Premium: Understand your circle of competence – especially when investing

We've enjoyed an excellent run with the BizNews share portfolio which has compounded at over 20% pa since launching seven years ago. The new $10,000 BizNews Shyft portfolio is off to a good start with Wall Street rebounding powerfully last night. Mainly because, as we've suggested, investors elsewhere have woken up to the reality of Omicron after at first rejecting powerful evidence from SA (see above).

Which makes the story below from our partners at The Wall Street Journal perfectly timed: a financial journalist 'fessing up to stock picking mistakes born of hubris. It is easy to overreach, especially after a good run. Which is the reason Warren Buffett urges us to trumpet failures and speak softly about our successes. And why Nassim Taleb wrote a masterpiece that urged us to avoid being Fooled By Randomness.

A few years ago EasyEquities made it possible for the BizNews tribe to buy directly into our offshore share portfolio and a local option we called SA Global Champions. It wasn't long before many millions had been invested – and, as they should, financial advisors started asking me for Fact Sheets to answer questions from clients. That was my signal to withdraw. I had unwittingly strayed outside my circle of competence.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___