The Intelligent Investor: Jason Zweig’s 7 Virtues of Great Investors

Jason Zweig, the journalist well known for his column “Intelligent Investor” in the Wall Street journal, has written about seven virtues of money managers in an updated version of the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Graham is widely regarded as the father of value investing and one of the most influential thinkers in the history of financial markets and his book laid the foundation for modern fundamental analysis and continues to guide investors to this day.

Here’s a closer look at Zweig’s commentary about the virtues all great investors and money managers should possess.

Jason Zweig’s 7 Virtues

Zweig says that over time he has observed that all great money managers seem to have seven core virtues that guide intelligent decision making in investing and in life.

• Curiosity: Ordinary investors fear what they don’t know. Intelligent investors fear what they think they know. They understand that assumptions can be half-baked, biased, or simply wrong. That’s why great investors always keep learning. They read constantly, ask better questions, and remain open to changing their minds.
• Skepticism: The market can tempt investors with promises of high returns, low risk, and “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities. Intelligent investors don’t take this at face value and instead, sharpen their skepticism. They learn to recognise when something sounds too good to be true, because it usually is.
• Independence: Your most valuable investing asset is your own mind. Great investors don’t seek validation from crowds or headlines. Like Graham, Buffett, and Munger, they step away from herd mentality and consensus thinking. Being right has nothing to do with following the crowd, it depends on sound data, good fundamentals, and clear reasoning.
• Humility: This is somewhat similar to Charlie Munger’s Circle of Competence. Intelligent investors remain humble, recognising how much they don’t know. True humility isn’t about impressing others, but being honest with yourself, your knowledge and your skills.
• Discipline: Successful investing isn’t about improvisation and following trends. It requires checklists, rules, and well-informed decisions that are made before emotions take over. Discipline means knowing what to do—and just as importantly, what not to do. Investing becomes a thorough process and not a series of random bets.
• Patience: In a world obsessed with instant results, patience is a competitive advantage. Those who make big gets and get rich quickly rarely stay rich. Lasting wealth is about compounding and long-term gain, and it is built slowly and steadily. Short-term thinking is the enemy of lasting wealth creation.
• Courage: Courage isn’t talking about investing in companies when the market dips, but doing it when everyone else is plagued by fear. It’s about thinking long-term, and staying invested during crashes, recessions, and crises, when the losses mount. History shows that the best long-term rewards come after the bleakest moments.

To sum it up…

These seven virtues may appear simplistic, but once they are cultivated, it puts you on the path to becoming a better investor and wiser decision-maker overall. In markets and in life, temperament matters as much as intelligence.