Philip Carret

Phil was personally invited to Berkshire’s annual shareholder meetings (sometimes called “Woodstock for capitalists”).

The 1996 Meeting Highlight

The best-known moment came at the 1996 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, when Carret was 99. During the Q&A (afternoon session), Buffett spotted him in the audience and said roughly:

“Is Phil Carret here? We’ve got the world — there’s the hero of investing. Phil, would you stand up? Phil is 99. He wrote a book on investing in 1924. [Applause] Phil has done awfully well by finding businesses he likes, and sticking with them, and not worrying too much about what they do day to day. There’s going to be an article in The Wall Street Journal about Phil on May 28th, and I advise you all to read it. You’ll probably learn a lot more from him than by coming to this meeting.”

Buffett also referenced Carret’s approach more generally at the meeting, noting that “the main thing is to find a wonderful business, like Phil Carret always did. He’s one of my heroes, and that’s an approach he’s used.”

Carret died in May 1998 at age 101. The 1996 recognition remains the most frequently cited public acknowledgment of him at a Berkshire meeting.

"I’ve been involved in the market too long to get excited."

He originally published Buying a Bond in 1924 as a series of articles for Barron's magazine. He is also widely known for authoring the value-investing classic The Art of Speculation in 1930.

Carret founded the Pioneer Fund in 1928, making it one of the first mutual funds in the United States. Warren Buffett considered him a friend and role model, famously stating that Carret had "the best long term investment record of anyone I know".

12 Commandments 

1. Never hold fewer than 10 different securities covering five different fields of business;

2. At least once every six months, reappraise every security held;

3. Keep at least half the total fund in income producing securities;

4. Consider (dividend) yield the least important factor in analyzing any stock;

5. Be quick to take losses and reluctant to take profits;

6. Never invest into securities about which detailed information is not readily available;

7. Avoid inside information as you would the plague;

8. Seek facts diligently, advice never;

9. Ignore mechanical formulas for value in securities;

10. When stocks are high, money rates rising and business prosperous, at least half of the portfolio should be placed in short-term bonds;

11. Borrow money sparingly and only when stocks are low, money rates low and falling and business depressed;

12. Set aside a proportion of funds for the purchase of options in promising companies.

Forbes 1994 Jason Zweig https://jasonzweig.com/philip-carret-buy-em-cheap-and-hold-em/

Minor planet (7324) Carret 1981 BC. Discovered 1981 January 31 at the Harvard College Observatory at Harvard.  Named in honor of Philip L. Carret (1896    ), on the occasion of his 101st birthday and the 80th anniversary of his graduation from Harvard University. Passionately interested in solar eclipses, Carret has travelled the globe for most of the century in search of them - from Borneo to Siberia, from Baja to Kenya and from Prince Edward Island to Indonesia. Dean of American investment management firms and legendary stock picker, he created one of the first mutual funds in the U.S., Pioneer Fund, in 1928 and helped to found the mutual fund industry. He has been generously concerned about education, and about the environment and wildlife. (M 31025) Dictionary of Minor Planet Names