Guy Spier: Advocacy, Investment, and Philanthropy
Biography of Guy Spier
Background & Identity
Guy Selmar Spier (born February 4, 1966, in
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) is a Zurich-based investor with Swiss, German,
and Israeli citizenship. He is best known as the author of The Education of
a Value Investor and as manager of the Aquamarine Fund.
Aquamarine Fund & Assets Under Management (AUM)
As of 2025, the Aquamarine Fund’s portfolio value (based on
13F filings) is about US$300-310 million. Earlier estimates of “$350
million” are somewhat outdated; the current publicly disclosed holdings put it
in that ~US$300m-310m range.
Major Public Moments & Investment Style
- In
2008, Spier and Mohnish Pabrai together bid US$650,100 for a
charity lunch with Warren Buffett, drawing public attention.
- His investment process, particularly using checklists and psychological discipline, was discussed in The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (2009), recognizing how methodical processes help prevent mistakes.
Guy Spier: Advocacy, Investment, and Philanthropy / Biography of Guy Spier# investor#hedge fund manager#author#Guy Spier#Aquamarine Fund#sucess story
Education & Formative Years
- Spier
had a cosmopolitan childhood: born in South Africa, spent infancy in
Israel, then lived in Iran attending the British Embassy School in Tehran,
and later boarding school in Surrey, UK.
- He
studied at Brasenose College, Oxford (PPE), graduated with First-class
honours, and won the Georg Webb Medley Prize for Economics.
- After
Oxford, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1993.
Investment Philosophy & Recent Thoughts
- Spier
follows value investing principles largely inspired by Warren Buffett. He
prefers long-term, thoughtful deployment of capital, low turnover, and
putting less weight on short-term recognition.
- He
has expressed concerns that in 2025, the growing pervasiveness of
technology (AI, large models, faster information flows) is reducing the
edge for active fund managers. He sees that the “edge” may be harder to
maintain as information asymmetries shrink.
Portfolio Snapshot (2025)
- As
of Q2 2025 (end-June), Aquamarine’s disclosed 13F portfolio was worth
about US$309.8 million, with 14 major holdings.
- Top
holdings include: Berkshire Hathaway (Class B), American Express,
Mastercard, Bank of America, and Ferrari.
Personal & Extracurricular Activities
- Spier
hosts an annual value investing conference “VALUEx” in Klosters,
Switzerland. In 2025, this event was held February 4-6.
- He speaks and writes frequently on investment psychology, personal integrity, and ethical conduct in finance.
