Philip Fisher: the investor’s contribution to the modern market
Philip Fisher is not as popular a personality as Warren Buffett or George Soros, but this does not mean that his contribution to the formation of the modern investment market is lower than other famous names. His achievements are highly valued among professional players who use Fisher’s approaches in their work. It is him who the world owes the basic principles and strategies of investing.
Philip was born in San Francisco in 1907, after graduating from high school in 1922, he went to college. After school he decided to continue his education to Stanford University Business School, where along with theoretical knowledge he also acquired practical skills. Fisher went to business talks with his teacher, after which he shared his observations and impressions with him. In 1928, the young man decided to concentrate on work and got a job at the bank Anglo London & Paris. However, he did not have much luck, a year later the U.S. stock market crashed and the institution closed. Then Fisher decided to rely solely on himself, and in 1931 he opened his own firm, Fisher & Co. To work for him, he invited people who wanted to change the current state of affairs at the time. Philip used innovative approaches and technology, and he focused on companies that were implementing different methodologies in their production processes.
The investor determined several basic principles by which he defined the quality level of a company. Fisher analyzed profitability figures, the prospectivity of the field of activity, and the amount of net profit. In addition, he paid attention to the organization of the sales process.
Philip was interested in those projects that had innovative developments that should be in demand on the market for at least 5 years. At the same time, the profit figure should be such that the company could actively develop in the long term.
These principles are used by investors even now, they are relevant to today’s realities and allow choosing a company, which in the future will bring a good profit. Fisher set out his approach to business in his 1958 book “Ordinary Shares and Extraordinary Gains. It had millions of copies and was translated into many languages.
Fisher ran the firm until 1991, during which time the company showed excellent growth in profitability. One of the secrets of his success was Philip’s comprehensive study of the subject of investment. He didn’t limit himself to the official accounting records, but he also questioned the companies’ past clients and listened to gossip that appeared in the market.
