing, and it is what Cundill excelled at.

Although "There's Always Something to Do" is well-written by author Christopher Risso-Gill, one very interesting aspect of this book is its frequent quotes from Cundill's daily journal compiled over 45 years. Thus, the reader gets to hear directly from Cundill, and his at-the-time comments about buying ABC or selling XYZ stock are not filtered through after-the-fact 'analysis.'

This book covers most of the investment topics you would expect to read about a value investor, including a global search for value (like John Templeton was famous for), and a focus on unglamorous areas of investing (which is where values sometimes hide) like distressed corporate securities and defaulted sovereign debt.

Toward the end of this enjoyable book is a chapter that describes in some detail a number of the qualities that make for a great investor: insatiable curiosity, patience, concentration, attention to detail, independence of thought, humility and skepticism to name some. From personal experience, I would note that they are all easy to say and hard to do.

In short, this book represents an excellent addition to the library of anyone who is serious about value investing. One last thing: In 2006 Peter Cundill was diagnosed with Fragile X, a degenerative neurological disorder, and he passed away very recently (on January 24, 2011), at age 72. He will be missed.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eureka Moment - Finding The 'Margin of Safety' Approach, March 7, 2011

By 

James East (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach (Paperback)

Though Peter Cundill did not find the Benjamin Graham value approach until relatively later in his investment career, he found it nevertheless and was quite successful at the process once identified and mastered it quickly. What makes this book a worthy candidate for any investor's bookshelf is that Peter Cundill kept a daily journal for forty-five years which is used extensively in conjunction with the text. If you are mildly acquainted with the deep value 'margin-of-safety' process, this quote from his journal should sound familiar, 'be prepared to put money into anything, anywhere, provided that the downside is measurable and acceptable and the chances of a good profit appear to be better than 50%. I will not take gambles, but it is part of my job description to be ready to take very carefully calculated risks.' That is in essence, protect the downside first and the upside will usually take care of itself.

All in all, Peter's process of 'Buying a Dollar for Forty Cents' is a worthy addition to the investment community and to the margin of safety framework. As the potential reader can not search this book yet, a sample of the first few chapters are as follows: (twenty-two chapters in total)

Forward - By Prem Watsa (Fairfax Financial)

Chapter 1 - The Eureka Moment

Chapter 2 - Getting To First Base

Chapter 3 - Launching A Value Fund on Value Principles

Chapter 4 - Value Investments In Action

Chapter 5 - Going Global

Chapter 6 - Swapping Continents

Chapter 7 - A Decade of Success

Chapter 8 - New Dimensions

Chapter 9 - Investment Stratagems

Chapter 10 - Surviving a Crash

Chapter 11-22, Worthy Reading

Valuable References:

Security Analysis: Sixth Edition, Foreword by Warren Buffett (Security Analysis Prior Editions) by Graham & Dodd

The Aggressive Conservative Investor (Wiley Investment Classics) by Martin J. Whitman and Martin Shubik

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting trader, poor book, May 12, 2011

By 

Straddle1985 (Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach (Paperback)

Before I red this book I had never heard before of Cundill before. I thought it would be an interesting read, since value investing appeals to me and this book would have a diary of Cundill and his investment adventures. Cundill has an impressive track record so I bought this book.

Apparently he was not very successful in investing until he red Securtiy Analysis from Graham and started studying value investing in depth. What I found interesting is the way he looks at the assets of a company, the book value more precisely. Also the way he makes his entry into value plays, averages down and sells half his position ones his gains are equal to his initial investment.

Unfortunately, that was all I was able to get out of this book. The diary entries that are mentioned in this book are very brief and kind philosophic talk on value investing and trading in general. Most frustrating is the lack of security analysis or the way Cundill would look at a company or a balance sheet. Somewhere in the beginning of this book a short list of selection criteria is noted that Cundill uses to scan for investments. That's kind of helpful, but if you've red more books on Value Investing like me it doesn't add much value. The whole book continues like this praising Cundill the Great Investor, but nowhere it really gets deep into Cundill his analysis of investments.

In that way don't expect to get lots of useful stuff out of this book for your trading.

If you're not bothered by that, in case you just want a nice read on value investing, you might try this one. Otherwise, I'd give it a pass. There are more useful books on value investing out there.