Though you may not have heard of her, Nancy Zevenbergen is one of the most successful investors on Wall Street, and it’s down to her beliefs.
Once Forbes Magazine’s “best investor you’ve never heard of”, Nancy Zevenbergen has come a long way from her initial $500,000 fund and kitchen-table office.
Yet many investors have still never heard of her.
Seattle’s finest!
Today, Zevenbergen Capital manages almost $6 billion in assets from a small office in Seattle. It is here that Zevenbergen and her closest associates, Brooke De Boutray and Leslie Tubbs, achieved a record-setting 2020 performance with 116% growth. This compares to the 16% and 2.4% gains achieved by the S&P 500 and Berkshire Hathaway respectively in the same period.
And it’s no fluke either. Zevenbergen Capital has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by an average of 4 percentage points each year since 1987 thanks to the conviction of its founder’s core investment beliefs:
- Only invest in the long-term: Zevenbergen holds a long-term investment philosophy stating that investing in a company for any less than five years is ‘truly speculative’.
- Invest in founder-led businesses: Zevenbergen was an early investor in many large businesses that we know today, including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. In her own words: “I would much rather buy a company and go to a desert island for five years knowing that a founder was leading it, because their vision and their passion would drive the company through ups and downs.”
- Buy what you believe in: According to Zevenbergen, “You’ve got to be sure you do your homework on that so you understand how to grow your business.” If you put the time and effort into understanding what you’re investing in, then you will succeed as an investor.
Now, any MyWallSt alumni might be thinking: “hmm, those are pretty similar to MyWallSt’s Golden Rules“. And you’re right, we have a very similar philosophy, and as Zevenbergen has proven, it works!
With a tenacity forged in the building of a successful firm in the male-dominated world of investing, Zevenbergen Capital is now a globally-respected, female-led, growth-focused firm that outperforms those we previously considered “the best”.
You can read more about Zevenbergen Capital here.
MyWallSt operates a full disclosure policy. MyWallSt staff currently holds long positions in companies mentioned above. Read our full disclosure policy here.