Does your mind help or hinder your investment success?
Of all the decisions we make, investments ought to be the most rational. We should be able to whip off our rose-coloured glasses, replace them with green eyeshades and choose the lowest-cost investments with the highest-expected returns to create a diversified portfolio.
However, as with so many things in life, our emotions often get in the way of this rational approach. We buy shares in a company solely because a friend recommended it. Or, we innately believe the higher-priced product is always better, even though we have no evidence to back this gut feeling.
Those are just two examples of how our brains may mislead us when we ponder money. We're supposed to be rational, but more often than not, we are often irrational.
Understanding the general tenets of behavioural finance can help investors counter irrationality and improve investment decisions. It studies the psychology of financial decision-making and is based on a sub-field of behavioural economics. This field of research began when economists noticed that a pillar of economic thought known as the efficient market hypothesis often wobbled in the real world.
Its hypothesis posits that in a market with enough buyers and sellers, and where all investors have the same information, it's impossible to beat the market. But some investors do beat the market, often by capitalising on the irrationality of others. This caused economists to try to discover why.
And here's five key concepts from their findings:
Anchoring: This refers to the tendency to depend on, or get anchored in, limited information - some of it irrelevant to the matter at hand - to make decisions. Investors sometimes get anchored in certain numbers, which may influence whether we perceive a share price or market index to be high or low. A company share make look like a bargain if it falls from, say, $100 to $80, but the drop in price may not be relevant. The relevant question should centre on the company's expected return over a time horizon. And that is not an easy or straightforward answer.
Herd bias: Every time parents ask their children whether they would jump off a cliff if their friends did, they are actually referring to the concept of herd bias, the tendency to hop on a trend because "everyone else is doing it". The dot-com boom and bust is one of many examples of the dangers of herd bias.
Home bias: The preference for sticking to the familiar has often resulted in investors investing in the shares of the country where they live even though diversifying internationally can generate stronger returns and lessen volatility. Home bias is especially prevalent in Australia. Australia accounts for just 2% of world markets, but figures show that Australians put 61% of their share investments in local companies. More research found the same effect affecting property investors, prompting them to invest in their own neighborhood, or close by, which may concentrate risk.
Attention bias: Advertisers count on attention bias. People are more likely to buy something they have heard of. So are investors. Research suggests that people are more likely to invest in companies they have casually read about or heard about on the news, for example.
Endowment bias: People tend to hold on to investments they already own, perhaps because they suffer from loss aversion. This bias has sometimes resulted in investors holding on to money-losing investments simply because it's painful to own up to a mistake.
Awareness of how our brains sometimes cause us to make poor choices can be the first step to making better ones.
Fortunately, there are shortcuts that can help you break these behaviors.
One simple solution is to adhere to four simple principles that will help improve the chances of a successful investment portfolio – goals, balance, cost and discipline. Set your goals, choose a number of well-diversified managed or exchange-traded funds with strong long-term track records. Keep your investment costs low. And finally, maintain long-term perspective and a disciplined approach to your investment strategy.
At the very least, you'll be less vulnerable to buying that share you just heard about on television.
Written by Robin Bowerman
Head of Corporate Affairs at Vanguard
18 October 2019
vanguardinvestments.com.au
Latest Newsletters
Hot Issues
- Aged care report goes to the heart of Australia’s tax debate
- Removed super no longer protected from creditors: court
- ATO investigating 16.5k SMSFs over valuation compliance
- The 2025 Financial Year Tax & Super Changes You Need to Know!
- Investment and economic outlook, March 2024
- The compounding benefits from reinvesting dividends
- Three things to consider when switching your super
- Oldest Buildings in the World.
- Illegal access nets $637 million
- Trustee decisions are at their own discretion: expert
- Regular reviews and safekeeping of documents vital: expert
- Latest stats back up research into SMSF longevity and returns: educator
- Investment and economic outlook, February 2024
- Planning financially for a career break
- Could your SMSF do with more diversification?
- Countries producing the most solar power by gigawatt hours
- Labor tweaks stage 3 tax cuts to make room for ‘middle Australia’
- Quarterly reporting regime means communication now paramount: expert
- Plan now to take advantage of 5-year carry forward rule: expert
- Why investors are firmly focused on interest rates
- Super literacy low for cash-strapped
- Four timeless principles for investing success
- Investment and economic outlook, January 2024
- Wheat Production by Country
- Time to start planning for stage 3 tax cuts: technical manager
- Millions of Australians lose by leaving savings in default MySuper funds
- Vanguard economic and market outlook for 2024: A return to sound money
- An investment year of ups and downs
- How to tame the market's skewness
- The Countries that Export the Most Wine in the World
- Tips for preparing for the best tax outcomes
Article archive
- October - December 2023
- July - September 2023
- April - June 2023
- January - March 2023
- October - December 2022
- July - September 2022
- April - June 2022
- January - March 2022
- October - December 2021
- July - September 2021
- April - June 2021
- January - March 2021
- October - December 2020
- July - September 2020
- April - June 2020
- January - March 2020
- October - December 2019
- July - September 2019
- April - June 2019
- January - March 2019
- October - December 2018
- July - September 2018
- April - June 2018
- January - March 2018
- October - December 2017
- July - September 2017
- April - June 2017
- January - March 2017
- October - December 2016
- July - September 2016
- April - June 2016
- January - March 2016
- October - December 2015
- July - September 2015
- April - June 2015
October - December 2019 archive
- Our Advent calendar for 2019
- The economic and investment outlook for 2020
- You'll be the life of the party when armed with this information!
- Review queries retirement system understanding
- Retirement planning in 15 minutes a day
- Eggs, baskets and diversified SMSF investment strategies
- New opportunities for employees to claim additional superannuation
- ATO provides further trustee instructions on myGovID
- The main benefits of professional financial help.
- Downsizer contributions offer more than meets the eye
- 6 new financial videos
- All Australia's vital statistics - October 2019
- Does your mind help or hinder your investment success?
- Traversing a synchronised economic slowdown
- Four key principles that help achieve portfolio success
- A positive pension change with a cash rate twist
- Shares to remain volatile as trade war heats up
- NALI, LRBA measures pass Parliament
- Interest rising in SMSF set-up
- Choosing your investment strategy
- ATO letters indicate a wider SMSF warning
- Australia by the numbers - September 2019
- ATO opens applications for SG exemption