How to develop a Investing Philosophy

I am currently a sophomore, and have been interest in investing for quite some time. I follow the markets closely for the last two years and have read all the typical investing books, about different investment styles and philosophies. I am still not sure, which one is the best fit for me, therefore I would like to learn more about how you have created/developed your investments philosophy.

Did you develop it by just reading as much as possible, or after you started investing on your own? How long did it took you until you were confident enough to say that you have found your investing style?

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Over-intellectualizing the process stops you from getting anything done - and I love(d) to do it as well. If you have done what you have said so far, you need to spend more time experimenting with the process of actually trying to come up with a thesis and seeing how it plays out. The "philosophy" comes from 1) having some framework for analyzing the situation + 2) seeing the results + 3) reflection and refinement. 

That's how you get the people with a "value" investment philosophy ("I like to buy at a discount") buying stocks that would get grouped into the growth camp descriptively  because it has a high multiple + sales growth . The investor believes if they can build a case to defend the durability of outer year cash flows, then that 40x multiple is actually quite cheap. Or maybe they decide that they like to play the inflections in expectations that occur as those stories play out. These philosophies only happen when you take an approach, apply it, and then take the lessons and refine the approach, then apply again -etc. 

What ultimately happens is you get into pattern recognition mode and find set ups that resonate well with 1) how you look at things and 2) where your process works / can find an advantage. Most investors will have a combination of styles and lessons from their previous bosses, mentors, and classic investing books - but more importantly, from the application of their process over and over again. 

 

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