Which investor tribe are you?

In today's era of market volatility - where major policy announcements from the world's largest economy are often made on platforms like X (Twitter) and Truth Social - it has become increasingly challenging for investors to manage portfolio risk. Should one 'buy the dip,' 'cut losses,' adjust asset allocation or take a completely different approach? The truth is that investing is as much a psychological game as it is a financial one. Investor biases - such as hope, fear and overconfidence - frequently drive decisions more than analysis does. A book titled 'The Art of Execution: How the World's Best Investors Get It Wrong and Still Make Millions' by Lee Freeman-Shor offers insights for investors navigating such uncertain times. Freeman-Shor, a fund manager who has managed over $1 billion in assets at Old Mutual Global Investors, earned recognition as one of the world's top fund managers in Citywire 1000 in 2012. His 16-year career, including roles at Schroders and Winterthur, provided him with insights into the role of psychology in investment strategy. Lessons from a seven-year experiment Freeman-Shor's book draws from an intriguing seven-year experiment (2006-2013) where he allocated between $25 million and $150 million to each of 45 elite investors. Their directive was simple: invest in your 10 best ideas. After analysing 1,866 investments and 30,874 trades, Freeman-Shor uncovered a surprising truth: only 49 per cent of these "best ideas" generated profits. Yet many investors still achieved substantial returns. The secret, according to Freeman-Shor, lies not in picking winners but in execution - how investors handle both losing and winning positions. He categorises their behaviours into five distinct "tribes" across two scenarios: losing investments (Rabbits, Assassins, Hunters) and winning investments (Raiders, Connoisseurs). These tribes reveal the psycholo

This article was originally published on May 01, 2025.