Most people feel good when the market is high and anxious when it's low. Hobson points out this is the opposite of a physical roller coaster, where the bottom feels safe and the top is terrifying. For long-term net buyers, adopting the roller coaster feeling—comfort at the bottom (buying opportunities) and fear at the top—is the correct investment mindset.

Being counter-cyclical is effective, but jumping into unfamiliar distressed assets is risky. The key is to invest in familiar managers or sectors during a crisis, leveraging pre-existing knowledge rather than reacting to new information under pressure.

Younger individuals, as net buyers of assets, benefit most from market downturns. Instead of panicking, they should reframe a crash as a massive sale—an opportunity to acquire assets at a discount, much like consumers rushing to a department store sale.

The best moments to buy are created by widespread fear and bad news, making you instinctively not want to. A great investor isn't someone who is unafraid during these times; they are someone who acts rationally despite the overwhelming emotional pressure to sell or stay on the sidelines.

During a crisis, avoid the temptation to trade based on predictions of how events will unfold. Instead, use the market volatility to purchase pre-identified, resilient companies at better prices, accelerating your existing strategy rather than creating a reactive new one.

Many investors freeze or flee to the sidelines during volatility. Ed Perks' strategy is different: his fund's flexible mandate and liquid assets allow his team to actively "play offense." They focus on optimizing the portfolio and acquiring assets at favorable prices while others are panicking.

In a market crisis, liquidating positions isn't just about stopping losses. It's a strategic choice to create a clean slate. This allows a firm to go on offense and deploy fresh capital into new, cheap opportunities once volatility subsides, while competitors are still nursing their old, underwater positions.

The end of the "free money" era means sellers are no longer holding out for inflated prices. Instead, they are driven by genuine strategic, financial, and personal objectives, creating a much richer environment for disciplined buyers to find opportunities in a volatile market.

The firm's core belief, "purchase price matters," reframes the concept of "toxic assets." Any asset, no matter how distressed, can become attractive if the price is right. This mindset allows the firm to act decisively during market dislocations when others are fearful, capitalizing on mispriced complexity.