Any time you’re investing your money, it can feel like a big step. You want to invest wisely, resulting in the best returns possible. Having trepidations is very normal, as it is with any significant decision. To put your mind at ease, all you need to do is to turn to the right people for advice.
Mark Wiseman is a global investment manager who hasn’t shied away from giving this needed advice to others. His knowledge and experience can help you feel confident in your choices and make the most of your investments. Here’s what you need to know to invest like a pro.
Think about things from a long-term perspective
With so much happening right now in the global market due to a pandemic, it can be easy to get stuck in the moment. Usually, living in the moment is a great way to live your life, but the opposite is true when you’re considering investments. You need to think about your life decades from now and not make knee-jerk reactions based on current events that will eventually subside. Focusing on your long-term investments will give you financial security in the future.
To this point, Mark Wiseman encourages you to think ahead. If you look at the graphs now, there’s a big downturn, but eventually, that will just be a small blip in an upward trajectory of stock growth. The fluctuation that the stock market is experiencing now is similar to downturns related to other historical events, like 9/11 or even the Great Depression.
Wiseman says: “I think (the coronavirus) has the potential to be material in the short-to-medium term. In the long term, it’s going back to the chart of the Dow. In the long term, it’s not going to matter.”
Despite the hardships experienced during 9/11 and the Great Depression, the economy always recovers and then eventually experiences a boom. The same can be assumed for your financial future.
Keep a steady course or be more aggressive
Although it may be tempting to go off and follow trends as they come up, just remember that trends come and go. As mentioned before, it’s better to make investments based on your life in the long-run. This allows you to stay on the same plan, and by doing so, staying on course. Even amidst market panic, Wiseman encourages you to maintain your investment strategy or even to try to take greater advantage of the market. Wiseman made the mistake of not being aggressive enough during the global financial crisis in 2008 and thinks that he could have made more money for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board if he’d advocated for more investments at that time. He has learned from this experience and recommends that “for those that are well-capitalized, this [crisis] has the potential to be a fantastic buying opportunity for the long-term investor.”
Having steady investments can help set you up for a strong financial future. Mark Wiseman’s advice to focus on long investing strategies and to avoid overreacting to major market swings is the best advice to follow if you want to maximize your returns over time.
Know where the value is
Taking Wiseman’s overall advice can end up being very beneficial. In the short term, you can follow his specific advice by investing in markets that he thinks will prove valuable in the future. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, Wiseman says he “[believes] there is a lot of value in the energy sector today.”
This was his response when asked if Canadian pension funds should put money towards Canada’s energy companies. In order to protect yourself, make sure you’re investing no more than nine percent of your finances into any single investment. That being said, taking someone’s advice who has experience seeing the big financial picture, could result in a windfall down the road.
