Hard-won lessons from my personal investment mistakes

THESE days it seems there is nowhere to hide from dismal market news. Year to date, stocks and bonds are down based on broad indexes. Even conservative investors whose portfolios are mostly invested in bonds are likely to be nursing losses.

As a financial journalist with more than a couple of decades covering wealth and personal finance issues, the received wisdom in these times is this: Diversify, stay the course, don’t panic. Easy to say or write, but these are cold comfort when your portfolio is mired in red.

First, here are some disclosures: Despite my years covering markets and hours of conversation with the most seasoned and successful of asset managers and advisers, I’ve made some horrible mistakes. Among the most memorable was investing in a tech fund at the peak of valuations in 2001 (I bought into the hubris of the time), and then riding the loss all the way down. If I remember correctly, my loss was over 80 per cent. I actually forgot all about this holding, and was recently reminded when I received a notice that the fund has closed – and in the mail was my liquidation cheque.