Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Lessons from Nils Taube, sage of sinking markets

The man has been at the market longer than many of our readers have been alive, and with some success.
From the Times of London:

Nils Taube has made an average 15 per cent a year over 35 years and knows about surviving downturns

NILS TAUBE, Britain’s longest-serving fund manager, former adviser to Lord (Jacob) Rothschild and George Soros, is uniquely placed to offer an insight into the current market crisis.

Taube, 79, has delivered an average annual return of 15 per cent a year over his 35 years in fund management, and has had a ring-side seat during the crises of the early 1970s, the late 1980s and the tech crash at the start of this century.

Born in Estonia, Taube fled communism in 1946, arriving in Britain aged 18. He joined the stockbroker, Kitcat & Aitken, and was senior partner when it was taken over by Rothschild’s firm RIT and Northern in 1982. It was at Kitcat & Aitken that he interested George Soros in an issue of Britsh gilts, making so much money that he was invited on to his Quantum Fund advisory board.

Taube is famous for anticipating the stock market crash of 1987. He had been shorting stocks – selling in expectation of a fall in prices – for several months before the crash, which initially led to heavy losses. By December, though, he had made a profit of £75m....MORE