**Dear Reader, I hope you enjoy this article. - Vitaliy**
Watercolor is by my father, Naum Katsenelson
Personal Musings, November 2018 Edition
I've never been to a TED Talk, though I've watched plenty of them.
This week I am going to attend the TEDx Talks in Hickory, NC, organized
by my friend Chris Pavese. I am extra-excited because my friend Roben
Farzad will be one of the speakers.
Roben and I met in an interesting way.
My wife was born in Tajikistan - a former Soviet republic, now an
independent country,
bordering Afghanistan and China. Any Jewish family leaving the Soviet
Union in the '80s or early '90s was officially considered a
"refugee" family by the US government. Though my own family encountered
occasional anti-Semitism in Russia and experienced at times the feeling
of being second-hand citizens, we never had to fear for our lives. My
wife's family, on the other hand, were true refugees. One day she came
to school to find a tank blocking the gate - the country was engulfed
in civil war. That war lasted half a decade, and tens of thousands of
people died in it. Luckily, my wife's family was able to escape to
America.
I was just a kid when my family immigrated to the US - I was full of
excitement (energized by the American movies I'd watched) and hadn't
a worry in the world. Today, after having kids of my own, I can only
imagine the sleepless nights my wife's and my own parents endured.
Arriving in a new, unknown country, you quickly discover that Americans
don't speak the Queen's English, the language that was drummed into
you in school. You get off the plane, and then what? You need an
apartment, furniture, kids need to go to school. You have enough money
for one trip to the grocery store (which by the way has more food than
you've ever seen in your life). God forbid your kids get sick -then
what?
My family arrived in Denver, where my father had a younger sister who
took us under her wing. I was 18, my brother Alex 24, and my younger
brother Igor 13 (my oldest brother, Leo, lived in Israel at the time).
At least Alex and I were of working age. My wife's family arrived in
Richmond, Virginia, where they knew absolutely nobody, and she and her
siblings were much younger - she was 12 and her sister and brother
were 9 and 8.
Immigrating to the US was a huge leap of faith, for my parents but
especially for hers. Fortunately, her family was smothered with love and
support by the Richmond Jewish community -they were basically adopted
by a few Jewish families, who helped them financially, furnished their
apartments, drove their kids to school, took them shopping and taught
them how to shop for groceries (yes, Soviet immigrants needed lessons in
that). One of those helpful families were the Plotkins, Gail and Jim.
This brings me to Roben - he's married to Lisa Plotkin, Gail and
Jim's daughter. Roben told me the next part of the story. "Gail kept
raving about investment articles she was reading by some Russian guy."
(Roben is a Harvard- and Princeton-educated journalist who had a great
career at
**BusinessWeek**). "I thought this Russian was pushing penny stocks on
my dear mother-in-law. I started reading your articles just to make sure
she wasn't getting swindled into investing in the latest and greatest
Cabbage Dolls or Beanie Babies."
There are a few people with whom I have had an instant connection - as
though we've known each other our whole lives. Roben is one of those
rare people who, when he walks into a room, lights up everyone around
him. He is both funny and thoughtful, and he puts his talent to work on
his own show that he hosts on NPR One. I used to tell him that he is a
funnier version of Charlie Rose (now if I used this analogy I'd need
to add additional caveats to that statement).
So, when my friend Chris asked me if I knew any great speakers for the
TED Talks he was organizing in Hickory, NC, I didn't even have to
think; I just told him that he had to call Roben. Oh, and I forgot to
mention, Roben just published a book that he worked on for almost twenty
years:
**Hotel Scarface,** it is a story about drug trade in the '80s in
Miami. "Hotel Scarface" will be the topic of Roben's talk.
Let's bring this letter back to investing, at least a little. You
might want to listen to some great interviews by Roben on investment
topics (his shows cover a wide variety of themes).
An interview with an acquaintance of mine, Saurabh Madaan
, who
went from working for Google to Markel (which is often called the "Baby
Berkshire Hathaway").
Speaking of Markel, here Roben interviews Tom Gayner
, Markel's CIO. I
have had the privilege of sharing a stage with Tom once a year for the
last seven years in Omaha at the YPO event.
Here Roben interviews my friend Jim Chanos
-brilliant short
seller and incredible human being.
I am just scratching the surface here. You can listen to hundreds of
other shows with Roben here , or
look for
**Full Disclosure with Roben Farzad** on your podcast app - just be
careful, they are very addicting.
I know this letter could have been much shorter, but where is the fun in
that?
P.S. There were two organizations that made our immigration journey much
easier. HIAS provided incredible financial support (I think they even
paid for our tickets to the US). They extended us an interest-free loan
and gave us a long time to pay it back. Jewish Family Services
shepherded us through our immigration journey.
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Digital Painting is by my brother Alex Katsenelson
Prelude in B Minor
I have shared
**Prelude in B Minor** by JS Bach before. But today I would like you to
go with me on a little journey. (I did this to my wife and kids
yesterday, and they loved it).
I'd like you to listen to this performance by Grigory Sokolov first.
But don't just listen, pay attention to the music coming out of his
right and left hands. The right hand plays the same motive, starting
loud and then quieting down. The left hand is the one that tells the
story, and it gets progressively louder and more articulate as the piece
progresses.
Click here to listen
Now listen to the same prelude transcribed by Charles Coleman for the
full orchestra (including organ, I think). Again, listen for the "left
and right hands." The violins play the right-hand part, and the rest of
the orchestra steps in and plays the part of the left hand.
Click here to listen
And now go back to Sokolov performance... It sounds richer now,
doesn't it.
Click here to listen
**Vitaliy Katsenelson, CFA**
Student of Life
I am the CEO at IMA, which is anything but your average investment firm.
(Why? Get our company brochure here
, or simply visit our website
).
In a brief moment of senility, Forbes magazine called me "the new
Benjamin Graham."
I've written two books on investing, which
were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight
languages. (I'm working on a third - you can read a chapter from it,
titled "The 6 Commandments of Value Investing" here
).
And if you prefer listening, audio versions of my articles are published
weekly at investor.fm .
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