Background

Born in Murmansk, Russia, above the Arctic Circle, Vitaliy emigrated to the United States in 1991 at age eighteen. He holds a BS and MS in Finance from the University of Colorado at Denver and is a CFA charterholder. He joined IMA (Investment Management Associates) in 1997 as an analyst, back when his heavy Russian accent was still turning heads and his knowledge of the American financial system could fit on a napkin. He has been with IMA ever since, which makes it the longest relationship of his life, predating even his marriage. Forbes has called him “the new Benjamin Graham,” which is enormously flattering and only slightly terrifying.

Books

Vitaliy is the author of three books: Active Value Investing (Wiley, 2007), The Little Book of Sideways Markets (Wiley, 2010), and Soul in the Game: The Art of a Meaningful Life (Harriman House, 2022). The first two have been translated into eight languages. Soul in the Game, his first non-investing book, weaves together stories of growing up in Russia, Stoic philosophy, classical music, and lessons from parenting three children who do not always read his emails. Nassim Nicholas Taleb called it “deep, insightful, inquisitive and civilized.” Morgan Housel called it “touching, honest and insightful.”

Writing & Media

He has written for the Financial Times, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, and Institutional Investor, among others. His weekly newsletter at investor.fm reaches more than 100,000 readers. He also hosts The Intellectual Investor Podcast.

Omaha & Berkshire Weekend

Vitaliy has been making the pilgrimage to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting for more than fifteen years. What started as a solo trip has grown into a tradition of hosting events during the weekend. He believes the meeting itself is the least important part of the trip. The real value is the people. Read his full guide to the weekend at brkguide.com.

Personal

When he is not thinking about investing, Vitaliy is usually reading, listening to classical music (he maintains a separate site at myfavoriteclassical.com for that particular obsession), playing chess, or practicing Stoicism with varying degrees of success. He lives in Denver with his wife Rachel and their three kids, Jonah, Hannah, and Mia Sarah.