“Four legs good, two legs bad,” bleated the sheep in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Looking at how today’s world is taking shape, there is so much polarisation. So much black and white instead of different shades of grey. So many being underwhelmed or overwhelmed by things – but never simply ‘whelmed’, assuming such a word exists.
This sense of division appears to have crept into the investment world, too, so that now, when you describe your strategy, it increasingly feels as if you have to take a side. Are you growth or value? Passive or active? Large cap or small companies? Long term or short term? ESG aware or cynic? And, more recently, artificially intelligent or naturally stupid?
History tells us there is no right or wrong way to make – or lose – money. Investments go up. Investments go down. As a professional investor, you work on the premise that your chosen investments will go up more than they go down.
Personally, I aim to keep things relatively simple.
Rather than trying to time the markets – which we all know is nigh on impossible to do consistently and over time – I prefer to invest in things the world wants and needs now and, importantly, in the future. 2022 was a terrible year to follow this strategy as oil, gas and mining stocks – all sectors that fell into the ‘two legs bad’ category – surged. This year, though, has seen sentiment turn somewhat.
Read the full article in Portfolio Adviser’s May 2023 magazine.
