Deliberate Confusion Behind the Stock Market & the Rise of the Independent Investor

“Investing is really difficult and confusing; you need a good investment manager if you’re going to make the best returns.” At least that’s what we’re all supposed to believe.

In reality, independent investors are making great returns on their investments every day. They are selecting solid opportunities, receiving substantial dividends and saving a fortune in fees. Their secret? Realising that the most confusing barrier to the best returns is confusion itself.

Check out any investment arm of any bank and the language alone can make your head spin. Without a degree in financial jargon how can we hope to wade through the multitudinous opportunities to find good investments that pay the returns we want? Should we invest in stocks or bonds? Which companies offer the best returns for minimal risk? What’s algorithmic trading? A shadow bank?

Surely it’s best to use an investment adviser, someone who understands and can translate for us? Isn’t that the smart thing to do?

The value of financial assets under management rose to an all time high of US $70 trillion at the end of 2013. While every piece of marketing literature you read about asset management services will expound the benefits they bring investors, these products are designed to make money for institutions, not individuals.

It’s time to trust your gut and lose the doubts: investing can be simple and the best person to manage your investments is you. Financial professionals want investors to feel stupid because they need us to need them.

But, to quote Warren Buffett, “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.”

In this eBook we explore the deliberately confusing world of finance, examine how asset managers are profiting from peddling the perception of their safety in a dangerous world and learn how independent investors are doing it better for themselves.