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Curious Investor Behaviour - Number 6 Anchoring Faced with uncertainty, investors will grasp at any fixed point of reference when forming opinions. In a classic experiment, behavioural psychologists Kahneman and Tversky asked two groups to guess the proportion of African nations that make up the UN. The first group was asked whether the answer...

Curious Investor Behaviour - Number 9 Cognitive Dissonance When there is a conflict between our beliefs and reality, we tend to rationalise irrational behaviour. Cognitive dissonance was first observed by Leon Festinger, a psychologist who studied a cult which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed...

Curious Investor Behaviour - Number 10 Loss Aversion According to empirical evidence, the pain of losing $100 is felt more than twice as much as the pleasure of gaining the same amount (Kahneman and Tversky, 1992). Sadly, this irrational approach is evident in the stockmarket. Many investors keep...

The main reason people go into business for themselves is quite simple – to have more control. For others, wealth creation is the main focus, although small business also brings with it the higher chance of failure and loss. Is the hard work and extra...

Reflections on Investment - Number 8 Get Rich Slowly It makes a great deal of sense to compound wealth steadily rather than going for bust. Wouldn't you rather be sure of a good result than hopeful of a great one? Disclaimer: Platinum Asset Management Limited ABN 25 063 565 006 AFSL 221935...

Curious Investor Behaviour - Number 11 Representativeness Many of us react to the daily avalanche of data by adopting shortcuts - we tend to generalise from a small sample, creating stereotypes and false patterns. An example of this may be the assumption that Chinese shares have participated in...