68 THE INVESTMENT TEAM
Is this true for investment decision making? Should we join
investment clubs? Should professionals work in teams? Do the
masters that we’ve been studying work in teams?
Let’s start with the masters. The answer for them is a paradox.
(By now you realize that most of my suggestions are paradoxical.
I believe that is the nature of the world we live in: the great truths
are the ones where the opposite of a truth is true as well.) The
masters are lone wolves who love their independence. They are
also collaborators who rely completely on the help of trusted col-
leagues. Buffett, for example, makes fun of meetings and quips about
the best meetings being the ones where he talks to himself in the
mirror. And yet he works hand-in-glove with Charlie Munger. He
trusts Munger’s judgment and runs ideas past him constantly. That’s
why Buffett claims that the two of them can craft a four-page letter
with three grunts on the phone.
Zweig has a similar relationship with Joe DiMenna. In fact,
their relationship fits well with the model that we’ve been discuss-
ing: integrating different personality styles to be more effective in
thinking. Zweig says that DiMenna is the better of the two at poring
over financial statements and getting all the details. So, they spe-
cialize and leverage their talents.
If the masters benefit from collaborating, how about profes-
sional investors in general? What is the state of teamwork in the
profession? Interestingly, one of the hottest funds right now is the
Janus Fund. That’s an apt name for teamwork in the investment
field; Janus is the Roman god with two faces. Similarly, there is
much lip service from investment leaders about the importance of
teamwork. For example, Gary Brinson of Brinson Partners says
that “almost out of necessity, we need to collaborate and work
together to achieve the objectives that we all want to achieve”
(Managing Investment Firms: People and Culture, AIMR Publica-
tions 1996).
Another major figure in the field, David Fisher, Chairman of
the Board at the Capital Group of Companies, Inc., says, “The08-13 ware 68 1/19/01, 1:10 PM