Guy Spier

Spier was born in 1966 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. When he was three months old, his family moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, where he attended kindergarten. In 1970, his family moved to Iran, where he attended the British Embassy School in Tehran. In 1977, his family moved again to Richmond in the UK, and he attended the City of London Freemen's School, in Ashtead, Surrey, as a weekly boarder. In 1984, he matriculated to study law at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was tutored by Hugh Collins, Peter Birks and Mary Stokes, among others. Two years later, in 1986, he switched to study PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).{{cite magazine|title=David Cameron: UK's Next Leader?|magazine=Time|date=September 11, 2008|author=Catherine Mayer|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1840461,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912043848/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1840461,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 12, 2008}} Among his tutors was Peter Sinclair for Economics – where he occasionally shared tutorials with David Cameron, who would go on to become Prime Minister. He also studied politics with Vernon Bogdanor. Although he was thoroughly mediocre at Politics, he proved to be a capable economist and graduated with a First-class degree, having also been awarded the Georg Webb Medley Prize for his performance in Economics.{{cite web |title=MIT Investment Conference |url=https://sloaninvestmentconference.org/guy-spier |website=MIT Investment Conference |publisher=MIT Management Sloan School |access-date=10 May 2025}}

During his university summers, Spier also completed courses of study at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and at Harvard Summer School. He also interned with Creditanstalt in London.{{cite web |title=Interview with Guy Spier |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/360837437/Interview-with-Guy-Spier-pdf |website=Manual of Ideas |access-date=10 May 2025}}

In 1990, Spier was offered places both in the Joint Business and Economics PhD program and at the MBA Program at Harvard. He opted to do the MBA and, in 1993, he completed his MBA. Contemporaries at HBS include Mark Pincus, Chris Hohn and Sherry Coutu.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

From 1988 to 1990, Spier was an associate at Braxton Associates, the strategy consulting firm which was later sold to Deloitte Consulting. Based out of the London and Paris offices, Spier worked with colleagues David Pitt-Watson, Michael Liebreich, and others in advising British and European companies on their strategy vis-a-vis the European Common market. He subsequently took up an internship at the Forward Studies Unit (Cellule de Prospective) at the European Commission in Brussels.

In his book, Spier writes that although he interviewed with white-shoe firms like Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan during his last year at Harvard Business School, he turned down these firms to work for the lesser-known D.H. Blair. There, as a Vice President, he sought funding for new technology startups. Spier subsequently described this experience as "not dissimilar" to the movie Wolf of Wall Street. It was a career decision that he quickly came to regret.{{cite book |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=The Education of a Value Investor |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-1137278814 |pages=21–31}}

Upon leaving investment banking, Spier founded the Aquamarine Fund, an investment partnership inspired by, and styled after, Warren Buffett's 1950s investment partnerships. Spier continues to manage the fund today, and it had $300 million in AUM as of June 2021.

Spier follows closely Warren Buffett's principles on value investing and capital allocation. However, he also admits that value investing has changed over time as the popularity of the style means that generally fewer opportunities are available to investors. Ideas that will work would still be around, but the successful value investor of today has to look further and sometimes think outside the box.{{Cite web|url=http://www.opalesque.tv/hedge-fund-videos/Guy_Spier/1|title=Guy Spier: How Value Investing has changed – new strategies of successful value investors – Opalesque TV|website=opalesque.tv|access-date=February 5, 2017}} More recently, Spier has eschewed all forms of activism, stating, "My goal as an investor is to compound money for my shareholders, not to pick unnecessary fights or conduct myself like an avenging moral crusader."{{cite news |last1=Poljak |first1=Vesna |last2=Shapiro |first2=Jonathan |title=Australian Financial Review |url=https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/sea-change-of-a-renowned-short-seller-20201025-p568b8 |date=October 26, 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=The Education of a Value Investor |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}

Spier has regularly advocated for probity and modesty in the management of financial firms. In 2008, Spier published a paper along with Peter Sinclair and Tom Skinner on "Bonuses, Credit Rating Agencies and the Credit Crunch" which argued that part of the cause of the 2008 crisis was short-termism leading to the miscalculation of bonuses at credit rating and other financial firms.{{cite journal |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |last2=Sinclair |first2=Peter |last3=Skinner |first3=Tom |title=Bonuses, Credit Rating Agencies and the Credit Crunch |journal=Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis. |date=September 2008 |issue=CDMA Conference Paper Series|url=https://ideas.repec.org/p/san/cdmacp/0805.html}} He has also strongly advocated in favor of zero management fees when it comes to professional investment management.{{cite web |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=Zero Management Fees |date=25 March 2019 |url=https://blog.aquamarinefund.net/zero-management-fee-update-cf2c43f7f651?source=friends_link&sk=134636dd4adf48df8d7133c1a75bf690 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Spier has advocated for Switzerland to become a centre of true investing excellence, writing "while Switzerland's biotech, health and technology clusters are extraordinarily well developed, Swiss private banking still has a long way to go".{{cite news |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=Lombard Odier, Oxford University and sustainable finance: The remarkable transformation of a discreet Swiss private bank |url=http://www.financialnigeria.com/lombard-odier-oxford-university-and-sustainable-finance-the-remarkable-transformation-of-a-discreet-swiss-private-bank-sustainable-1364.html |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=Financial Nigeria}}

In 2003, along with David Einhorn, Bill Ackman, and Whitney Tilson, Spier became the target of investigations by Eliot Spitzer,{{cite web |date=Feb 13, 2003 |title=The Hedge Fund Witch Hunt: Eliot Spitzer's latest investigation is pursuing the wrong guys. |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2003/02/the_hedgefund_witch_hunt.html |work=Slate}} then the New York Attorney General, as well as by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding short sales of Farmer Mac, MBIA, and Allied Capital. The meltdown of these companies during the 2007–2008 financial crisis vindicated their short thesis{{cite web |date=June 20, 2008 |title=MBIA falls 13% after Moody's cuts rating Two-notch downgrade was more than some expected; Ambac cut to Aa |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mbia-slumps-after-moodys-cuts-rating-by-two-notches | work=MarketWatch}} and became the subject of books by Ackman{{cite book |author=Christine Richard |url=http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470648279.html |title=Confidence Game: How Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman Called Wall Street's Bluff |access-date=2 November 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429085059/http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470648279.html |url-status=dead }} and Einhorn.Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long, Short Story, David Einhorn: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470073942.html

In 2014, Palgrave MacMillan published The Education of a Value Investor which narrates Spier's early career struggles in investment banking on Wall Street and his transformation into a value investor. The book has sold more than 175,000 copies in English and has been translated into Spanish,{{Cite web |title=La educación de un inversor en valor – Value School |url=https://valueschool.es/producto/la-educacion-de-un-inversor-en-valor/ |access-date=2024-07-31 |language=es}} German,{{Cite book |url=https://www.m-vg.de/finanzbuchverlag/shop/article/12802-die-lehr-und-wanderjahre-eines-value-investors/ |title=Die Lehr- und Wanderjahre eines Value-Investors |date=2017-01-23 |isbn=978-3-89879-738-2 |language=de |last1=Spier |first1=Guy }} Japanese,{{Cite web |title=Pan;ウィザードブックシリーズ第230弾 勘違いエリートが真のバリュー投資家になるまでの物語 |url=https://www.panrolling.com/books/wb/wb230.html |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=www.panrolling.com}} Korean,{{Cite web |title=iremedia.co.kr |url=http://iremedia.co.kr/project/%EC%9B%8C%EB%9F%B0-%EB%B2%84%ED%95%8F%EA%B3%BC%EC%9D%98-%EC%A0%90%EC%8B%AC%EC%8B%9D%EC%82%AC-%EA%B0%80%EC%B9%98%ED%88%AC%EC%9E%90%EC%9E%90%EB%A1%9C-%EA%B1%B0%EB%93%AD%EB%82%98%EB%8B%A4%EB%B2%95-2-2/?ckattempt=1 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=iremedia.co.kr}} Chinese,{{Cite web |title=读书笔记之《华尔街之狼从良记》_巴菲特_斯皮尔_价值 |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/www.sohu.com/a/578779561_518137 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=www.sohu.com}} Polish,{{Cite book |last=SA |first=Helion |url=https://onepress.pl/ksiazki/moja-droga-do-inwestownia-w-wartosc-guy-spier,e_5981.htm |title=Moja droga do inwestownia w wartośc |language=pl}} Hebrew,{{Cite web |title=חינוכו של משקיע / גיא שפיר |url=https://www.kinbooks.co.il/hinvkv-wl-mwqie-gia-wpir.html |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=כנרת זמורה |language=he}} and Vietnamese.{{Cite web |title=Lột Xác Để Trở Thành Nhà Đầu Tư Giá Trị – FinFin |url=https://finfin.vn/products/lot-xac-de-tro-thanh-nha-dau-tu-gia-tri |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=finfin.vn}}

