About Us

Philip L. Carret

Creator of one of world's first mutual fund, the Pioneer Fund.

Passion

Philip Carret was a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. In 1928 he started the Pioneer Fund which he ran for 55 years, during which an investment of $10,000 became $8 million.

As a Wall Street icon who pioneered the concept of "value investing," Philip Carret introduced it four years prior to the publication of Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffet's mentor) and David Dodd. Carret further described the concept in his 1930 book, The Art of Speculation.

In 1963 Carret Asset Management was founded as a family office and provided investment services for institutional clients and high net worth families.

Performance

Warren Buffet said of Philip Carret that he had "the best long term investment record of anyone I know." He is most famous for the long successful track record he achieved investing in common stocks and for being one of Warren Buffett's role models.

Disciplined

Today, Phillip Carret’s investing approach is still the centerpiece of our investment philosophy. Carret personally experienced 31 bull markets, 30 bear markets, 20 recessions as well as the Great Depression.

Carret's
12 Commandments
of Investing

Never hold fewer than 10 different securities covering five different fields of business;
At least once every six months, reappraise every security held;
Keep at least half the total fund in income producing securities;
Consider (dividend) yield the least important factor in analyzing any stock;
Be quick to take losses and reluctant to take profits;
Never invest into securities about which detailed information is not readily available;
Avoid inside information as you would the plague;
Seek facts diligently, advice never;
Ignore mechanical formulas for value in securities;
When stocks are high, money rates rising and business prosperous, at least half of the portfolio should be placed in short-term bonds;
Borrow money sparingly and only when stocks are low, money rates low and falling and business depressed;
Set aside a proportion of funds for the purchase of options in promising companies.