The Fairfax Way Book Review

The Fairfax Way is one of the books I planned to read in 2026 as part of my Personal Finance Goals.

If you spend enough time reading investing blogs or personal finance forums, you eventually notice something interesting: the people who quietly become wealthy usually are not the loudest people in the room.

They are not day trading meme stocks.
They are not chasing the newest crypto coin.
They are not posting screenshots of overnight gains (though sometimes I am tempted to post my screen shot of my 9 year 15% CAGR returns)

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Instead, they focus on discipline, patience, and long-term ownership of great businesses.

That is exactly why The Fairfax Way stood out to me.

For anyone unfamiliar, the book focuses on the investing philosophy and business culture behind Fairfax Financial Holdings and its founder Prem Watsa — often referred to as the “Canadian Warren Buffett.”

While the comparisons to Warren Buffett are easy to make, I actually found The Fairfax Way more relatable for Canadian investors because Fairfax feels like a uniquely Canadian success story: conservative, patient, disciplined, and sometimes overlooked.

This book is not flashy.

It is written by David Thomas.

Who is Prem Watsa?

Perhaps you have heard of him, perhaps you haven’t, but his story is quite remarkable.

He is a Canadian billionaire, and he started off coming to Canada to go to Ivey School of Business with less than $10 in his pocket. He is a complete immigrant success story. He didn’t grow up wealthy. His father was a teacher. His brother moved to Canada. Prem Watsa wasn’t keen to go to Canada but his father suggested he do so. So he got accepted into the Ivey School of Business and started his new life in Canada.

He sold air conditioners and furnaces to make money for his tuition. He said that immigrants tend to be successful because they have the hunger and drive. He was ambitious and driven to make money, he had to survive. $10 in the pocket wasn’t going to cut it. He learned how to sell and how to pitch.

Success is a mixture of luck and hard work. He was lucky and it was serendipitous that a fellow passenger gave him a copy of the 1937 Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. He then took from that book that if you put your mind to it, you can be successful.

He started his insurance career at Confederation Life, and to his fortune, he ended up being the only interview candidate that showed up. To him integrity is very important, and it is because of that, people trusting in him (because he does what he says he will do), that he got his break getting funding and money for his company.

He also seems to be a good family man too, married to the same wife for almost 40 years, three adult children and it doesn’t look like there is any family riff or disagreement (unlike Mango’s billionaire founder who recently was discovered to have likely been murdered by his own son!).

What Is The Fairfax Way About?

At its core, the book explains how Fairfax Financial built enormous long-term value through:

• Insurance operations
• Conservative risk management
• Contrarian investing
• Long-term thinking
• Decentralized leadership
• Strong corporate culture

It also explores how Prem Watsa built Fairfax from a relatively small Canadian insurer into a global conglomerate with billions in assets.

Unlike many investing books that focus entirely on stock picking, The Fairfax Way spends a lot of time discussing business culture and decision-making.

That was one of the biggest takeaways for me.

The book argues that sustainable wealth creation is not just about finding good investments. It is about creating systems, habits, and cultures that consistently make smart long-term decisions.

That applies to companies — but honestly, it also applies to families and personal finance.

The Biggest Lesson: Long-Term Thinking Wins

One of the themes repeated throughout the book is the importance of thinking in decades instead of quarters.

This sounds simple, but in practice it is incredibly difficult.

Most investors today are conditioned to:

• Check portfolios daily
• Panic during corrections
• Chase performance
• Compare themselves constantly
• Focus on short-term returns

Fairfax often did the opposite.

The company made decisions that looked unpopular or even foolish in the short term but paid off over many years.

That mindset reminded me a lot of how wealth is actually built for most families:

• Consistent investing
• Staying employed
• Avoiding catastrophic mistakes
• Keeping expenses manageable
• Letting compounding do the heavy lifting

There is no secret shortcut.

Reading this book reinforced something I already believe strongly: boring financial habits are massively underrated.

The Insurance Float Concept

One of the more interesting sections of the book explains the concept of insurance “float.”

