Graham and Dodd

"In his pitch, Robertson told potential investors that the way to search for value is to use fundamental research like that de- scribed by Graham and Dodd. He and his team knew of no sub- stitute for careful and comprehensive analysis of investment situations. Their research process included not only rigorous fi- nancial analysis, but interviews with senior members of a com- pany's management team and discussions with important customers, suppliers, and competitors. The aim was to under- stand how management thinks about their businesses and at the same time develop a clear understanding of the industries in which they compete. To do this, Robertson understood the two most important as- pects of reliable research: first, hire a staff with strong qualitative and quantitative skills, grounding in their specific area and rela- tionships with knowledgeable and important people in that area. Second, separate the wheat from the chaff. Tiger's size and trading activities around the globe allowed it to take advantage of "the best research available" to do just that."

"It was right out of Graham and Dodd, as was the notion of evaluat' ing a company’s underlying assets. Tisch liked insurance companies and banks, for example, because their asset values—in the form of cash, stocks, bonds, mortgages, and real estate—were simple to assess and fairly easy to access. A steel company is different; its value depends"