What Makes You a Sloth Investor? - Volume 2
A selection of my followers share the bedrock principles that most strongly resonate with them.
Welcome to volume two of my four-part series entitled:
What Makes You a Sloth Investor?
I have created this series to celebrate my 100th day on Twitter, which recently took place on Tuesday, 15th June.
Just in case you missed that edition, please note that this series is comprised of varied insights from a selection of my followers, each revealing the bedrock principle/s that they identify with the most.
I’m fortunate that so many of my followers have been kind enough to lend their time to share the bedrock principle/s that resonate with them.
So, what follows today is volume 2 of a tremendous series of insights from investors from around the globe. Over the next few days, I will continue to provide additional reflections from my followers in volumes 3-4.
I hope that you enjoy reading what these ten investors have to say.
BahamaBen
@BahamaBen9
“I have chosen "TIME IN THE MARKET" because finding secular growth winners and holding on for the ride is my strategy for success.”
Drowsy Investor
@drowsyinvestor
“Time in the market resonates most strongly with me. When you focus on this bedrock principle all other aspects of investing (stock price, getting in at the right moment, charting, buying low/sell high) seem almost irrelevant. Mastering sitting on your hands and focusing on buying and then watching is the most important skill set any investor can learn.”
Francis, 28, Canada (Investment Analyst)
@InvestiAnalyst
“Simplicity is the best analogy that resonates with me because I believe complexity within investing can destroy good decision-making. Due to the rapid speed and the tremendous amount of information overload online available for investors in 2021, it is important to have a simplified investing process that can enable you to make quick and efficient decisions. Investors should strive for an investing process that is simple and enables them to repeat the process consistently. The goal should be to maximize time and effort to generate returns.”
Guillermo, USA
@NeuroStockDoc
“The principles of Simplicity, Time in the Market, and Headstrong resonate most with me. As a retail investor with a busy full-time job and family, I have limited time to research investment opportunities so I must keep my process simple. I research and own companies I can easily understand with a high concentration in the highest conviction stocks. This leads to Time in the Market and Headstrong. As a retail investor without a business or analyst background, I do not have the valuation skills to compete with others in short-term time frames. Investing for the long term and holding through the volatility with companies that I believe in (staying Headstrong) is my main advantage in the market.”
Flosser Invest, 47, Surrey, England
@FlosserInvest
“The bedrock principle that resonates most with me is Time. Humans by their nature are impatient and the ability to do nothing - to sit tight, to ride out the highs and lows and just your leave holdings alone over time is an underrated aptitude required for success the long term everyday investor - and certainly has been a key learning and driver of growth of my portfolio. People are in a rush to make a buck and want jam today, but the old age phrase of ‘patience is a virtue’ is none more true than in investing- to stick it out, let your positions ride - and sit back.
Almost all of my top ten positions have been long-held for a long time, my longest-held of Unilever for 20 years, and the majority of my biggest between 8-10 years and. Many have holdings experienced major price setbacks during this time or just gone nowhere for a couple of years in some cases. But then the best ones come good. If you believe in your thesis and in the business then why tinker around? There may be many ‘what ifs’. What if I’d sold at the peak and bought back lower. Shoulda woulda coulda. But being patient and holding off doing anything - and letting the magic of time do its thing as business strategies are executed and success realised in your businesses can often be the best route in the long run.”
Roy
@Invest4decades
“The SLOTH bedrock investment principle of “Time in the market” embodies who I am as an investor most. We live in a world full of infinite possibilities. Between government policies, economic risks, natural disasters, internal affairs, and the list goes on, it’s impossible to know when the next big headline is about to break that can and will affect the value of your investments. When we invest in strong, well lead, and adaptive companies what we really need to strive for as investors is tuning out the noise and giving the great companies we own “Time” to grow and reward us.”
Jason Trice, 42, Texas
@Jason_Trice
“I have chosen “Time in the market” because I believe in owning businesses with visionary CEOs. I trust them to compound my capital and understand that it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Blaine
@BlaineCapital
“My two favorite Sloth Investor principles are Time In The Market and Own The World because when you invest in great companies that have an international presence you truly are making money while you sleep. Sleep a lot (time) and you suddenly have financial freedom.”
Baghodler69, 23, Singapore
@baghodler69
“The principle that resonates with me the most is HEADSTRONG. As a relatively new investor, being headstrong prevents me from feeling fomo and distracted about hyped stocks which I have no interest/knowledge in, and allows me to focus my time and energy on those that truly matter - the ones that I own/am interested in. Being headstrong also = not giving up after failures. Instead, take them as learning opportunities to emerge stronger!”
Anil, 43
@owlchirps
“Hi, I am Anil who invests his and his family’s money. I like the SLOTH investor’s bedrock principles and they resonate with mine.
The first bedrock principle of simplicity because I believe simple ideas have already distilled out the noise. Natural forces and big ideas are always simple. Simple ideas are easier to understand, execute and in the time of adversities you are more likely to stick and execute a simple plan than a more complex, intertwined plan or ideas. If you are an index investor, the simple idea of dollar-cost averaging during a down market is much easier to execute and highly likely of giving you the result of beating the market than market timing.
The second bedrock principle of low fees is very important. Again it is the friction and drag on your performance. Fees are the money that you would otherwise have invested and now devoid of compounding. The long-term average return of $SPY is about 9% and if you pay a 1% fee for management, actually you are not paying a 1% fee. You are paying way more than that. You are paying 11% on your profit (1%/9%return you are getting).
The third bedrock principle of owning the world resonates well with me. It is saying that you are being humble and betting on humanity. I believe as a species we are bound to win collectively. You are also being humble that we know very little about the world and future. I am yet to come across a human being who has a crystal ball about the future. By owning the best companies in the world which are from different sectors; you tend to reduce volatility in your portfolio. Sometimes, it is very hard psychologically to weather the situation when $SPY is rising but your portfolio is doing poorly because you are invested only in one sector. You want to own many stocks. It will minimize single stock risk.
The longer you are in the market, the more time for compounding. No one can know when the market rises or fall. Overall gains for the year could be had in few weeks and if you miss those few weeks; you will lose. The equity market is volatile and it is compensated by higher returns which only can be realized in time.
I would be headstrong when there is a general market decline. Because it is 100% driven by sentiment. In the last 100 years, the market has always recovered. But when the market is rising, and your stock is doing poorly because of poor business performance, I don’t hesitate to sell them.”