This is the same mechanism that helped build Berkshire Hathaway.

In simple terms:

• Insurance companies collect premiums today
• Claims are paid later
• The company invests the money in the meantime

If underwriting is done properly, the float becomes an incredibly powerful investment engine.

The fascinating part is how Fairfax combined conservative underwriting with opportunistic investing.

This helped Fairfax survive periods where more aggressive companies struggled badly.

For readers who enjoy learning how businesses actually work, this section alone makes the book worthwhile.

Even if you are not interested in insurance specifically, it changes the way you think about capital allocation and risk.

Prem Watsa’s Contrarian Investing Style

One thing that stood out throughout the book was Prem Watsa’s willingness to look wrong for long periods of time.

That is hard.

Most people want immediate validation.

Watsa often invested in unpopular sectors or held defensive positions that looked unnecessary — until markets turned.

The book highlights how difficult it is psychologically to stick with a disciplined strategy when everyone around you is doing something else.

That lesson applies directly to personal investing today.

For example:

• Buying index funds consistently during downturns
• Continuing to invest during recessions
• Avoiding speculative bubbles
• Holding cash reserves when others are fully leveraged

These decisions can feel uncomfortable in the moment.

But long-term investing success often comes from surviving periods where patience feels “wrong.”

The Corporate Culture Was Surprisingly Interesting

I expected the investing lessons to be the best part of the book.

Ironically, I may have enjoyed the leadership and culture discussions even more.

Fairfax appears to operate with a very decentralized structure:

• Subsidiaries maintain independence
• Leaders are trusted
• Long-term relationships matter
• Integrity is prioritized heavily

The book repeatedly emphasizes honesty and reputation.

One quote that stuck with me was the idea that culture becomes a competitive advantage over time.

I think this applies personally too.

Families with strong financial habits tend to pass those habits on:

• Living below your means
• Investing regularly
• Avoiding lifestyle inflation
• Thinking long term

Those “small” habits become massive advantages after 20 or 30 years.

What I Liked About the Fairfax Way

It’s practical. A lot of investing books become overly theoretical or academic.

The Fairfax Way stays relatively grounded.

It discusses real business decisions, market environments, and leadership principles without becoming unreadable.

Even readers without a finance background should still find it approachable.

It reinforces patience. It constantly reinforces:

• patience,
• discipline,
• rationality,
• and humility.

Those traits are not exciting, but they are probably more important than stock-picking skill.

The older I get, the more I believe successful investing is mostly behavioural.

Avoiding mistakes matters more than finding “the next big thing.”

What I Did Not Like About The Fairfax Way

No book is perfect.

There were definitely sections that became dense, especially when discussing:

• insurance operations,
• financial crises,
• hedging strategies,
• and macroeconomic positioning.

The book also assumes some familiarity with investing concepts. I don’t have a business background so it wasn’t as interesting. I liked reading about Prem Watsa and his mindset though!

Genymoney.ca’s Verdict

The biggest lesson I took from this book was surprisingly simple:

You do not need to be flashy to build wealth.

The families quietly maxing out TFSAs, investing monthly, avoiding consumer debt, and staying employed consistently are usually doing better than people constantly chasing the next financial trend.

That same philosophy shows up repeatedly throughout Fairfax’s history:

• conservative decisions,
• patience,
• discipline,
• and survival first.

Prem Watsa follows the Golden Rule (which I always say to my children but it doesn’t seem to be sticking so far) “Treat people the way you want to be treated”.

Here are 7 Guiding Principles for Business Success according to Mr. Watsa:

• Think long term
• The company is not for sale
• Decentralization and no politics/ gossip
• Family is most important
• Never compromise your integrity
• Give back to charity
• Maintain a team oriented approach- egos are out the door

The part about being decentralized and not having micro-managing micromanagers really spoke out to me. When employees are given the freedom to do their job, they will do it more happily. The moment they get scrutinized by management, they back off and lose the zest for the job.

What is your review of The Fairfax Way?