By Andy Wearing - September 2025

Artificial intelligence is dominating headlines—and stock markets.

Nvidia trades at more than 40 times its forecast earnings. The “Magnificent Seven” technology giants sit close behind at 35 times. Hedge funds dedicated solely to AI appear almost overnight, raising billions. Even those with no track record are attracting enormous sums to ride the wave.

At the same time, meme stocks are back in the news. Gold is hitting new highs. Bitcoin—still producing nothing of intrinsic value—is surging to record levels.

It is a familiar pattern: investors buying what has already risen most, convinced it must continue rising.

Warren Buffett, by contrast, has been patient. While speculation around AI has dominated, Berkshire Hathaway has accumulated $340 billion in cash. When news broke that it had invested $1.1 billion into UnitedHealth, many commentators were surprised. Not because Berkshire was stock-picking again, but because it showed a different mindset: one that refuses to follow the crowd at any price.

For Oak Four, the key takeaway is not to mimic individual trades, but to recognise the timeless lesson:

Markets are driven by human nature, and human nature loves euphoria.

The temptation to chase returns is powerful, especially when headlines scream about new technology or soaring assets. But lasting success comes from resisting that impulse and focusing instead on evidence-based, globally diversified portfolios—tilted toward areas like value and small companies where, historically, long-term returns have been strongest.

We don’t buy distressed businesses. We don’t speculate on the next AI winner. Instead, we harness asset class investing: broad exposure, disciplined rebalancing, and systematic tilts that capture long-term drivers of return—without betting on today’s headlines.

Because while euphoria is exciting, it rarely endures. Evidence does.