How The Greats Invest | Pieter Slegers

Success secrets of Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch & the other great investors

We spend a lot of time on this channel hearing how experts think the financial markets will react to recent developments.

But history’s most successful investors -- the Warren Buffets, the Benjamin Grahams, the Peter Lynches and the John Templetons -- didn't concern themselves much with what was happening int he short term.

Instead, they focused on doing the following:

1. Buy wonderful companies

2. Led by outstanding managers

3. Trading at fair valuation multiples

And then held onto them. Sometimes for decades.

Today's guest, Pieter Slegers, has made it his career mission to understand and apply the core success principles and best practices of the world's greatest investors, and then help regular investors like you and me ride their coat-tails.

His Substack Compounding Quality is currently the #5 highest-earning financial Substack in the world, and today we'll have the good fortune of hearing his synthesis of what makes a successful investor.

For his condensed knowledge of the greats, click here or on the video below:

---

GOT GOLD?: Read our free Guide To Buying and Storing Gold & Silver:

---

I’m so grateful to everyone who has kindly supported me by becoming a premium subscriber to this Substack. It’s making an important difference in helping me fund the substantial operating costs of running Thoughtful Money.

Premium supporters receive my “Adam’s Notes” summaries to the interviews I do, the wildly-popular MacroPass™ rotation of reports from esteemed experts, VIP discounts, plus periodic advance-viewing/exclusive content. My Adam’s Notes for this discussion with Pieter are available to them below.

If you, too, would like to become a premium subscriber to this Substack (it’s only $0.52/day), then sign up now below:

---

Adam’s Notes: Pieter Slegers (recorded 4.16.25)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

• Disciplined Quality Investing: Pieter Slegers, founder of Compounding Quality, emphasizes discipline as the cornerstone of successful investing, advocating for a focused strategy of buying high-quality companies at fair valuations, inspired by legends like Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. His approach prioritizes saying "no" quickly to unsuitable stocks to streamline decision-making.

• Behavioral Advantage: Pieter highlights the behavioral edge retail investors have over professionals, as they face no quarterly performance pressure, allowing them to wait patiently for ideal opportunities. This advantage, coupled with rigorous adherence to a chosen strategy, is key to outperforming the market.

• Six Quality Criteria: He identifies six essential traits for great companies: