Peter LynchPeter Lynch, a Wall Street stock investor, was born January 19, 1944, and graduated from Boston College in 1965, where he received a degree in finance. After obtaining his degree, he served in the military for two years and then attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Masters of Business Administration in 1968. Career After receiving his MBA, he worked as an investment analyst for Fidelity Investments and eventually managed to work his way up to a director of research position. He held the director of research position from 1974 to 1977. He managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 until his retirement in 1990. During this time, due in part to his management, the fund grew from its initial value of $20 million to $14 billion. As of 2007, Peter Lynch has served as Fidelity Management & Research Company's vice-chairman and is an active philanthropist. Investment Philosophies Peter Lynch was well known for his investment philosophies, the most well known philosophy being the idea that you should "invest in what you know." It became popular because it is simple, easy to understand for beginning investors and effective. Peter Lynch is also known for coining the term "ten bagger." The term "ten bagger" means that the investment in question is worth ten times its initial price. This term is derived from a baseball scoring term. Books Published Lynch wrote and published three investment books regarding his investment philosophies, all of them co-authored by John Rothchild.
These books are effective study materials for all levels of investors, and are considered required reading for both experienced and aspiring investors. Lynch's other writings include a series of articles for Worth magazine about investment strategies. Investing Style Peter Lynch was often described as an investment chameleon, adapting his style to whatever he felt would work at any given time. He also had a strong work ethic and would frequently work around the clock to ensure the success of his investments. Investing Principles Lynch had eight basic principles that he applied to his investments. These principles included knowing what you own, avoiding long shots, investing in good businesses and management, being flexible and learning from mistakes, and being able to explain why you are buying a stock. Other principles include the idea that it's useless to try to predict the economy and to take your time identifying and recognizing great companies. Researched Investments Peter Lynch was also known for doing extensive research on his stocks before he invested in them and spent most of his time researching the fundamentals of a company as opposed to the trends or buzz. He only make long-term investments and did not pay attention to short-term fluctuations in the stock market. Quotes Lynch is known for a number of quotes about investing, including:"Investing without research is like playing stud poker and never looking at the cards." return from Peter Lynch to famous investors beginner investing made easy home |