Prefer companies with intangible strategic assets: Strategic assets are those that give a firm a platform over which it can build a stack of initiatives like raw material procurement, product development, marketing strengths, great distribution, pricing power, supply chain, etc., and hence sustain competitive advantages. For most good (but not ‘great’) companies, strategic assets are only tangible in nature—access to natural resources, strategically positioned real estate, one good CEO, or surplus capital on the balance sheet.
