The investment world has never appeared more complex and daunting. Many investors don’t know what they don’t know, they hear all financial advisers are not to be trusted and they end up going it alone. Their limited knowledge means they believe investing is buying individual stocks or looking for something that offers a “guaranteed” return. Two things that are much higher risk than they’re willing to accept. Often they run into trouble when a stock goes bad or their ‘guaranteed’ investment was really just a marketing phrase. After a bad experience they’ll conclude they’re safer in cash and never invest again!
If an investor finds the wrong type of financial adviser they might find new financial products are regularly pushed at them and their financial adviser is actually a financial salesmen who has little regard for their to personal circumstance. Then there are the unfortunate investors who’ve found themselves the victim of financial fraud.
Then you have the media who regularly bombard investors with notoriously short focused ‘glee’ or ‘panic’ stories. No wonder investors struggle to find a strategy and stick to it!
Yes, it appears a discouraging landscape to navigate, yet it’s really quite simple. If you acknowledge markets are unpredictable, but their rewards can be captured; if you don’t fall prey media distraction; and if you don’t expose yourself to unproven methods, it is possible to have a successful investment experience!
At FWP we don’t take unnecessary risks and we don’t adopt unproven strategies – we focus on what drives investment returns. When investing for clients we focus on these key principles:
- Markets work
- Risk and reward are related
- Diversification reduces Investment Risk
- Asset Allocation determines performance
- Maintaining discipline