In 2016, Spier, along with Phil Town and Matthew Peterson, successfully petitioned Judge Sontchi at the Delaware Court of Bankruptcy to form an official committee of equity holders of head Corporation which had filed for bankruptcy earlier that year.{{cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/business/pittsburgh-company-news/2016/05/09/Len-Boselovic-s-Heard-off-the-Street-Horsehead-shareholders-win-court-fight/stories/201605080055|title=Horsehead Shareholders win court fight}}{{Cite news |last=Morgenson |first=Gretchen |date=2016-08-26 |title=How Bankrupt Is Horsehead Holding? Its Investors Want to Know |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/business/how-bankrupt-is-horsehead-holding-its-investors-want-to-know.html |access-date=2024-08-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2019, in a YouTube interview with Tilman Versch of ValueDACH, Spier likened the art of stock picking to "drunks in bars"{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLNxxmf_dM|title=What has a bar to do with finding investment ideas? Guy Spier on idea generation, process and research|date=18 November 2019 |via=YouTube|access-date=2019-11-20}} also referencing Dan Bilzerian.

In 2020, Spier hosted a panel on "The Future of Intelligent Investing" with Niall Ferguson, Sandy Climan, and Daniel Aegerter.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Spier hosts an annual investment conference in Klosters called "VALUEx". Attendees have included Joe Chapman, Richard Reese, the former CEO of Iron Mountain, and Robert Leitz.{{Cite web |last=VitalyKatsenelson |date=2016-01-07 |title=Guy Spier: What I Learned From The Value Investor |url=https://www.valuewalk.com/2016/01/what-i-learned-from-value-investor-guy-spier/,%20https://www.valuewalk.com/2016/01/what-i-learned-from-value-investor-guy-spier/ |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=www.valuewalk.com |language=en-US }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |title=Guy Spier – With Whom I Would Invest? |url=https://www.guyspier.com/with-whom-i-would-invest-part-2/ |website=Guy Spier |date=11 May 2019 |access-date=May 9, 2025}}

Spier is an occasional financial commentator in the media.{{cite news |date=October 31, 2011 |title=Guy Spier says no reason to be scared of US financials |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/spier-says-no-reason-to-be-scared-of-us-financials/2011/10/31/gIQAVCHNZM_video.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205210853/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/spier-says-no-reason-to-be-scared-of-us-financials/2011/10/31/gIQAVCHNZM_video.html |archive-date=February 5, 2013}}

In 2022, the final Glide Foundation charity lunch with Warren Buffett sold for $19,000,100{{cite news |last1=Stempel |first1=Jonathan |title=Warren Buffett charity lunch fetches record winning bid of $19 million |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/warren-buffett-charity-lunch-fetches-winning-bid-19-mln-2022-06-18/ |access-date=11 July 2022 |work=Reuters}} which is thirty times more than the sum that Spier and Pabrai paid.

Spier claims to have spent more than 10 years in Jungian Psychotherapy{{cite web |last1=Handley |first1=Lucy |title=What I learned over lunch with Warren Buffett |url=https://bigthink.com/business/what-i-learned-over-lunch-with-warren-buffett/ |website=Big Think |date=17 March 2025 |access-date=18 March 2025}}

File:GSpierTalkstoNiallFerguson.jpg

In 1997, Spier spoke out in The Independent against the increasing intrusion of paparazzi in British public life, writing "...if such a regime had been in place before last weekend, every tabloid which published photographs of Princess Diana and Dodi on their summer holidays would have been required to pay the resulting profits to them. I do not think that it would take too fine a legal mind to distinguish between public events, such as speeches and hospital visits, and private events, such as a ski trip with one's children or a ride in a car with a friend.{{cite news |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=How to Beat the Paparazzi |work=The Independent |date=4 September 1997 |ref=ind0000020020325dt940199g}}"

In 2002, writing for the Financial Times, Spier questioned the motives of the directors of the Hershey Trust Company for selling out their stake asking, "Why would anybody in their right mind want to trade a significant share of Hershey, with its excellent characteristics, for an insignificant share of a hotchpotch of US business, probably chosen by some adviser who is better at getting selected than at delivering investment performance?{{cite news |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=Investment in Chocolate – What Finer? |work=Financial Times |date=5 September 2002}}".

