Successful investing is about more than achieving gains. To quote the late Philip Arthur Fisher (doyen of investing for many decades): “The true investment objective of growth is not just to make gains, but to avoid losses.”

We present five short illustrations of behavioural biases that can be very damaging to your wealth. The psychology that drives behavioural finance is one of the most rapidly developing scientific fields of research in the area of investing. We have explored the academic papers produced by leaders in this field, both past and present. We have tried to make these vignettes both interesting and entertaining. We hope you enjoy what you are about to read … and urge you to apply what you learn in both your investment and other important aspects of life.

The first quarter of 2019 was distinctly different, and much improved, from the final quarter of last year.  Stock markets which had slumped badly recovered just as quickly, erasing the losses of late-2018 within a few months.