Skin in the game
Since I left the investment fund industry after the Financial Crisis, I no longer advise any strategy or product in which I don’t believe and put my own money in it. Therefore, the Austrian Strategy I hoffer here is the main way I manage my wealth and that of my family.
For the long run
Investing is not a sprint, is a marathon
Neither myself nor the proposed strategy in the Newsletter intends to get clients fast promising unrealistic quick profits. Any investment strategy needs a sufficient period of execution time in order to converge to its statistical results. I hope the subscriber will understand and appreciate that the Austrian Investor Newsletter is a prudent and profitable path to build his wealth over time.
Keeping Things Simple
The market does not care how sophisticated and smart your strategy looks.
The Austrian Strategy is very easy to implement and follow —”a bunch of ETFs with a few changes at the end of each month“, some will say despectivelly—, so many will consider that it is not worth paying for it.
A couple of thoughts: First, achieving the simplicity of the Austrian Strategy is the result of having sailed oceans of complexity for years and being wrong many times —we have all had moments where we thought we had discovered the Holy Grail. Until all non-value-adding elements in investing have been cleared out: Is the via negative applied to investing. As Leonardo da Vinci put briefly:
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Secondly, I believe that every sensible investor is more interested in the effectiveness and soundness of the investment strategy, rather than in how sophisticated and fancy it looks. Choosing a strategy for how sophisticated it looks would be to fall into the fallacy and common mistake of confusing complexity with effectiveness (remember the fiasco of the LTCM Fund, managed by two Nobel Prices and with loads of sophistication).
Transparency
The transparency and clarity of the Austrian Strategy investment process —in just 3 steps 1, 2 and 3— brings value to the investor by avoiding unrealistic expectations, marketing tricks, and hidden agendas. Transparency also implies that I am not trying to hide anything. What is best for my own investments will also be better for the Newsletter subscriber, and I will openly explain it. I believe that making my expertise and know-how accessible to everyone has a positive impact in several ways.
As no one likes to be tricked, transparency and honesty lead to increased loyalty. In the long term, being transparent and sharing knowledge (not only making it public but explaining, teaching) also levels the field for everyone, which allows for informed, sensible investments decisions.
Caveat Emptor
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the investor himself to decide whether to fall for the fancy neon-lights of the industry and its FOMO, or truly seek the best for his savings. I can show the way and share the truths that I have discovered in my more than two decades in the markets. But the last word —the decision to act in their own best interest—, it will always be in the hands of the investor himself.