Human beings are hardwired for survival, not for investing. The psychological traits that helped our ancestors survive in tribes and navigate danger can hinder investors’ ability to build long-term wealth. As such, helping your clients understand and manage their behavioural biases is as important a part of the advice process as helping them choose the right investments.
Problem behaviour
Markets have historically rewarded patient capital, but most investors fail to capture these returns due to poor timing decisions, a phenomenon known as “the behaviour gap”.
This refers to the practice of investors buying after prices have already risen and selling after they have fallen, transforming market volatility from a potential opportunity into a source of loss.
Many studies have found that average investors underperform the index because of this behaviour. Perhaps the most striking example of this comes from Fidelity Investments where Peter Lynch managed the Magellan Fund between 1977 and 1990, producing an annualised return of 29.2 per cent. Yet it has been reported that the average investor in his fund made only 7 per cent per annum (Jakab, 2016).
The chart below showing fund inflows and market performance during the Global Financial Crisis is another illuminating example. As equity markets declined through 2008, fund outflows accelerated dramatically, reaching their most negative levels during 2008-09. Outflows continued even after markets began recovering, with flows remaining negative through 2011 despite substantial market gains during this period.
Behavioural biases
To cope with the daily information overload, our minds rely on mental shortcuts or rules of thumb called heuristics. While these shortcuts serve us well in many aspects of life, they can also lead to cognitive or behavioural biases that are problematic for investing.
These biases often work in combination, amplifying their individual effects. Recency bias might lead an investor to chase last year’s hot sector, while confirmation bias ensures they only read bullish research, and overconfidence convinces them to make an oversized bet. When a reversal eventually comes, loss aversion prevents them from cutting losses quickly and hindsight bias ensures they learn nothing from the experience.
How to help clients
Experienced advisers understand clients often need help with the psychology of investing and the biases outlined above. We have often heard that “psychologist” should form part of an adviser’s job description!
One way that advisers can help their clients is by suggesting a set of rules to minimise the potential impact of biases. One simple approach is to have a mutually agreed investment or trading plan in which the adviser and client agrees to a set of rules – optimally in writing – around what they will (and won’t) do in certain situations, like minimising selling following a sudden price drop or minimising the amount of the portfolio allocated to stocks with lots of positive sentiment and price momentum.
We also believe assessment of successful investment decisions warrants equal attention to less successful. As professional investors we try to evaluate the quality of our decisions rather than judging success according to outcome. This distinction helps us learn from both wins and losses by focusing on whether our analysis was rigorous and our reasoning sound, rather than results that may reflect luck or short-term market movements.
Bottom line
We all have biases, and behavioural finance shows this certainly exists for investors of all levels of experience and confidence. For clients wanting guidance with their investment decisions, astute advisers can add significant value “beyond the numbers” by recognising unhelpful instincts and helping avoid common traps.
Kris Webster, principal at Canopy Investors
Never miss the stories that impact the industry.