My Story
I started working in the investment industry when I was just 18 years old, having bought my first share when I was 14. Now, some 30 years on, I still find investing fascinating and stimulating. My aspiration to create Holland Advisors began around 15 years ago when I started to read in detail about great investors like Warren Buffett.
The realisation that there was a proven way to be a more successful investor hit me straight between the eyes. The core driver behind the investment process at Holland is the use of investment approaches proved successful by the likes of Buffett and John Templeton. These clear processes help us take a long-term approach in assessing companies, their managements and prospects when trying to find the high-quality franchises that we think will compound at a good rate over time. We will then only buy shares in them if they are offered to us at an attractive price.
It is easy to look back and wish I knew 30 years ago what I know today but what I experienced in my uninformed years was the knowledge that the vast majority of people in the investment business have not learnt from the “Greats”. Many in the industry have enormous amounts of data at their fingertips but little time to interpret it. Busy fools, some may say: Buffett collectively calls them Mr Market. We think our USP is the disciplined application of proven value-investing approaches in an often efficient, but occasionally mispriced market.
Our approach differs from many others in two important ways. First, we strongly believe you have to know what you are looking for in an investment before you go shopping. Our study of great investors has helped us refine our process. As a result we are very clear about the company business models we find attractive and why, and we only buy something when it comes with a margin of safety.
The second point is our desire to learn. It is human nature to want to get better at something but it is easy in this industry to be too busy to have the time to do so. There are always opportunities to learn and we welcome them.
My vision for Holland Advisors remains to analyse and invest at the very highest standard to the benefit of our clients. I want those that work here to enjoy the process, have a desire to improve their own skills, our investing process and the results we achieve every year.
Thank you for your interest.
Andrew Hollingworth, Founder and Portfolio Manager