It went without mention at the time, but a few weeks back we ticked over 600 columns/articles/ blog posts. So, before we get too much further into writing our next 600, we thought it was a milestone worthy of reflection.
We started writing back in 2010 after being offered a column in our local newspaper, The Advocate.
Back then it was under Peter’s name, and together with Daniel, they’d come up with a topic for the column. Daniel would then ghost write it and Peter would check it over for editing and approval. It was submitted on the Friday and published in the newspaper the following Monday.
As we do today, we talked about various financial topics and how to keep out of financial trouble. Hopefully we helped some people, but there were some limitations. Specifically, the word count was the biggest issue. Column space limited us to 300 words. To understand how quickly words are used up, you’ve just read word 150 in this sentence. There was also no space for charts.
When the column ended about 4-1/2 years later, we took a month off and resolved to keep at it. We’d just revamped our website from a static one, to one with an easily updatable blog section, giving us a new space to take advantage of ongoing posts. It was an opportunity to branch out with more words, explain things more thoroughly and take advantage of the ability to use charts when called for.
These days, Daniel either comes up with an idea or an adviser suggests a topic they’ve come across recently. Daniel will write it and then uses Read Aloud in Microsoft Word to listen for mistakes. One of our advisers checks it over, suggests any required edits, and then gives the thumbs up.
At a rough estimate we’ve now clocked well over 400,000 words. The columns are adapted and borrowed by colleagues, some have even been published in the financial media, but the main reason we keep writing is it allows us to keep in touch with you. Hopefully it keeps you informed, gives you something that might be worth thinking about, and you get to hear from the people who are entrusted with an important role in your life. It reinforces what we believe around investing and advice.
Externally, it draws traffic to our website, it builds credibility with search engines like Google, so hopefully when someone searches for a financial adviser in our area we’ll be ranked in a high position. Inevitably, having a lot of posts on our website draws traffic from Tasmania, Australia, and all over the world. Hopefully if people land on an article it will also inform them and give them something to think about.
We only have to analyse the traffic that lands on our website to understand that investing is still very much a point of confusion for many. Misconceptions have hijacked many minds. There are beliefs that you can cheat your way ahead of the pack or that there’s a global conspiracy between major asset managers to control all the companies in the world and ruin peoples’ lives.
Since it was published in 2019 the most visited blog post on our website by a wide margin is “The Cheat Codes to Successful Investing” it’s a criticism of the ASX Sharemarket Game. Every time the game starts up, the traffic spikes. Viewing our google search console, which tells you the terms people use to find your website, shows what they’re searching for “asx sharemarket game cheats”.
We’d like to believe a few of them digest the message, but it shows there’s a belief out there that investing can be gamed and there are short cuts to riches.
More recently, “Down the Rabbit Hole” from last year has been seeing the most traffic. This one highlights the conspiracy theories that have popped up around asset managers, Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street. We can only hope we’ve informed some people on this one. Being duped by conspiracy theories and lies is a tragedy for investors, and anyone in general.
At this point, we’ll turn it over exclusively to Daniel (without editing) as he generally comes up with the ideas and writes most of the words.
Hi! As I’m writing on behalf of myself, firstly thanks for reading over the years. I do various different tasks between Mancell Financial and our licensee FYG Planners, but writing these columns has been the most enduring one. It’s taught me a lot, as I often need to dig into data, read reports and papers, or cross check something, which all help with other things I do. There will always more to learn, but here are a few important things I’ve picked up.
Opinion doesn’t matter against the market. If you’re looking for validation in trying to get things right, the market’s the wrong place and it will teach you lessons. Over the long term the stats show the market’s up a lot more than its down. If you’re trying to wait out bad news, the market might run away from you. Then when you finally relent, it will probably teach you a lesson by going down!
Your adviser is on your side. When it comes to your adviser, they invest the same way as you and stay patient through every downturn and correction, just like they advise. They may take more or less risk, depending on their goals, but it’s all the same philosophy. I’m no different, I invest the same amount of money each month, no matter what is happening. If your adviser says it, they believe it because behind the scenes they’re doing exactly as they tell you.
Advice is about delegation. To have a relationship with a financial adviser a person needs to ask themselves “do I need and want to delegate?” A person may not be interested in managing their finances. They may not have the time. They may believe it’s too complex. They may believe they don’t have the temperament etc etc. It could be any reason or a combination of reasons. When they’ve reached that conclusion, they then must put a value on delegating. Paying someone can be a hurdle, but the results of not delegating to someone with a defined set of principles appear regularly in the media. Investors who should have delegated, but didn’t, lose a lot of money because they never asked, “should I delegate?”
The media is mostly entertainment. That includes news. And news is usually done under the horror genre. Last Saturday there were two stories on the evening news about the US debt ceiling crisis. Both highlighted how a failure to reach a deal could throw the global economy into chaos. A deal was more likely than not, but there was no mention about what would happen if a deal was done! Less than 18 hours after that news broadcast, the deal was done. No global chaos.
Evidence, goals, and a plan are important. One of the benefits in this job is having access to data, it becomes the evidence that cuts through nonsense very quickly. Goals and a plan bring context to risk. If you know where you’re going and why, an adviser can better model scenarios offering a clearer picture of what’s required to arrive where you want to be.
Thanks for reading.
This represents general information only. Before making any financial or investment decisions, we recommend you consult a financial planner to take into account your personal investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs
