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.”

For a portfolio to reach the desired altitude, it must comprise securities that are highly likely to rise in both value and price. The question is: what steps does on take to maximise the chances that one’s portfolio is populated by such securities?

Skill, talent and ability. These define an aptitude for a task or challenge; in the context of investing, however, one should add ‘insights’ and‘research’ as components of successful outcomes in the complex environment of markets.