What moved Warren Buffett from “cigar butts” to high-quality businesses? It might have partially been Charlie Munger or even Phil Fisher with his “scuttlebutt method,” but it likely had something to do with the nature of superior return on invested capital ((ROIC)) as well. In particular, the fact that it is often a persistent source of value creation for asset owners. Many capitalists and analysts alike subscribe to the idea that intense competition gradually grinds return on invested capital down toward the cost of capital, eventually eliminating most economic value added