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Ten top investment tips from Dr Mark Mobius

 

Dr Mark Mobius is one of the most experienced fund managers in the industry.

He has been managing the Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust since its launch 20 years ago. In that time the value of an investment in the trust has multiplied more than eleven times.

Here Dr Mobius draws on his years of experience to offer ten investment tips to Money Central readers.

Ten things you never knew about fund managers

 

Think fund managers are boring? Well, you would be right. Here are the 10 most exciting facts we could uncover about the men who manage your money. Crazy, they ain't....

e-Poll: how low will the FTSE 100 go?

The FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares hit a low of 3,460 points today, the lowest level so far this calendar year.

Some market watchers are suggesting that now might be a great time to pick up blue chip shares at bargain prices but others think the market could fall another 20 per cent before it hits the bottom.

We want to know what you think. (Market sentiment, after all, is a key indicator.) Vote in our e-Poll below and have your say using the comment form.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Ten questions to ask your financial advisor before handing over your cash

The Bernard Madoff scandal has sent ripples of fear through investors around the world. If the wealthy and well-connected people who put money into Madoff’s fund can be fooled, they ask, what hope is there for the rest of us?

But there are ways in which ordinary investors can help minimise their chances of buying into an unsafe fund. With the help of Justin Urquhart Stewart, of Seven Investment Management, we have put together a list of ten questions that investors should ask their financial advisor before handing over any money.

Times Money's top 10 investment gurus

Genuine stock market experts are a rare breed, and their investment thinking is never more valuable than when the financial world is in turmoil, as it is today.

So here at Times Money we have come up with a list of our top ten stock market gurus of all time.

Ten ways to profit from gold

The turmoil in global financial markets has triggered a surge in the price of gold, which investors consider a safe haven in times of trouble.

Here, Times Money offers ten ways investors can profit from demand for this precious metal. 

Ten shares that went from hero to zero

After bringing you the shares that could have made you a millionaire, Times Money takes a look at some stocks that did the exact opposite.

These are the companies that destroyed wealth at a fantastic rate: the heroes that went to zero.

The top 10 James Bond collectibles

The centenary of Ian Fleming's birth is a busy year for James Bond fans, with the launch of the Imperial War Museum's For Your Eyes Only exhibition, the publication of Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, and the release of Quantum of Solace.

To celebrate all this, Times Money has put together a list of the best James Bond collectibles – a mix of one-offs for big spenders and mass-produced items affordable for those on more modest budgets. Each should make a decent long-term investment if kept pristine.

The 10 most expensive paintings sold at auction

If you have been in an art auction house this year, you could be forgiven for thinking there was no credit crunch. After Francis Bacon’s Triptych and Claude Monet’s Le bassin aux nymphéas both sold for record amounts this year, it seems art-lovers are still willing to pay enormous sums for their collections.

Here are the 10 works of art that have fetched the most money at auction. 

The 10 best stock market investments ever

It’s the stuff of every investor’s dream - a share that you buy for next to nothing and which then soars in price, making you a millionaire in the process.

For a tiny handful of investors who bought and sold the right share at the right time that dream became a reality.

Times Money takes a look at ten of the shares that made millionaires of some investors for a comparatively modest stake.

The top 10 Star Wars collectibles

It's 30 years since the first Star Wars action figures were released – a staple of any happy 1980s childhood. To celebrate, here is our list of the top ten Star Wars collectibles, from the vintage and rare to new items that should climb in value.

Prices are approximate sale values for new or mint objects in their original packaging – "carded" in the case of action figures.

[Pictured is a Lego Darth Vader, see No. 5 below]

The 20 Golden Rules of Investment

Investing your own money is a complicated and potentially dangerous business. One slip in the tricky world of stocks and shares can prove very costly. So Times Money offers a guide on how to survive and profit in the investment jungle.

The Ten Biggest Stock Market Crashes of All Time

Some investors might think they have had a rough ride on the stock market over the past seven or eight months. But the recent share price gyrations pale into insignificance when compared with the biggest stock market falls of all time.

Ten collectibles of 2030

Alternative investments are especially attractive when stock markets are in turmoil. So Times Money asked five antiques experts to name their best bets for collectibles of the future. We wanted contemporary items that could be bought online or in mainstream shops for £100 or less and should increase in value – hopefully significantly – by 2030. Their tips are supplemented by our own choice and by two suggestions from Christie's for bigger spenders. To realise the best price in a future sale, all items should be kept in original condition, with all packaging. Note that predicted prices are in today's terms and do not take inflation into account.

