Tagliaferro: How the '87 crash shaped my philosophy

Just like in life, an investor’s early experiences can’t help but shape the way they see the world. For Anton Tagliaferro, founder and Investment Director of Investors Mutual, one of those early formative experiences was the infamous ’87 stock market crash. After witnessing the events in New York the night before, Anton and his team tried to guess how far the ASX would fall that day, but even the most bearish analyst in the group was not prepared for the 25% crash that came when the market opened.

"On the day of a crash such as that, everything falls. The good, the bad, and the ugly. But when sanity prevails and the panic subsides, people do go back to the stock market, but it’s the good stocks that recover. A lot of the crap, all the froth and bubble, which in the boom was in the headlines all the time, a lot of that stuff goes to nothing.”

In the latest episode of The Rules of Investing podcast, we discuss his current views on Australian banks and retailers, how he first developed IML's investment philosophy, and why he doesn't like the ‘value versus growth’ argument.

Time stamps

• 2:26 - The major influences behind the IML philosophy
• 6:41 - Anton's experience of the October 1987 stock market crash
• 10:37 - Growth vs value? There's no such thing!
• 13:10 - The essential characteristics of a high-quality company
• 15:27 - Is there value in the retail sector?
• 18:03 - Why he likes Myer
• 20:44 - How longer rates could affect the banking sector
• 24:58 - A confusing time for investors
• 28:15 - Anton answers our three favourite questions

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