2012年5月13日 星期日
2012年5月3日 星期四
2012年1月11日 星期三
2012年1月8日 星期日
2011年12月31日 星期六
Fifth Third's Wirtz on Investment Strategy, Stocks
2011年12月30日 星期五
S&P's Young on Stock Market Outlook, Strategy
2011年7月8日 星期五
2011年5月29日 星期日
Angel Investing: if this is Such a Hot Wealth Creation Strategy, Why Don't More Millionaires Do It
A 2006 national survey of angel investor groups actively investing in private companies revealed that 66% of their members do not actively invest because of their lack of knowledge of the process, not because the opportunity was considered too risky. When I heard this statistic and called the firm conducting the survey to confirm, I couldn't believe that was the primary reason aggressive sophisticated investors didn't invest in private companies. So many exciting emerging growth companies struggle to find growth capital from angel investors. On average, only 23% of the companies that qualify to be considered by angel investor groups actually receive investment. Although, there are many factors that drive this low percentage such as valuation of the company, structure of the investment offering, and validity of the business model, this study revealed that the biggest reason an investor doesn't invest is completely outside of the control of the entrepreneur. The potential investors simply are uncomfortable with the process of private equity investment and their desire to participate does not supersede their fear of uncertainty.
Private Equity investing is a wealth creation strategy used by sophisticated millionaires. First championed by legendary aristocrats JP Morgan and J. Paul Getty, millionaires interested in wealth creation and not just wealth preservation, understand that by buying a companies' stock at wholesale before the company goes public and then selling those stocks at retail prices produces the greatest return on investment. A $15,000 investment in Home Depot or Microsoft before they went public could be worth between $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 today.
I first became aware of the need for millionaires to learn about the private equity investing process when a few wealth managers and investors came to me seeking information on how to be an angel investor. I couldn't believe there wasn't information readily available. Yes, there were many books at the library or book store regarding private equity investing. Most are oriented toward the entrepreneur or read like a text book. I realized that very wealthy people don't want to spend hours and hours reading theory on angel investing when they could be playing golf or spending time with their family. They want to learn how to take their experiences and apply that to private equity investing. Affluent people invest in private companies to make more money, of course, but also for the gratifying feeling of being able to point to a successful company and to be able to say they were a part of that success. Entrepreneurs are visionaries and angel investors are entrepreneurs that have the capacity to catch another entrepreneur's vision and the generous nature to impart their experience and wealth to repeat their success in another entrepreneurial endeavor.
I found from talking to many investors that many of them learned about investing by doing or by being mentored by others. Unfortunately, during the dot.com bomb period, this translated into learning by losing. For investors today, that just isn't acceptable. Affluent people who want to invest in early stage companies want a way to learn about angel investing the same way they might learn about investing in real estate or the stock market. They want books that are comprehensive, yet easy to digest and apply. They want to be able to attend seminars and workshops. They want access to the specific information they need to fill a gap in their experience and knowledge as it relates specifically to the art and science of angel investing. They want to be part of a group with other investors that is informal so it is flexible, yet structured so they have planned times to meet and review and consider opportunities. They want to have access to a team to help them perform due diligence on an opportunity. Private equity investing is new for many successful men and women who aspire to take a portion of their wealth and put it at risk to get a greater reward than what they can get through traditional investments.
The Network of Business Angels & Investors (NBA&I) offers an environment for those new to the idea of angel investing to come into a community of experienced private equity investors to share their experience and to learn how to apply their experience in traditional investing and real estate investing to private equity investing. NBA&I offers its members and guests access to e-books and workshops on topics pertinent to the world of angel investing.
Angel investors are a critical source of capital for early stage companies to go from start up to bankable or VC-able. Without a thriving angel investor community to bring their capital and experience to the aid of fledgling early stage companies, our economy will suffer because there won't be small businesses to grow into big businesses. According to the same research report, angel investors invested $23.1 billion in 2005 and created 198,000 jobs. A total of 49,500 entrepreneurial ventures received funding in 2005, a modest 3.1% increase over 2004. The market is on an upswing and our economic recover can be even stronger with more investment in free enterprise and by helping wealthy investors to get comfortable with the process of private equity investing so that the number of investors that have a desire to invest and do invest grows from 33% to greater than 50%. That would mean another $10B could be invested into early stage companies adding at least another 80,000 jobs to our economy. The long term impact for wealth creation, job creation and economic growth is immeasurable.
Karen Rands spent the last 4 years, in the tough economic market, figuring out what works for the investors and the entrepreneurs and developing the curriculum necessary to educate a new generation of Angel Investors. To further her commitment to connecting investors with qualified companies, she launched the Launch Funding Network http://www.launchfn.com and acquired the Network of Business Angels and Investors http://www.nbai.net
Qualified investors are invited to join this growing national network of high net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors committed to providing experience and capital to worthy early stage companies. Entrepreneurs wishing to connect with angel investors should Register at LAUNCHfn. If you are interested in getting involved in a community of investors, please visit http://www.learntobeanangelinvestor.com to receive a free ebook: The 5 Secrets of Billionaire Investors.
2011年5月25日 星期三
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Completely Revised and Updated)
The million-copy bestseller, revised and updated with new investment strategies for retirement and the insights of behavioral finance.
