Timeless Creations
I gave a talk last week about what I call the timeless principles of the management of wealth.
It was a talk about, not what is working now, but what has always worked. It was based on the concept, articulated by Jason Zweig, that whilst markets change constantly, good advice rarely changes. And while people need good advice, what they want is advice that sounds good.
Advice that sounds good in the moment, the “thing du jour”, is the opposite of timeless.
I started thinking of what timeless means, what it invokes.
It’s often a term that is synonymous with luxury.
A watch, understated in its style, built to last generations. Or an architectural creation, one resting in its place, designed intentionally to endure time. Or a beautiful gown, cut so perfectly, looking as en-vogue today as it did in the 1920s. Or a classic car with lines that never age, and leather that improves with time.
These are things to be prized, to be treasured, and they create almost a feeling of mystique.
“Things of quality have no fear of time.”
What do timeless creations have in common?
I think they almost always have an elegant simplicity to them. They have been intentionally reduced. Everything superfluous has been removed.
And how do you create something timeless?
I believe you have to be a master of your craft. The creator of the watch, or the building, or the gown, or the car – they were masters. They were able to ignore the fashion, the trends and the fads of the day. They took their minds out of today and looked not only at what worked in the past but they were also able to visualise what would still work way into the future. They certainly had patience.
All this is not to say that timeless creations don’t change and evolve. Timeless things can change with time. They must change with time. But they don’t change on a whim. They don’t react to momentary shifts in their environment.
The wealth management profession today could take a leaf or two out of this book.
Elegant simplicity, intentionally reduced, created by masters – these are powerful concepts for the construction of long-term portfolios and the management of patient capital.
Far too much advice is sold on the basis of what is working right now. It works for the seller because it sounds good, not because it is good.
Let’s be timeless. Together.
Georgie
georgie@libertywealth.ky