10 lessons to weather market storms

Summary: Markets crash, recover and investors move on. But some lessons deserve to stick. James Montier’s 10 rules from the aftermath of 2008 remain eerily relevant today. This piece revisits those timeless truths and why they matter more than ever. After the global financial crisis of 2008–09, many believed the investing world would never be the same. For a while, it seemed true—markets were shaken, trust was broken, and risky behaviour had been exposed. But by mid-2009, stock prices were rising again. Confidence returned faster than caution. Just like that, it felt as if the crash had been little more than a bad dream. James Montier, then a strategist at asset management firm GMO and one of the most respected voices in behavioural finance, was alarmed by this rush to forget. In early 2010, he published a powerful white paper titled, ‘Was It All Just A Bad Dream?’ In it, he listed 10 lessons that investors should have learned from the crisis but didn’t. 15 years later, his words are just as relevant. Each lesson reflects not only market behaviour but human behaviour. If we want to be better investors, it helps to remember what Montier warned us about. 1. Markets aren’t always right Montier starts by challenging a belief that many in finance take for granted—the idea that markets are efficient. But Montier calls this belief dangerous. He argues that faith in EMH led investors and policymakers to ignore clear signs of trouble in the years leading up to 2008. Because people assumed that markets couldn’t be wrong, they didn’t question what was happening, even when risks were rising fast. Case in point: Despite a history of losses, Zomato had a euphoric listing which ultimately crashed by around 50 per cent when reality ultimately set in. 2. Chasing others can hurt your own results Montier next targets the ob

This article was originally published on August 01, 2025.