In 2022, Spier took issue with the economic policies of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. In an opinion piece for Financial Times he wrote,

"Investors like myself are looking for such jurisdictions and regions – where there is a government that takes intelligent decisions and allocates resources rationally.

The UK used to be such a country. But increasingly it is deviating from that path. Despite having a well-educated labour force, plenty of capital and the intangible infrastructure of a developed country, it is slipping down the ranks.".{{cite news |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=What's stopping the UK economy from growing? |url=https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2022/10/13/what-s-stopping-the-uk-economy-from-growing/?page=3 |access-date=28 March 2023 |publisher=Financial Times}}

In 2024 Spier joined V. Anantha Nageswaran in calling for a revision of India's current BBB- sovereign credit rating{{cite news |last1=Misra |first1=Udit |title=Why has the Indian government criticised the methodologies of global credit rating agencies? |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/credit-ratings-the-govt-view-9079612/ |access-date=17 June 2024 |publisher=Indian Express |date=23 December 2023}}

Arguing in an article for Horasis that, "India Deserves a Better Credit Rating and a Stronger Role for Local Rating Agencies".{{cite web |last1=Spier |first1=Guy |title=India Deserves a Better Credit Rating and a Stronger Role for Local Rating Agencies |url=https://horasis.org/india-deserves-a-better-credit-rating/ |website=Horasis |date=19 February 2024 |access-date=17 June 2024}} Spier makes no secret of his investment in Care Ratings which stands to benefit from greater involvement of local ratings agencies in the rating of sovereign debt.{{cite web |last1=Alaimo |first1=Ben |title=Guy Spier on His Strategy and Investments in India |url=https://www.gurufocus.com/news/1996961/guy-spier-on-his-strategy-and-investments-in-india |website=Guru Focus |access-date=19 June 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Banjerjee |first1=Tanushree |title=Global Hedge Fund Manager Signals India Ratings Upgrade and Massive Bull Run |url=https://www.equitymaster.com/profit-hunter/detail.asp?date=03/12/2024&story=2&title=Global-Hedge-Fund-Manager-Signals-India-Ratings-Upgrade-and-Massive-Bull-Run |website=Equity Master |access-date=14 August 2024}}

Spier regularly addresses students and other audiences at universities including MIT,{{cite web |title=MIT Management Sloan School Conference |url=https://sloaninvestmentconference.org/guy-spier}} Ivey School of Business,{{cite web |url=https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/bengrahaminvesting/resources/interviews-notes/guy-spier/ |website=Ivey School of Business |title=Interview with Guy Spier}} Harvard Business School, Guanghua School of Management and Google.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifDCmRBElPY |title=The Education of a Value Investor {{!}} Guy Spier {{!}} Talks at Google |date=2014-09-22 |last=Spier |first=Guy |access-date=2024-07-31 |via=YouTube}}

From 2000 to 2005, Spier served as the President of the Oxford Alumni Association of New York with the close support of Amanda Pullinger. Under his and Pullinger's leadership, the association grew to over 5,000 members and was a pioneer in bringing an American style approach on alumni relations to a British university.{{cite news |title=Things We Wish We'd Never Heard |work=New York Observer |date=6 June 2005 |ref=NYOB000020050602e16600003}}{{cite news |title=Value strategy – OBSERVER |publisher=Financial Times |date=29 June 2006 |ref=20060629J112.803}} From 2007 to 2009, Spier served on the advisory board of the Dakshana Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://dakshana.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AR12.pdf|title=Dakshana Annual Report 2009|last=Pabrai|first=Mohnish|date=April–May 2009|website=dakshana.org}}

