Welcome to Parrhesia Capital, a forum to develop and explore thoughts and ideas related to investment philosophy, principles and process and to apply those concepts in discussion of investment ideas and portfolio management.

Our aim in this endeavor is two-fold. First, by writing extensively we hope to come to a better and more complete understanding of exactly what it is that we are thinking. By doing so in a public fashion, we hope to test and strengthen our conclusions in the crucible of open and honest debate, along the way discarding those that no longer pass muster.

Second, we hope, over time, to build a vibrant community of like-minded individuals engaging in constructive dialog in dispassionate pursuit of the truth, or at least the best possible thinking at that particular moment, about a given question or problem. In a perfect scenario, we would be able to capture much of the wisdom of the crowd without getting too caught up in the madness that sometimes accompanies it.

We intend to pursue these objectives using a multidisciplinary approach and with an uncompromising emphasis on free and truthful speech (hence the name). While we will primarily focus on these matters from the perspective of professional equity investment management, we expect many of the thoughts and ideas discussed here will also be applicable to investing more generally and across many different asset classes.

Using a multidisciplinary approach means bringing to bear concepts from across seemingly unrelated disciplines. Though investing is commonly considered a financial discipline, it is in reality far more complex (and particularly so when acting on someone else’s behalf as an agent), drawing heavily on the soft sciences such as sociology and psychology and with eerily relevant parallels in the hard sciences such as physics and biology. Approaching our objective from just a single angle with just a single tool just wouldn’t be sufficient to fully explore these topics and come to the best possible conclusions.

Free and truthful speech means thinking and saying things that are uncomfortable to think and say. This is not typical behavior in an industry where cognitive biases run wild, type A personalities do not like to ever admit they are wrong and there are often financial disincentives against disrupting the status quo. Yet lies, both those deliberate and those merely convenient, distort reality to mask the real underlying problem and make finding a better way forward more difficult. We will speak the truth not to offend and threaten, but to foster deeper understanding and productive discourse toward constructive conclusions.

Relative to other such writings available across the internet, we hope to differentiate ourselves in several ways: the multidisciplinary approach and professional equity investment management perspective already mentioned, a process focus stressing data-based due diligence, discussion and decision making and thorough, direct and transparent communication in all that we do. However, we acknowledge that our community of readers will ultimately determine what we become best known for and this will, in all likelihood, be different than our original designs.

As we move forward, this forum will be a work in progress. All facets are likely to change to some degree or another, though we hope, at the core, to stay as true to our initial plan – explore the philosophy, principles and process of professional investment management through extensive public writing and vibrant community debate – as is possible. We expect to try different things, discarding what doesn’t work and keeping what does. Failure will be embraced, not avoided, as a necessary antecedent to progress.

One thing that we can guarantee will never change: this is not investment advice. Even if it were, the “best” way to invest varies from person to person and depends in part on your own individual temperament and comportment. Take the time to understand yourself, do your own research and form your own thinking before making any investment decisions based on anything you have read here. Better yet, do all of that and then share your thinking with this community so that we can all learn, discuss and debate what may be the best ideas and concepts.

Before closing, two final promises to you, the reader, and the rest of the community. First, we will prioritize quality over quantity. Though doing so may slow the development and growth of the community, your time is far too important to be wasted on frequent, marginal content in the name of promoting clicks and engagement. We hope to build this community solely through quality thought and discourse. We do not have opinions on all things and, if we do not have anything intelligent to contribute, we will simply say nothing at all. Second, we will never use advertisements, sponsorships or email marketing as a means to generate revenue and enrich ourselves. Unlike other “free” communities, you are not, and will never be, the product. Our quest is for knowledge and relationships, not money. However, we do reserve the right, if and when it is appropriate to do so, to pursue strictly voluntary forms of monetization, such as donations and/or memberships, in the future.

Again, welcome to Parrhesia Capital! We are so very glad that you are here and ready to go on this journey with us. If you would like to be notified of new posts as they happen, please sign up for our email distribution list in the sidebar to your right. In the meantime, please let us know your thoughts here. Aletheia