Investment Posts – Page 2 – CFP, representing Financial Alliance

Navigating rocky waters

Reached Singapore last night and spent bulk of the time catching up on the news ( i was mainly reading just headlines while I was in China) and I have to say that it has been pretty sensational.

More so because many investors have been watching the markets with bated breath – some are hoping to reap profits, while others are eagerly waiting for an opportunity to enter the market… Many are all waiting for a sign, any sign to justify their intended action. And this situation got me to really think about the attitudes that most people have towards investing and the question that investors often ask- “Is this a good time to invest?”

Yet I believe that the better question would be “I have X number of years, should I invest and embark on this journey?”

This is because no one can catch the best time all the time and volatility will always be present. However, just like how we cannot cross the seas by merely standing and staring at water, we cannot expect to do nothing (not invest) and wish for our dreams to come true. In the end, what matters is in navigating across the rocky waters and in having sufficient time to do so. What matters is in knowing when to hang on tight and when to adjust the sails and go with the wind. And what also matters is in ensuring a sufficiently safe ride by not investing beyond over your own means or on the flip side, to be stuck in the sea with too small a sail.

The destination is in sight, are you ready to get there?

I buy when other people are selling

The similarities you didn’t know exist.

As I was reading the quote from my previous post (You cannot produce a baby in 1 month by getting 9 women pregnant.), I got the idea that perhaps, investing is actually really more like pregnancy and parenthood than we imagine. Here’s why.

In the first trimester // When you first Invest

Many mothers experience the most anxiety in their first trimester. This is when they are the most careful, as they may fear harming the baby. First time mothers have it worse as they have no prior experience and do not know what to expect, some may be in a constant state of anxiety. In view of this, most mothers turn to the internet/advice/books to learn more about parenthood. Some may become experts in the field, while others may end up following superstitions that are unhelpful or if not, completely false,

This is the same for many first time investors who can be unsure of how their investment would fare. Would they lose their capital? How should they manage their investment? Like mothers, investors turn to the internet for information or seek advice from others in such times of uncertainty.
The same pitfall applies – because it is easy to be misled by one-sided information. Like motherhood, it is important for investors to be receiving good and relevant advice.

Continue reading The similarities you didn’t know exist.

Some things just take time

Quite a few of my clients asked about the market recently, fearing potential technical correction, partly in view of the run up and in part because of the Portugal banking crisis … After all that has been said and done, the pullback was minimal, if any at all for some markets.

But such a quote comes in handy to keep ourselves grounded in times of uncertainty. some things just take time – You cannot produce a baby in 1 month by getting 9 women pregnant.

Global Investment Trends Report

Just read this article on the Sunday Times about Singaporeans becoming more bullish about investing (this means that people are more willing and confident about investing).

These findings came from a recent poll by Schroders Asset Management Firm (2014 Schroders Global Investment Trends Report) and below are stats based on those polled here (sg):

1 in 3 are looking to invest more than $100,000 this year
58% will invest their spare disposable income, higher than the global average of 48%
81% will invest in equities, up from the 73% last year (16% are looking at bonds, 19% are considering precious metals investment while only 6% is considering property, in response to the cooling measures set in place)
For those who are not familiar, equity means stocks (ownership interest), while bond is a debt instrument whereby investor loan money to a company/government at a fixed interest rate (loan interest).
Many people perceive bonds as ‘safer’ investment instrument because historically, bond prices fluctuate less than stock price. However, this is a general perception. Different instruments carry different types of risks)
Hence, it appears to be true that investors are more confident of investing that a year ago.
The poll also shows that only 5% of repondents has time horizon of more than 10 years.
This is really interesting for me because unless you are already 70, you will definitely have 2 goals with time horizons of more than 10 years – Continue reading Global Investment Trends Report