The Ten Commandments for Managing Investments

Abstract

Stress and distress are unavoidable aspects of dealing with the vagaries of financial markets and financial advisers. The purpose of this paper is to try to reduce the discomfort in dealing with investment advisers, and to make the journey up and down the financial mountain a little less stressful and more rewarding. The commandments deal with defining investment policies precisely, diversifying asset classes, choosing a consistent benchmark for investment policies, structuring precisely the asset allocation process, defining risk and risk management procedures, monitoring the portfolio carefully, matching the allocation and investment horizons, being active or passive according to investment policies, being agnostic about model forecasts, and being aware that, while buy low and sell high is a truism, investors and financial advisers are only human, and therefore make mistakes.

Keywords: Ten Commandments, managing investments, investment rules, risk management, financial advisers, portfolio diversification

JEL Classification: G32, G11, G17