For many of us, being within a crowd is a safe place to be. We’ve all surely uttered ‘I don’t know, go with the crowd’ at some point or another.
There is something comforting about safety in numbers. You usually are in familiar company when amongst a crowd. You are ‘all in the same boat’.Continue reading
“Avoidable failures continue to plague us in health care, government, the law, the financial industry – in almost every realm of organised activity. It is the simple checklist that can bring about striking improvements in a variety of fields.”
This quote is taken from The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, a book that argues we can do better by using the simple method of checklists.
In the increasing complexity of life, it has become increasingly important to use checklists – building a skyscraper, performing surgery, servicing a car, flying a plane, all these things have lower error rates when utilising a well-constructed checklist.
Like in other areas of life, we see many cycles in the financial markets and the economy. Cyclical periods of borrowing – both literally and metaphorically speaking – can be observed in the economic world.Continue reading
Just one public relations mishap can cause a retailer to lose an extraordinary amount of business. A small decline in sales can result in the share price dropping dramatically. Some investors shy away from the sector for that reason.Continue reading
A value investor seeks to buy a stock for less than its intrinsic value (for example, buying for 50 cents a stock worth a dollar).
How does a value investor establish that the intrinsic value of a stock?Continue reading
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.
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.
“Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.”
Warren BuffettContinue reading
By 2055 the number of Australians over 65 is expected to double.
Coupled with longer life expectancy, this raises important issues for the community and economy, including the provision of financial services for older Australians.
Over my 25 years of providing investment advice I’ve found it fascinating observing the psychology of investors. Why do people invest their savings in the first place and why do people make particular investment decisions?Continue reading