The other sage of Omaha

Charlie Munger‘s legacy of investing – in good businesses at a fair price, which he sometimes had to remind his partner and friend, Warren Buffett – will endure among the legions of followers the two had notched up over a lifetime. Munger’s role at Berkshire Hathaway may not have been rigidly defined, but his investment philosophy was. This made Buffett and Munger the most formidable investment team, pitching the former to the forefront of the world’s richest. Berkshire Hathaway’s status in the investing community is assured by a well-thought-out succession plan to execute the vision of its founders. Greg Abel and Ajit Jain oversee the investment and insurance businesses, respectively.

Munger represented a roll-up-your-sleeves investment style that remains relevant in an era of machine trading. The ability to look deep for value is unlikely to be a passing fashion, and Buffett and Munger were the foremost experts of their generation. It’s not the end of an era with Munger’s passing. His common-sense approach to investment, as also life, will remain a potent force in wealth creation, no matter the amount of quant that is thrown in at trading nowadays. This influence led to Apple becoming Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding. And, this influence guides a generation of money managers who knew Munger or were acquainted with his ideas.

Munger will be missed at the Berkshire Hathaway annual weekend in Omaha where he shared the dais with Buffett to answer questions on investing from a crowd of thousands. Theirs was a star act and difficult to replicate by successors. The honesty the duo brought on stage about investment has done a big service to spreading the cult of equity around the globe. To read the numbers Buffett and Munger put out, and then hear them speak about their experience with candour, lifted the lid on investing. Here were two guys spewing homely wisdom after making huge bets based on common sense and a set of financial tools. That made the experience uncommon.