That was my dream and goal when I first started my investment journey almost 20 years ago. I am not sure how many of you actually secretly thought the same, just like I did.

Warren Buffet made investing into single stocks sound so easy, and being an engineer by training, I started to find ways to make sure that my dream will become a reality.

I studied many books, theories and concepts of how I could make it all happen. I also spent thousands and thousands of dollars on courses to ensure that I am armed with knowledge. I started to read and study the annual reports of my favourite companies with their cash-flows, balance sheets and profit and loss statements in detail.

I mean, I am a smart guy with a strong heart and am disciplined and patient enough to attempt to get the results I wanted. I will be the next Warren Buffett! I wanted to be in total control of the companies I understood fully and will be comfortable to invest.

This all sounds logical when markets are good and when I have bandwidth to have a sound mind.

However, reality sets in when the market conditions soared and plunged very quickly. Human behavior took over and the emotions and swings of the markets become more than what one normal person can handle. I might have gotten great results 3-5 years in a row, but all it took was one wrong move and it wipes out all prior efforts or missed the next big growth.

After more than a decade of bad investment experience, I had to be humble enough to know that one can never predict nor forecast what is to come in the short term. Anything in the short term is usually luck just like in a casino and does not require skill.

I learnt that investing is more managing emotions than logic. Emotional decision making creates stress and causes more complexity in the outcome because I end up holding suspended stocks with no coherent approach to investing over time.

I still had to find a way to invest to BIG long term goals of retirement which may possibly last decades.

What evolved was a search for not the best product, but a way of life in investing with the right life philosophy with values built in. With that, I used evidence based strategies and data with research of almost 100yrs to identify the highest chance of success, creating the odds in our favour over the longer term. I do not need the highest returns but the highest chance of achieving my goals.

There was a lot of unlearning and relearning a new way of looking at investing, but it is definitely more fulfilling and allowing a better investment experience and a better outcome.

I’m constantly on the search for reviewing what is best for our clients so that we all can have success together, not just in wealth but more importantly, in life as well,

Anyway, clients want peace of mind as a higher priority, do you agree?