What is Vitruvian Value?
How we think about "value" investing.
The label “value investor” carries a lot of baggage. A decade of underperformance has left many investors convinced that value investing is broken, or worse, obsolete. But value means different things to different people, and no matter how I tried to slice it, there was no getting around it - I’m a value investor at heart. So rather than run from the label, I decided to redefine it.
Vitruvian Value is an investment philosophy inspired by the Renaissance ideals embodied in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and the timeless principles of Vitruvius’s “De Architectura,” now known as the “Vitruvian Triad” - Firmitas (Strength), Utilitas (Utility), and Venustas (Beauty).
We believe successful investing occurs at the intersection of art and science. Vitruvian value investing requires a balance of both, carefully blending analytical rigor with creative insight.
Firmitas (Strength): Stability amidst chaos. Just as enduring buildings rely on strong foundations for enduring stability, we believe portfolios should be designed for durability and longevity, with a steadfast foundation built upon a margin of safety.
Utilitas (Utility): An adaptable framework integrating seemingly disparate viewpoints. Just as Renaissance ideology considered both structural and aesthetic principles, we integrate multiple perspectives into a coherent whole, recognizing that truth often lies between extremes.
Venustas (Beauty): Clarity and creativity – the ability to cut through complexity to see opportunity hidden in plain sight. Just as architectural beauty results from innovation and originality, portfolio architecture should reflect the elegant outcome of clear thinking and practical wisdom rather than academic complexity.
Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s pursuit of proportion and balance in the Vitruvian Man, our investment process integrates rigorous fundamental analysis, patient capital deployment, and meticulously crafted portfolio architecture, aiming not only to grow capital but also to preserve and protect it.
Vitruvian Value is a disciplined approach, anchored in timeless investment principles, a commitment to lifelong learning, and the ongoing pursuit of excellence. It emphasizes rigorous fundamental analysis, meticulous attention to detail, and thorough diligence, rooted in deep analysis, intellectual rigor, and integrity.
Like a structurally sound, beautifully designed building, the portfolio is carefully crafted with precision and engineered for stability. Every position plays a deliberate and proportionate role, ensuring each investment contributes meaningfully to the whole.
The Man Behind The Name
The Vitruvian Man drawing takes its name from Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect who lived during the 1st century BCE. Vitruvius was a theorist who believed architecture required knowledge across multiple disciplines.
He famously wrote that an architect should be “equipped with knowledge of many branches of study,” including drawing, geometry, history, philosophy, music, medicine, and astronomy.
In his treatise “De Architectura” (On Architecture), Vitruvius emphasized three core principles of architecture: Firmitas (Strength), Utilitas (Utility), and Venustas (Beauty), now known as the “Vitruvian Triad,” which remain fundamental to architecture today. The concept suggests that architecture isn’t merely about aesthetics or function but requires a balance of all three elements, which tie in nicely with the three tenets of our investment philosophy.
Leonardo’s innovation was to apply scientific rigor to this architectural principle, using his anatomical knowledge to test whether Vitruvius’s proportional claims were accurate. The result - the Vitruvian Man drawing - represents a perfect synthesis of architectural theory with Renaissance empirical observation.
Leonardo’s approach diverged from his predecessors through rigorous anatomical investigation. Dissecting cadavers and measuring living subjects, he verified and revised Vitruvius’s claims, noting discrepancies in limb ratios and cranial proportions. His notebooks reveal meticulous calculations - such as the face dividing into equal thirds (chin to nostrils, nostrils to eyebrows, eyebrows to hairline) - that refined Vitruvian ideals with observational data.
The Vitruvian Man has become shorthand for Renaissance ideals, human potential, and the intersection of art and science. It represents Leonardo’s process of thinking - a visual record of his attempt to reconcile classical ideas with empirical observation, revealing how he worked to unite theory with practice.
I have always believed that our best investing occurs at the intersection of art and science, requiring a combination of left-brain (analytical) and right-brain (creative) thinking. That is why there are so many references to da Vinci in our office. Leonardo da Vinci was the ideal polymath at the height of the Renaissance, merging art, science, mathematics, and philosophy.
Our Investment Philosophy
Our investment philosophy rests on three core principles that map directly to the Vitruvian Triad. They are simple to state but difficult to execute — and that difficulty is precisely where the advantage lies.
Invest with a Margin of Safety (Firmitas). Value lies at the heart of our investment process because the price you pay is the most critical factor in limiting risk. We construct portfolios on a foundation of rigorous fundamental analysis, block by block, one idea at a time. Purchases are limited to those ideas trading at a large enough discount to fair value, since an investor’s margin of safety is always and only dependent upon the price paid.
Make Fewer, Better Decisions (Utilitas). We believe exceptional long-term returns are created by concentrated portfolios, as excellent ideas are few and far between. We seek to improve our odds by tuning out the noise and focusing on the signal - making fewer, better decisions over a longer horizon, where competition has dwindled. We strive to bet big when we have the odds, work hard to maximize gains, and work harder to minimize mistakes.
Profit from Patience (Venustas). We believe superior performance is generated largely by patience, discipline, and the conviction to act boldly when an opportunity presents itself. Our job is to surround ourselves with good ideas and ensure we slow down enough to recognize them when they show up. Time arbitrage is the greatest advantage in a world where price is set by investors focused on the next tick.
That’s Vitruvian Value. Not value investing as Wall Street defines it, or a style box that fits neatly on a fact sheet, but as da Vinci might have practiced it - with analytical rigor, adaptability, and the creativity to see what others miss. I didn’t abandon value investing. I just decided it deserved a better definition. Everything that follows here will be measured against it.
In the posts ahead, I’ll walk through how these principles translate into real decisions: what we own, what we avoid, and why.
If that sounds like a conversation worth having, I’m glad you’re here.
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