The Behavioural Investing Manifesto
Today’s post is about my first book – The Behavioural Investing Manifesto.
Behavioural Investing Manifesto
I finally got around to writing a book, just in time for Xmas.
My first degree was in Psychology, and regular readers will be aware that I think that it is a key part of successful investing.
- It’s no use knowing what to do if you are psychologically unable to implement your plan.
The subtitle of the book – that you are your own worst enemy – comes from a famous quote by Ben Graham (usually referred to as the father of value investing, and also Warren Buffett’s initial mentor):
The investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself.
So what the book covers has been known for many decades.
- Which isn’t to say that not it’s just as relevant today.
This is not an e-book filled with original research.
- Indeed, many of you will be familiar with some of the experiments referenced within it, and the conclusions that I draw from them.
This book is intended to summarise the key findings of behavioural psychology, and to turn them into useful lessons for a Private Investor in the UK today.
The point of the book – and of my blog – is to save you time and effort.
- Together we can make this job a bit easier for us all.
There are five sections in the book:
- A potted history of why people are poorly suited to investment.
- The main biases that investors exhibit – arranged into groups in so far as this is possible.
- The key issues in investment which behavioural psychology can speak to.
- Practical steps that an investor can take to avoid being tripped up by their greatest enemy (themselves).
- Lists of the psychological experiments and observations of human behaviour that reveal the biases, of the biases themselves, and a final checklist of what to do about them – and what not to do.
I hope you that you read it and that you find it of some use.
Until next time.
Mike Rawson
Mike is the owner of 7 Circles, and a private investor living in London. He has been managing his own money for 40 years, with some success.
