Investment Research Templates
Free, copy-ready templates that structure your research workflow — so your notes, memos, and checklists stay consistent and auditable. Paste them into your notes app or spreadsheet, or use Valuefocus tools to fill them interactively.
A thesis is only real once it is written down
In 2005 Michael Burry concluded that subprime mortgage bonds would default at scale — and he did not just trade the idea, he documented it. His investor letters laid out, in writing, exactly what the bet was, why the market was mispricing it, what would kill the thesis, and what evidence would confirm it: loan-level default data, teaser-rate reset schedules, the works.
Then everything went against him. The bonds did not fall for two years; investors revolted and demanded their money back. What held the position together was the memo: the reasons on paper had not changed, so the position did not change. When the collapse came in 2007–08, his fund returned nearly 500% cumulatively. The investors screaming loudest had been refuted not by Burry's feelings but by his own written record.
A written memo is the only defense against your future self. If the written reasons still stand, hold; if they break, sell — feelings get no vote.
Too important to trust to memory
In 1935 Boeing's Model 299 — the future B-17 — crashed on a demonstration flight, killing its highly experienced test pilot. The investigation found nothing wrong with the plane: the crew had simply forgotten to release a control lock. The aircraft was declared "too much airplane for one man to fly". Boeing's answer was not more training but a piece of paper: the pre-flight checklist.
With the checklist, B-17s went on to fly 1.8 million safe hours. Charlie Munger drew the investing parallel explicitly: smart people fail not from ignorance but from skipping steps under pressure. Comparing two stocks point by point — same metrics, same order, every time — is the investor's control lock.
A checklist does not make you smarter; it stops you from being stupid at the worst moment. Compare investments the way pilots fly: same list, every time.
About these templates
All templates are educational structures for your own research. They contain no real company data and are not investment recommendations. Copy them into your notes app, spreadsheet, or use Valuefocus tools to fill them with your own analysis. The work, the assumptions, and the conclusions are always yours.
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