A 50% profit in 45 days. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, that’s exactly what the infamous Charles Ponzi offered to his ‘investors’ back in 19201. If it’s not already clear, investors did not receive those promised returns. Instead, they were the victims of what we now call a Ponzi scheme.
The king, the rice and the chess game: a fable of compounding
Reading time: 4 minutes
A couple of months back I spent the good part of a weekend binge-watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, and found myself thinking of an old fable which illustrates the role that time plays in investing.
The fable
Legend has it there was an Indian King who was obsessed with chess.
Health and wealth management: 4 tips to better shape your figures
Reading time: 3 minutes
Investing has a lot in common with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.
A few common sense tips apply to both: diversify, be consistent, look out for fads, avoid extreme measures, keep emotions in check and think long term.
There’s also a staggering variety of strategies and decisions: Take the lift or the stairs?
Back to the future: Lessons from investing history
Reading time: 4 minutes
For centuries retail investors have faced all kinds of market conditions, suffering long drawn-out recessions, riding the euphoria of market booms, and experiencing the fear and excitement of market volatility.
Today, as investors, we often look ahead to try to capture the next big opportunities and avoid unwanted risks.
Active? Passive? Or chimpanzees?
Reading time: 3 minutes
So you want to invest your money in stocks. You know about the benefits of diversification and want exposure to lots of stocks, but don’t necessarily have the time or expertise to select specific companies yourself.
Many people in this situation use investment managers to invest on their behalf.
The ESG revolution – what is behind it?
I’m not a female portfolio manager, but a portfolio manager who happens to be a female, and in what is often referred to as an ‘old-fashioned’ and male-dominated industry, I’m here to break the mould.
My first job out of university was an operational role for another fund manager. I still remember googling ‘impressive Excel skills for interview’ the night before my first real job interview,
DON’T PANIC: Launchpad’s guide to the investment universe
Reading time: 2 minutes
“What is the chances that me will eventually die?” – Ali G
A recent conversation with my GP reminded me of the unfortunate truth that one day I am going to die. I consider this to be a bit of a stitch-up.
From paper to platform – a brief history of how to invest
The most common question I get from friends about investing is not “What?” but “How?”.
Often, they have heard of advisers and brokers, online platforms, and apps that can invest their spare change, but are confused about where to start.
It’s no surprise – investing has changed a lot in recent years,
Introducing Launchpad: a guide for the millennial investor
A welcome
The world of investing can be overwhelming to get your head around – plagued by an array of jargon and acronyms, and always changing! For many younger investors, the financial crises of the past two decades may have left a rather bad impression of even the idea of investing,