Nils Taube had a long and profitable record of investment.
Some investors enjoy success for a few years and then fade away, often because they fail to adapt to new market realities, but Nils Taube was one of the few to outperform the market over many decades and through numerous cycles.
Background and career
Nils Otto Taube was born in Estonia in 1928, the son of an English mother and an aristocratic Estonian father. When their country was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, the family fled to Germany.
In 1946 he moved to London, initially to study Chemistry, but when circumstances required him to get a job he joined the stockbroking firm of Kitkat & Aitken in 1948. An eye for value helped him spot that German companies were overlooked and under-priced, resulting in his promotion within the company. In 1951 he was given the job of analyst, and in 1955 he co-founded the Society of Investment Analysts.
By 1969, and still with the same firm, he became manager of the fund that he continued to control until 2006, when he 'retired' to establish Nils Taube Investments.
A close associate of George Soros, it was during this time he also took on the role of investment manager to Lord Jacob Rothschild, from 1982 to 1996. Along with partners John Hodson and Cato Stonex, he bought out this business in 1997 to form Taube Hodson Stonex, which currently has £9.2bn under management.
Record
In addition to his impressive longevity as a fund manager, Taube averaged a return of 15% per annum from 1969 to 2006, considerably out-performing the market. His other funds were also winners, reportedly beating the market by between 5% and 8%.
Investment style
Taube believed that markets alternate between irrational optimism and pessimism, and was noted for his ability to recognise when these points were approaching. He loaded up his portfolio in 1974, when it seemed to many that equities were finished as an investment class, and more recently bought a vast farm in Australia during one of the country's worst droughts.
The flip-side of buying into unloved markets is obviously to shun the latest hot investment areas, and he shorted the market in advance of the crash in 1987. He foresaw the current crisis too, and was particularly critical of excessive leverage.
His global remit and liking for neglected shares was similar in ways to the style of John Templeton, but he also tried to spot trends that could be replicated in other countries. This 'plagiarism', as he liked to call it, included buying British copier company Rank, on the basis of the success that Xerox had enjoyed in the United States.
It was that sort of curiosity, and the fact that he clearly enjoyed the challenge of investing, that kept his interest in the subject alive. He passed away in March of last year, having fallen ill at his Bloomberg terminal at the age of 79.
His legacy includes not just the returns he made for his investors, but also many charitable projects in his native Estonia.
More investing greats:
John Bogle | George Soros | Ben Graham | Jim Rogers | Warren Buffett | Anthony Bolton | Jesse Livermore | Jim Slater | Charlie Munger | Peter Lynch | Carl Icahn | Philip Fisher | Ken Fisher | John Neff | John Templeton | Mark Mobius | Neil Woodford | T. Rowe Price | Bill Miller | Robin Geffen | David Dreman | Ian Rushbrook | James Montier | John Paulson | Seth Klarman | Martin Zweig | Crispin Odey | Wilbur Ross | Bill Gross
