Peter Lynch was one of the greatest mutual fund managers of all time for returns over a long period of time. He was the manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990. During his time managing the fund he averaged a +29.2% return annually. He was able to consistently double the annual returns of the S&P 500 index every year. He was the best-performing mutual fund manager in the world.
The Magellan Fund assets under management grew from $18 million to $14 billion during the 13 years that Lynch managed it.
Peter Lynch wrote three books on investing, ‘One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In’, ‘Beating the Street’, and ‘Learn to Earn: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics of Investing’.
Peter Lynch said that a $1,000 buy and hold investment in his Magellan fund on May 31, 1977, would have been worth $28,000 by 1990.
Here are ten of his best investing quotes:
“Whenever you invest in any company, you’re looking for its market cap to rise. This can’t happen unless buyers are paying higher prices for the shares, making your investment more valuable.” –
“People who succeed in the stock market also accept periodic losses, setbacks, and unexpected occurrences. Calamitous drops do not scare them out of the game.” –
“Big companies have small moves, small companies have big moves.” –
“If you can follow only one bit of data, follow the earnings—assuming the company in question has earnings. As you’ll see in this text, I subscribe to the crusty notion that sooner or later earnings make or break an investment in equities. What the stock price does today, tomorrow, or next week is only a distraction.” –
“Stick with a steady and consistent performer.” –
“This is one of the keys to successful investing: focus on the companies, not on the stocks.” –
“Invest in What You Know.” –
“In business, competition is never as healthy as total domination.” – Peter Lynch
“In this business, if you’re good, you’re right six times out of ten. You’re never going to be right nine times out of ten.” – Peter Lynch
“All you need for a lifetime of successful investing is a few big winners, and the pluses from those will overwhelm the minuses from the stocks that don’t work out.” – Peter Lynch
