There is one, immutable ‘law’ of investing which states – in order to achieve greater returns you have to expose your funds to the risk of loss. Consequently, it is the management of this risk/return ratio that becomes the hallmark of a successful investment.

The great John Lennon once asked “how can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing” Investors should also be asking themselves this question as well.

Wow doesn’t New Year come around quickly these days? It must be the aging process at work, cause the older I seem to get, the quicker we seem to get a new year!

A strange thing happened in the financial world last year. An event so unusual, that I can’t ever re- call seeing similar in my 25 years in the advice industry. And what was this mysterious event? Well, a fund manager actually closed down a fund and returned all money’s to the investors.

Who hasn’t been shocked at what is currently being revealed through the current Banking Royal Commission? It certainly leaves a big question mark over the validity of the advice proffered by our big financial institutions.

A share market is a unique place. It can be rather joyous when the shares you’ve just bought start skyrocketing. But sadly, when the same shares suddenly drop out of ‘sight’, it can cause some rather severe grief as well! Here are some thoughts to keep in mind when the latter happens.

Value investing is certainly not new. But it is often overlooked by new investors in favor of pursuing much quicker profits. But all that glitters isn’t gold and sometimes the tried and true methods are genuinely more successful. So take a look at some words of wisdom from the more famous value-investors and see if it might suit your investing style.

Index investing or passive investment has grown incredibly over the last 10 years. But is it really so great during prolonged market falls? Markets do go down, and usually experience periods of much sideways movement.

Do you really have the patience?

Anytime I look at the average investment returns quoted for a managed investment, I am always re- minded of the old joke about a doctor, a dentist and a statistician on a hunting trip. After spotting a large deer in the distance, the doctor takes aim, fires but misses. His shot was 5 meters to the left of the deer.

Investment risk and investment risk management are critical factors for any long-term investor success. Every investor needs to be comfortable with the concept of risk as unfortunately, investing and risk, go hand in hand.