Built by a Swiss Wealth Advisor, inspired by Socrates' method.

My name is Jonathan Castella, editor of Socrates on Investing. A wealth management professional based in Switzerland, I have spent more than a decade advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals at established financial institutions, and hold the CFA charter, one of the industry's most recognised distinctions.

Socrates on Investing exists because of two impulses: a deep and long-running passion for finance and investing, and the pleasure of sharing that passion and testing it against other minds. The reference to the Greek philosopher is deliberate. Socrates embodied the principles I admire most: a relentless search for truth, critical examination of every assumption, reliance on credible sources rather than received opinion, freedom from conflict of interest, and a willingness to challenge consensus thinking even when consensus is comfortable.

This publication does not give advice. It does not sell anything. What it does is stimulate the right questions, both for the reader and, in the act of writing, for me. It is also, quite practically, a place for me to store the analyses and models I know I will want to return to and consult again.

The Socrates reference carries a second meaning. In ancient Athens, Socrates stood apart from the sophists, who had perfected the art of speech and persuasion in the service of whoever was paying. The parallel with the financial industry is not subtle. Most research and commentary in finance is, in the end, motivated by sales. Independent inquiry that follows the evidence wherever it leads is rare. Socrates on Investing is an attempt at that kind of inquiry.

A last metaphor shapes the editorial approach: the cockpit. A pilot does not fly without instruments that have been tested, calibrated, and trusted. The same standard applies to investors who are responsible for capital, theirs or someone else's. My role in this publication is to build and display useful instruments. Your role, as the reader, is to fly your own plane.

Jonathan Castella, CFA