Luke F. Delorme

Carrying an umbrella even when it doesn’t rain is a small price to pay.

The specific conditions that predicated the 2008 financial crisis are not in place this time around.

<p>This is my short list of things I hear way too often in the investment industry, and my honest translation into English.</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d0d02fbf-7fff-304a-9523-74b15019d3e0">Active managers may be good at finding buying opportunities, but they seem to lose their discipline when it comes to selling.</span></p>

<p>The narrative at the end of the year will look well-reasoned, but it won’t tell the whole story. Stick to your plan and ignore prognosticators and market fluctuations from week to week.</p>

<p>I was recently at a lecture about investing and the inevitable question was posed to the lecturer at the end of his presentation: “So, how are YOU invested?”</p>

<p>The question came from a good place. The attendee just wanted to know how the lecturer applies his knowledge to his actual investments. The problem is that the lecturer’s answer is probably irrelevant to the attendee.</p>

<p>It is generally a reasonable approach to invest in passively managed index funds because research has shown that <a href="https://aier.org/blog/why-passive-management-wins-again">actively managed funds have not shown a consistent ability to beat their indexes</a>. But you've got to pay attention to the fees.</p>

<p>The unexpected vote by United Kingdom citizens to leave the European Union left forecasters scratching their heads and investors running for cover.</p>

<p>Investors have to choose between funds that are actively managed and those that are passively managed. Active management involves selecting individual stocks or timing the market just right, in an attempt to do better than everyone else. An active mutual fund manager might analyze all of the stocks in the S&P 500 and pick the 50 of them that he or she believes will outperform the rest.</p>

<p>I’ve found that I started sleeping better at night once I stopped trying to beat the market. The reality is that “beating the market” might be impossible.</p>