The advice that shaped the careers of some of Australia’s best investors

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In my humble opinion, one of the best financial movies ever made was The Big Short, which was based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same name.It profiles a handful of traders who were able to successfully identify and profit from the mortgage crisis in the US, which became the global financial crisis of 2007/8 – the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression.In that movie, my favourite line is “Yeah, you got a sound bite you repeat so you don’t sound dumb but come on." The line refers to the fact that most people when talking about the GFC at dinner parties, had a line that they would trot out so as to look informed. Ultimately, however, they had no clue what really happened, nor why.So, why the long preamble to a wire titled “The advice that shaped the careers of some of Australia’s best investors”?Well, I’ve been around long enough to understand the difference between empty sound bites and valuable, practical pieces of advice that have helped shape investment careers.I’m much more interested in the latter. The former I can get from any investing book. The latter I can only get if I ask very nicely.In that vein, over two instalments I’m going to bring you the responses of some of Australia’s most well-regarded fund managers to the following question.What is the one piece of investing advice that has stayed with you throughout your journey as a fund manager?Without further ado... Emma Fisher – Airlie Funds ManagementEmma Fisher, Airlie Funds ManagementNearly a decade ago I made (hopefully) the worst investment call of my career, very early on in my career, with a buy call on Slater and Gordon. There were many bad days as the analyst covering that company, but one particularly bad day saw the stock off 30%. A very senior analyst I worked with, older and much wiser than my then 25-year-old self, took me aside and said “Turn off your computer, go outside and go for a walk in the Botanic Gardens. While you’re walking don’t think about the stock or markets. Remind yourself about all the people in your life who love you, how well you did at school, and remember the things you achieved at university. Everyone makes mistakes, but don’t let it make you go to water on yourself. At some point, you can reflect on what you’ve learnt through the experience”. It was a real kindness that I’ve thought of many times as I’ve inevitably made subsequent mistakes ov...

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