Every investor wants to win. But few are willing to win slowly.
In a market addicted to speed, speed of information, speed of execution, speed of returns, the very idea of letting time do the heavy lifting feels quaint, even risky. Yet this is precisely where true outperformance lies. In the words of a master investor, the real edge comes not from seeing what others don’t, but from holding your nerve longer than others can.
At TAMIM, we’ve long embraced this idea. We are, by nature and by design, long-term investors. We’re less interested in finding the next hype stock and more focused on understanding what a business is worth, independent of what the market happens to think this quarter. We believe the greatest gains in investing don’t come from being smarter or faster, but from being more patient and more grounded in value.
In this week’s newsletter, we take inspiration from recent writing by Howard Marks and others to revisit the core tenets of value investing, why they remain relevant today, especially in the context of rising rates, AI hype, geopolitical shifts, and volatile sentiment.
Investing vs Speculating
The line between investing and speculating has never been blurrier.
Daily price moves dominate headlines. Meme stocks soar and crash. Narratives swing with the wind. The temptation to chase trends, react to news, or follow the crowd is strong. Yet the truth is this: buying something solely because you think someone else will pay more for it later isn’t investing. It’s speculation.
Value investing, by contrast, is rooted in understanding the intrinsic worth of a business, its cash flows, balance sheet strength, competitive moat, and future earnings potential. You buy when the price is materially below that intrinsic value, and you sell when it isn’t. Everything else is noise.
This framework gives us clarity when markets are panicking or euphoric. It allows us to avoid overpaying for companies just because they’re “going up.” It also gives us the courage to buy when others are fearful, when valuations compress not because fundamentals have deteriorated, but because sentiment has.
Time is the Ally of the Patient
One of the central themes in Marks’ writing is this: the real differentiator isn’t forecasting skill. It’s temperament.
Can you wait while others panic? Can you hold a good business through a downturn? Can you accept short-term underperformance in pursuit of long-term outperformance?
Most investors can’t. They’re judged quarterly, or even daily. Their incentives are misaligned. As a result, they’re forced to act, even when the best move is to do nothing.
This is our edge. At TAMIM, we aren’t forced to act to satisfy anyone else’s timeline. We can wait for value to be realised. That’s how we’ve invested successfully in companies like EML Payments, Bravura Solutions, and Apiam Animal Health, businesses with sound fundamentals, temporary setbacks, and re-rating potential.
Winning slowly is still winning. And the gains are often larger than you think.
When the Market Gets It Wrong
In theory, markets are efficient. In practice, they’re often wrong, especially in the short term.
Market prices reflect consensus expectations. But consensus is shaped by fear, greed, recency bias, and groupthink. When expectations are too pessimistic, price diverges from value. That’s where opportunity lies.
Our job is to find those divergences.
Sometimes they come from misunderstood businesses (e.g. niche technology providers mispriced due to regulatory fear). Other times, from ignored sectors (like listed infrastructure or Japanese utilities). And often, from short-term issues (like cost blowouts, management turnover, or missed quarterly guidance) that obscure long-term potential.
We aren’t contrarian for the sake of it. We’re rational optimists with a valuation compass.
Small Caps: Where Mispricing Lives
The ASX small and mid-cap space is fertile ground for long-term investors. Why?
- Lower analyst coverage: Many companies are under-researched, increasing the chance of mispricing.
- Retail-driven sentiment: Emotional reactions to headlines often drive prices further from fair value.
- Longer path to re-rating: Value can take time to emerge, which suits our patient capital.
This is why we focus on this part of the market in our TAMIM Australian All Cap and Small Cap Income portfolios. We do the work others don’t. We know that if we buy quality companies at sensible prices, time will eventually reward us.
Real Businesses, Real Value
Value investing has evolved. It’s no longer just about low P/E ratios or discounted net assets. In a world driven by intangible assets, innovation, and network effects, we must assess value more holistically.
We look for:
- Strong and aligned management
- Scalable unit economics
- Consistent free cash flow generation
- Competitive advantages (data, distribution, IP)
- Resilience across economic cycles
This might lead us to own companies in less “sexy” sectors, like EROAD in telematics, Sterling Infrastructure in engineering services, or Arrow Electronics in supply chain logistics. These aren’t momentum darlings, but they are real businesses solving real problems.
And their value compounds over time.
The Patience Premium
What’s the reward for thinking long-term?
Call it the “patience premium.” Because few investors have the mandate, temperament, or discipline to wait, the market systematically undervalues companies that require time to prove themselves. This creates an inefficiency. One we’re happy to exploit.
Sometimes the re-rating takes quarters. Sometimes it takes years. But if the business compounds earnings and free cash flow, the payoff is worth it. Think of it like watching paint dry, boring at first, brilliant in hindsight.
TAMIM Takeaway
In a world obsessed with immediacy, value investing remains a quiet rebellion. It asks you to think longer, act less, and trust your analysis more than the crowd.
At TAMIM, we believe this is not only a sensible approach, it’s a superior one. Because in the end, winning slowly is still winning.
And when you own a portfolio of well-chosen, well-valued businesses, time becomes your most powerful ally.