The insider’s guide to personal investment success
Take control of your investments and get the financial results you deserve.
Look beyond the media
Good news doesn’t tend to make the front pages Sometimes depressing headlines can seem endless: refugee crises, elections, financial concerns and concerns about the suspected tax evasion by politicians. Ten Reasons to be Cheerful Here, Jim Parker, Vice President of Dimensional Fund Advisers Australia, gives us 10 developments in the modern world which have not...
Why costs matter
It is impossible to overstate how important it is to manage costs of all kinds tightly. This is done best through a systematic, low cost approach to investing The return of the market is simply the average return of all investors, before any costs have been deducted. In real life, the returns achieved by investors...
Financial headlines are to grab attention
Not to be used as investment advice Many investors feel that they are not properly informed about the financial world unless they have checked daily, or even hourly, on how the Dow, FTSE, or Nikkei have moved in the intervening period. From minute to minute, market sentiment shifts in reaction to news—news about the economy,...
Father of modern finance awarded Nobel Prize for Economics
It was a proud day earlier this month when we heard that Dr Eugene Fama, sometimes referred to as the “father of modern finance”, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics. A happy endorsement of our approach to investing. The prize was also awarded to Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller. All three economists have...
The age we live in
PKTMNY, S^? G2G POS* YOLO … Rather than some technical mistake, this is ‘information age’ speak for pocket money, what’s up? Got to go, there’s a parent on my shoulder and you only live once. Sparked by the launch of a new VISA debit card for children called PKTMNY and described as “the new way...
Improving performance through the aggregation of marginal gains
Some inspiration from the British Olympic Cycling Team: with a need to hold on to those magical summer moments when athlete after athlete contributed to a truly inpsirational summer in the UK, BpH Partner, Simon Brown explores the “marginal gains” theory that led the British Cycling team to such success and how it can be...
If only …
The last words we want you to use as you reach retirement and later life are those ‘if only’ ones. In this article, BpH Partner and 7 Secrets author, Simon Brown looks at how our relationship with money is wired into our subconscious before we realise it and how generational influences can affect our financial...
Look out for seemingly simple and rewarding investment products
“Smart products, dumb choices”. This is the title of one of BpH’s latest investment insights or whitepapers. The paper looks at two sophisticated and seemingly popular investment vehicles, structured products and hedge funds and provides a cautionary tale about being seduced by either or both. Structured products appear simple at first, but grow increasingly complex...
Stock picking: the zero sum game
“Don’t Blink! The Hazards of Confidence” by Daniel Kahneman. This article appeared in The New York Times Magazine over a month ago and serves beautifully to make the point that the results of stock picking can be likened to “a dice rolling contest, not a game of skill.” The article is adapted from Professor Kahneman’s...
No Forecast Allowed
The following article is from our friend Dan Wheeler www.wheelerwrites.com . Dan has an enormous amount of experience regarding the issues facing individual investors and this article highlights the danger of trying to make market forecasts. Every investor would love to know the future, and there is no shortage of “experts” willing to provide...
Active management, an inefficient form of foreign aid?
Richard Stott argues that passive management is a more stable and socially responsible approach to investment. Does Norges Bank Investment Management / NBIM's continued participation in the active buying and selling of investments go again social responsibility?
2011 market turmoil: “It’s deja vu all over again”
The financial markets are having one of their periodic periods of turmoil. This may cause many to panic and sell their investments. But not all is doom and gloom - economic progress continues. Richard Stott reassures investors to stay disciplined and stick to their strategies.