Spier has frequently promoted India as an attractive investment destination. In an interview with the Economic Times of India he stated "I think that India is going to be an exciting place to be for the next 50 years."{{cite news |title=India to be an exciting place to invest in for next 50 years |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/india-to-be-an-exciting-place-to-invest-in-for-next-50-years-guy-spier-cio-aquamarine-capital-management/articleshow/96022171.cms |access-date=28 March 2023 |publisher=India Times}}

In 2017, Spier joined the newly formed board of the Swiss Friends of Oxford University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.development.ox.ac.uk/news/swiss-friends-opens-for-business|title=Swiss Friends opens for business – Development Office|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=2019-09-11}}

{{Cite web|url=https://oxfordfriends.ch/who-we-are/our-board/|title=Our board " Swiss Friends of Oxford University|access-date=2019-04-13}} He also serves on the board of UN Watch and on the advisory boards of Horasis and World Minds.{{cite news |last1=Kirsch |first1=Noah |title=The Global Elite Just Gathered at a Secretive Mini Davos |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-global-elite-just-gathered-at-worldminds-a-secretive-mini-davos-in-switzerland |access-date=18 March 2024 |publisher=The Daily Beast}} He is also a member of the International Council of the Global Leadership Foundation, which was founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner F. W. de Klerk.

Spier has been increasingly in the spotlight for more than a decade. In 2010, one episode of the documentary series 'Legends & Leaders in Hedge Funds and Finance,' directed by Matthias Knab, was focused on him and his investing style.{{Cite web |last=Knab |first=Matthias |date=2010 |title=Legends & Leaders in Hedge Funds and Finance - Guy Spier (Documentary) |url=https://www.amazon.com/-/en/Guy-Spier/dp/B072Z537JS |website=Amazon Prime: Legends & Leaders in Hedge Funds and Finance - Guy Spier}} The website Dataroma tracks the portfolio of Guy Spier among other value oriented Superinvestors by extracting data from financial filings.{{Cite web |title=DATAROMA Superinvestors Portfolio Holdings |url=https://www.dataroma.com/m/holdings.php?m=aq |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=www.dataroma.com}}

Spier is known for mentoring young investors and being an active member of the value investing community.{{Cite web |author-link=CFA UK's Value Investing Special Interest Group |title=Author Guy Spier: From hospitality to smokestacks: A personal exploration of the boundaries of ethical value investing |url=https://www.cfauk.org/events/guy-spier-author-of-the-education-of-the-value-investor |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=www.cfauk.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-11-02 |title=Learning from Guy Spier: Path in Investing, Philosophy, Case Studies |url=https://moiglobal.com/guy-spier-quotations-references/ |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=MOI Global |language=en-US}} He often engages with other investors through interviews, podcasts, and social media, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. His talks often focus on the psychological aspects of investing, ethical considerations, and the importance of continuous learning.

Spier organizes VALUEx BRK, which is organized in conjunction with the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Spier is known for founding the VALUEx conference in Klosters in 2011 and organizing it yearly.{{Cite web |title=Home - VALUEx Klosters |url=https://www.valuex.ch/ |access-date=2024-07-31 |language=en-US}} It brings together a small group of value investors from around the world to discuss investment ideas, share insights, and network in an informal and collaborative setting.

Spier lives in Zurich with his wife Lory and three children – Eva, Isaac and Sarah. He is related to the Lazard, Speyer and Rothschild banking families through his great-great-grandmother, Johanna Lazard.{{cite web|title=Descendents of Wolf Speyer Spier, Merzhausen|url=http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%20286/Nachkommen%20Spier%20Merzhausen.pdf|access-date=30 March 2012|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927202454/http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%20286/Nachkommen%20Spier%20Merzhausen.pdf|url-status=dead}} He is a former resident of Tuxedo Park, New York, the village constructed by Pierre Lorillard in the late 1800s, where he lived in the Bruce Price Cottage. He is a member of Entrepreneurs' Organization and of the Young Presidents' Organization and of the Westminster Synagogue.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Guy Spier}}

• [http://go.aqu.am/guyspier personal website]
• [http://blog.aquamarinefund.net Blog]{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/guy-spier-investor-bestselling-author-on-money-markets/id1518498547?i=1000505465746 Podcast with British journalist Christina Patterson]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYBSqC6f_zY The Intelligent Investing Podcast with Eric Schleien]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifDCmRBElPY Authors at Google Talk]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spier, Guy}}

Category:1966 births

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