Ten Lessons from war that apply to investing

According to popular myth, today’s band of share investors contains a high proportion of retired colonels from places like Tunbridge Wells and Budleigh Salterton.
But does their service background help them when it comes to making decisions about their shareholdings? Does military history have any lessons for the stock market?
We look at 10 military maxims to see whether they have any relevance for today’s private investor.
1) Never march on Moscow.
The modern-day equivalent of this would be: never invest in Japan. Since the Nikkei index of Japanese shares peaked at 39,000 17 years ago, it has been pretty much downhill all the way. Short-lived recoveries have failed to reverse the general downward trend and Japan remains the land of the false dawn rather than the rising sun.
2) Reinforce success.
A good principle for stock market investors to follow. Building up a stake in a successful company or fund - and holding it - makes a lot of financial sense.
3) Punish failure.
Another good maxim which many investors fail to follow. They often get emotionally attached to shares and are not ruthless enough about ditching poor performers.
When Georgy Zhukov, the great Soviet World War Two commander, spoke of punishing failure, he usually meant shooting officers who had not come up to scratch. Investors in poorly performing funds might think a similar punishment for failing fund managers would be an excellent idea but nowadays they are obliged to confine themselves to putting out a sell order.
4) Don’t be overwhelmed by information.
Easier said than done, but it remains a sound investment principle. Just as poor generals have become paralysed in their decision-making by the sheer weight of reports flowing into their HQ, so investors can sometimes suffer from information overload.
5) No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
Napoleon’s famous dictum holds true for investment as well as battles. There’s nothing wrong with having a plan, but investors need to be flexible and be capable of reacting to a changing situation.
6) Be prepared for the ‘fog of war’.
A useful warning which applies equally to crises in battle and in stock markets. In both cases accurate information tends to be in short supply, rumours abound and a calm head is needed to keep hold of the ‘big picture’ and not be distracted by the ‘white noise’.
7) Learn from previous battles, but don’t be mesmerised by them.
Just as military top brass are often accused of preparing to fight the last war again, so investors sometimes assume, wrongly, that the next stock market boom and bust will be a re-run of the previous one.
8) Distil complicated ideas into a simple formula.
Field Marshal Montgomery’s approach is a useful guideline for investors trying to make sense of a mass of conflicting theories, though it is arguably even more important for financial advisers trying to explain to their clients how products work.
9) Concentrate your forces rather than spreading them out.
This maxim might appeal to out and out risk takers but it would certainly not meet the approval of most financial experts, who would argue that diversification, not concentration, is the best bet.
10) Too much spade work is better than too little.
Field Marshal Rommel’s phrase is just as applicable to the world of investment as it is to infantry fighting. Highly successful fund managers, such as Anthony Bolton, of Fidelity, are not just talented, they also work very hard at their job.

(Picture from a fascinating story on Foreign Policy)

How are you coping with the stock market turmoil?

What a summer it’s been for investors: shares have plunged nearly 10 per cent over the past month (although the markets are thankfully up again today); popular property funds have been forced to impose exit charges to stem a wave of selling by disappointed investors; even supposedly “safe” bonds have been losing money.

Market's bungee-jumping spree

The UK stock market has been on a summer bungee-jumping spree in recent weeks. Since the start of July it has rocketed to a seven-year high of 6716, and then plunged 10 per cent to today’s closing level of 6038.

The silver lining in the stock market cloud

This has been a grim week for the UK stock market. On Thursday the FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell by 200 points - its biggest one-day points drop for five years.

Market running on air

A glance at today's business pages reminds me of those cartoons where Tom or Jerry or Bugs Bunny runs straight off a cliff and stops in mid-air before crashing to his fate below. While Rio Tinto, the mining group, launches a massive $44 billion takover offer for Alcan, the Canadian aluminium producer, oil soars to an 11-month high and interest rates creep up to their highest level for six years. Yet the stock market sails on serenely.

Financial advice remains woefully inadequate

The Financial Services Agency is much maligned. Our chief financial watchdog is often castigated by the Fourth Estate for failing to act, while being simultaneously dragged over the coals in the City for its heavy-handedness. It is true that it does not always get the balance right, but in the case of correcting the desperate failings of the UK's "system" of retail financial advice it has taken the right steps this week.