10 lessons I learnt in 2020 that changed my investing behaviour - a thread.

(This is NOT financial advice, just what I documented from the year. DM me for any elaboration or if you wanna have debates)

1. I asked my colleagues what they invested in and copied some of their ideas (nb. I work in finance). You don’t always have to be a balance sheet hero to do well and you’ll be surprised how many people are happy to share their investing wins and tips.

2. ESG (environmental, governance, social). This has been part of my investment philosophy from day 1 but was accentuated in 2020. Not least because accountable businesses will be better 'corporate citizens' in society but because the technical is powerful and will only grow imo.

3. Finding female and minority fund managers and investing in their funds. Putting my money where capital is needed for the financial industry to represent society, to succeed and be less pale, male and stale.

4. Finding under covered sectors & countries and taking a financial punt. This year I invested in Japan and Korean specific ETFs/funds which have increased my learning of new markets, politics and economies. Even if it's been a predominantly academic exercise, it's been fun.

5. Getting away from single name story hype. Tesla will make a minority of investors very very rich but having a balanced portfolio that works for your own story and journey is nothing to feel ashamed about.

6. Bonds were HOT in 2020. I know they’re perceived as the less cool cousin of stocks but the technical achieved through central bank stimulus on bond fund performance has been exceptional (vs other years). So not being afraid to go against convention in asset class ratios.

7. Lessons about the markets and my weaknesses. Not selling during the first Covid down-turn was a wise decision in hindsight and one that I was so close pulling the trigger on at many points. I also bought Asia exposure on day 5 of Covid thinking it would ‘pass over’. Woops.

8. Being able to create my own investment philosophy, keep myself accountable by my own standards and filter out the noise. Easier said than done.

9. Realising that PMs are paid sizeable salaries to manage money so I don’t need to spend hours to go through financial statements myself if I’m looking at gaining exposure to certain sectors/areas. (Neil Woodford a nice health warning here tho, tbf).

10. I couldn’t think of anything else but didn’t want to just have 9 lessons.