changing financial advisors arcinvest

Do you need to change Advisor?

Posted on by

Over my 25 plus years in the investment world the importance of constant review and change has been reinforced to me through many experiences.

Back in 1999 when I was with Ernst & Young’s Consulting and Advisory division it was instilled in me that if you are not changing you are going backwards.

Many of the companies I was brought in to advise were starting to struggle with cash flow and profitability. They used to have a good business and make a good profit but over the years the environment around them changed, they didn’t and their profitability started to suffer.

Continue reading→

Luck in Investing

Chasing the Dream

Posted on by

People love to dream, they dream of the big pay-off, winning the lottery, a forgotten uncle leaving them a fortune in their will, finding gold or making a fortune on a speculative share.

Why else do we spend so much on lottery tickets when the odds are against us? Only around 60% of lottery ticket sales are redistributed in winnings and this is before you even count the odds of having the winning ticket. This is not the basis for a sound decision.Continue reading→

avoid speculative bubbles

How can I avoid getting caught in speculative bubbles?

Posted on by

Why is it that many investors get caught up in the hype of making a quick fortune and instead experience poor or mediocre results?

The financial world is littered with examples of speculative bubbles.  This is often when common sense goes out the window and people get caught in the lure of making easy money.  And it doesn’t seem to matter that these bubbles and the disasters that can follow are well documented.

Continue reading→

the undoing project

The Undoing Project : A Friendship That Changed Our Minds – another great read

Posted on by

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis tells the story of the deep friendship and intellectual collaboration  between the two Israeli psychologists who invented “behavioural economics”, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

The result of Kahneman and Tversky’s “bromance” was not only behavioural economics but the establishment of the cognitive rules for human irrationality that has arguably done as much to define our world.

Continue reading→

investing is an emotional issue

Investing is an Emotional Issue

Posted on by

Timing is important when it comes to making sound financial decisions as is emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise your emotions, and understanding their effect on your decisions can lead to better decision making.

It can also be argued that investors who fail to recognise and manage their emotions effectively, are in danger of making poor judgements in the first place, or of overreacting later when things don’t go as initially anticipated.

Continue reading→

investing and sport

Investing and Sport

Posted on by

I recently had the good fortune to be invited by Platinum Funds Management to attend a presentation by former Australian Rugby Union player, Ben Darwin.

Since his career ending neck injury, Ben has established a sports analytics company and his anecdotes had interesting correlations with investing.

Continue reading→

behavioural investing

Behavioural Investing II

Posted on by

The most recent recipient of the Nobel Prize for economics was Richard Thaler for his work in pioneering behavioural economics.

His research showed people do not always make rational decisions. This contradicts economic theory which relies on people making rational decisions.

His studies showed people often make decisions that don’t serve their best interests and do so consistently.  He brought economics and the psychological analysis of  decision making together.

Continue reading→

summer investment reads

Summer’s Top 5 Investment Reads

Posted on by

I love having the opportunity over the summer break to dip into some interesting books, so in keeping with arcinvest’s focus, here’s my top 5 summer investment books.

These are light and entertaining, easy reading on investment.  Books that are great for the beach, the endless distraction of children, scenery and checking the cricket score…Continue reading→

Can money buy happiness?

Can Money buy Happiness?

Posted on by

It is said that money can’t buy you happiness but as with all simple question or statements it depends on a lot of variables.

Once you have satisfied your basic needs food, clothing, shelter having more money doesn’t necessarily buy you happiness. One study famously found that people who had big wins on the lottery ended up no happier than those who had bought tickets but didn’t win. One way of accounting for this is to assume that lottery winners get used to their new level of wealth, and simply adjust back to a baseline level of happiness, something called the “hedonic treadmill”.Continue reading→