{"id":22807,"date":"2008-04-03T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/blog\/?p=526"},"modified":"2008-04-03T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-03T10:00:00","slug":"el-placer-de-invertir-con-integridad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/el-placer-de-invertir-con-integridad\/","title":{"rendered":"The joy of investing\u2026 with integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"
There is much talk about the different skills required of a good investor and a good entrepreneur \u2013 in short, people who seek to succeed in business. In articles such as \u201cThe Magic Potion for Financial Success\u201d<\/a>, to give a recent example, there are numerous very useful tips and pieces of advice on this subject. It seems clear, if we analyse the cases of successful entrepreneurs or investors, that all these characteristics \u2013 and a few others besides \u2013 are present in them. But if we delve a little deeper into their personalities, we can also observe (in many cases) the presence of two aspects, which, in my view, are highly significant when it comes to doing business; whilst they do not, on their own, guarantee financial freedom, they provide a significant boost, as well as helping to make us better people: honesty and humility.<\/div>\n

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Numerous articles since the blog was set up have highlighted their importance, but I want to take a closer look at them in this post. What do these two words actually mean? How can they help me in my business? The more sceptical amongst you may well ask\u2026<\/div>\n

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Clearly, any assessment of the contribution these attributes make to the final outcome of an individual\u2019s investments cannot be carried out in the traditional way, as if it were the implementation of a marketing plan: it cost us this much, the plan generated this much revenue, so the profit was this much. The cost of being honest and humble cannot be assessed, nor can its benefit be measured in monetary terms; but what certainly cannot be said is that it has no impact whatsoever.<\/div>\n
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Humility is a virtue that consists of recognising one\u2019s own limitations and weaknesses and acting in accordance with this realisation. When applied to business, this enables decisions to be analysed from a much broader perspective. Admitting that we are not perfect and being aware of our limitations is one of the best ways to tackle any project, as a humble person takes into account any factor that might influence it, does not underestimate the risks involved and, furthermore, when things go wrong, they do not become paralysed wondering \u201chow could this have happened to me?\u201d, but instead quickly seek solutions to restore order or, in the worst-case scenario, minimise losses. In a world as competitive as today\u2019s, believing oneself to be \u2018in possession of the absolute truth\u2019 \u2013 thinking that one is always right \u2013 is the first step towards ultimate failure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a> An example that always springs to mind when we talk about humility is that of the greatest investor of all time, Warren Buffett, speaking about the donation he made to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (he pledged to donate a percentage of the shares in his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway \u2013 valued at billions of dollars \u2013 year after year, until he had donated 85% of the total). After announcing this at a press conference, one of the journalists asked him how he felt about having made the largest donation in history, and he replied: \u201cI feel exactly the same as I did yesterday. For me, this donation doesn\u2019t mean giving anything up, as I\u2019m still doing exactly the same things I did before.\u201d Furthermore, it is also worth noting that he donated the money to someone else\u2019s foundation, as he acknowledged that he preferred to give those millions to people who, as he himself put it, \u00abwill put them to the best possible use \u2013 far better than I ever could\u00bb. It is likely that, apart from possessing extraordinary abilities, maintaining that humble attitude has been of great help to him in ensuring that his investment company has grown by over 20% annually for more than 40 years.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Let\u2019s now talk about honesty. An honest person does not seek to take advantage of others, but rather to offer a fair deal from which everyone benefits. When it comes to business relationships, this takes on paramount importance. The most glaring example of a lack of honesty in dealing with customers comes from the banking sector, which tries to sell you the latest investment fund or the most profitable bank deposit of the moment, as if it were the ideal investment for you. In some cases, it may well be, but more often than not they are simply exploiting people\u2019s lack of financial knowledge to line their own pockets. And worst of all, people keep going to branches thinking that the bank is there to help their money grow. This is a far cry, incidentally, from the purpose of an independent Family Office, which is set up to safeguard the interests and well-being of its clients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When, in a business relationship, the parties make an effort to meet not only their own needs but also those of the other party, it is almost certain that they will work together again in the future. Furthermore, both parties will speak very highly of one another, encouraging more people to approach them to do business, safe in the knowledge that they will be treated fairly and that every effort will be made to ensure they are satisfied. It is simply a matter of creating a positive cluster effect<\/span><\/a>. Clearly, the opposite would result in a loss of customers, damage to the company\u2019s image and, ultimately, a negative knock-on effect.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a> Finally, I would like to emphasise that in a world where, sadly, almost everyone is tempted in some way to gain financial advantage at the expense of others (from political shenanigans to secure rezoning to small bribes to secure a commercial contract), those who remain upright and honest, even though they do not benefit from their stance at that specific moment (it might even be to their detriment to stand up for what is right!), will always be more respected and admired in the long run than the greedy people who have sold their souls to the devil for money. Financial freedom is hard to achieve; it is a long and arduous journey, but one with a great reward awaiting at the end. Therefore, taking this sort of shortcut\u2014even if it brings us closer to the goal quickly\u2014poses a risk that is entirely unnecessary to take.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Only through great effort, by being mindful of where we have come from and where we wish to go, whilst bearing in mind that almost everything has already been invented, by nurturing our relationships with the rest of the world, and by rejecting greed, arrogance and avarice, will we be able to move forward step by step \u2013 perhaps slowly, but undoubtedly steadily towards our economic independence.<\/div>\n

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\u00abIt takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about it, you\u2019ll do things differently.\u00bb<\/div>\n

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Mucho se habla de las diferentes aptitudes que deben tener el buen inversor y el buen empresario, en definitiva, las personas que buscan tener \u00e9xito en los negocios. En art\u00edculos como \u201cLa Poci\u00f3n M\u00e1gica del \u00c9xito Financiero\u201d, se dan numerosas claves y consejos muy v\u00e1lidos en este sentido, por poner un ejemplo reciente. Parece evidente, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}