Updated with a new chapter that draws on behavioral finance, the field that studies the psychology of investment decisions, here is the best-selling, authoritative, and gimmick-free guide to investing. Burton Malkiel evaluates the full range of investment opportunities, from stocks, bonds, and money markets to real estate investment trusts and insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets such as gold and collectibles. This edition includes new strategies for rearranging your portfolio for retirement, along with the book’s classic life-cycle guide to investing, which matches the needs of investors in any age bracket. A Random Walk Down Wall Street long ago established itself as a must-read, the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio. So whether you want to brief yourself on the ways of the market before talking to a broker or follow Malkiel’s easy steps to managing your own portfolio, this book remains the best investing guide money can buy.Price: $18.95
2011年5月24日 星期二
Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week!
Phil Town is now a very wealthy man, but he wasn't always. In fact, he was living on a salary of $4000 a year when some well-timed advice launched him down a highway of investing self-education that revealed what the true "rules" are and how to make them work in one's favor. Chief among them, of course, is "rule #1": "don't lose money." Other rules are: don't diversify...think like an owner, not an investor ... never, ever be seduced into thinking the market is efficient. Town also believes strongly in "betting on the jockey," putting your faith in managers who've proven their financial mettle. Not only does Town reveal fresh methods for identifying who the truly reliable managers are, but he shows you how to test whether they really have faith in the businesses they're running. By far, the most controversial of the audiobook's assertions will be that giant 401(k) type mutual funds can't help but regress to the mean, and in the next twenty years, the mean could be very disappointing indeed. There's a very real chance that a 401(k) investor could see his holdings not grow at all in the next few decades. Fortunately, Town's stockpicking techniques are meant to walk investing phobes through the do-it-yourself process, equipping them with the tools they need to make quantum leaps toward financial security.
Rule #1 says something new, and it says it in a way that every listener can understand.
From the Compact Disc edition.
Price: $15.00
Investing Basics - The Ultimate Top Tips for Creating a Successful Investing Strategy
What was once a domain of the wealthy is now open to just about anybody who wants to get involved. Many have become burnt by the prospects and risks of investing in the financial markets, making about 50% of investors the "mom and pop" types that own their own shares. World governments are making it clear that people need to take care of their own finances as government pensions are under pressure. Nobody wants to let their retirement go up in smoke.
Most people are retired for about half of the time that they were in the workforce, 40 years working and 20 years retired on average. If you intend on living well in this time then it is imperative that you educate yourself about investing. This is still true if you go with a licensed investment advisor, you should know how the market works to inquire about their philosophies. Become familiar with the investment language to decide if a strategy is sound and right for you.
Perseverance is one of the single biggest keys to investing, don't put everything under the bed to save, and don't expect to become rich overnight. Don't think that you will learn everything overnight, but you should consider the following about the basic rules of successful investing:
1. Manage your investments yourself. You really shouldn't let a stockbroker or financial advisor do it for you. As with most things in your life, you really know what you want and need, not your investment guy.
2. Spread your investments, though not too much, to reduce the risk possible.
3. Don't simply do what everyone else is doing, try being the chief contrarian. Find what they are doing and try the opposite every now and then.
4. Master the talk; don't be left out in the cold when investors talk the trade.
5. Don't shy away from a market staring gloomily at the future - this is potentially the better time to buy. Don't wait for things to get better, that's when everybody else will join in.
6. Good quality shares should be your core, and then go to the speculative areas.
7. You must always bear in mind the various implications to your future tax payments when investing but never let minimising the tax be the one and only or sole objective. Always try and follow a sensible rule of thinking in terms of reducing your tax returns so long as the investment is sound for other reasons as well.
8. Read the financial papers avidly and search for independent or unsponsored investment research sites to keep you on the cutting edge.
9. Investment discussion can be very interesting, even with those who make you feel inferior.
10. Don't be greedy or fall into the trap of writing "just a little bit longer to see what happens". Be strict with yourself that you'll cut your losses as soon as they appear from any bad investments and likewise, cash-in when you've made a reasonable profit - certainly to the point of securing your initial outlay in those rare cases with investments that climb massively.
11. Patience is a virtue; you won't be in the outhouse today and the penthouse tomorrow.
12. Don't invest into something you don't really understand. Investments that sound 'too good to be true', are exactly that! Avoid!
13. Make sure that you pay yourself enough before investing. Now, the general way of things for the majority of people investing their money is that they take whatever they have left over from settling that months bills and use it all. Normally - they then discover they've not left anything in case of emergency and are having to borrow to pay for an unexpected purchase or expense!
Instead, set yourself a % from your monthly income that you'll use for building up your investment capital, the lump sum starter! A major benefit of doing this is that by doing it this way, you soon get entrenched in best practise and almost force yourself into becoming a long term investor - who reaps the rewards of a carefully constructed approach!
These basics aren't everything you need to know - but they are certainly some of the most important cornerstones from which you should be able to build up a very successful and secure investing strategy that will pay you good, strong dividends in the future - in more than just money!
Duncan Roberts has been investing and growing his funds year after year - based on sensible and logical rules he set himself when starting out. You can read more of his investing strategy and practical investment advice at http://www.theadvicecentre.info/investing/investing-advice/investing-strategy.htm
2011年5月23日 星期一
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Completely Revised and Updated)
The best investment guide money can buy, with over 1.5 million copies sold, now fully revised and updated. Especially in the wake of the financial meltdown, readers will hunger for Burton G. Malkiel’s reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free, and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio, A Random Walk Down Wall Street features new material on the Great Recession and the global credit crisis as well as an increased focus on the long-term potential of emerging markets. Malkiel also evaluates the full range of investment opportunities in today’s volatile markets, from stocks, bonds, and money markets to real estate investment trusts and insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets such as gold and collectibles. These comprehensive insights, along with the book’s classic life-cycle guide to investing, chart a course for anyone seeking a calm route through the turbulent waters of the financial markets.Price: $29.95