Assisted Thinking

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen

One of the issues I see when speaking to investors, something I do a lot and genuinely like doing, is what I would call their «assisted thinking».

«You must not run after money; you must go towards it.»
Aristoteles Onassis

Influence

Our surroundings, family, friends, the media, social contacts, gurus, religion, books, tv, radio, politicians, bankers, a former Swiss tennis superstar, an actor playing a former FBI agent and analysts, you name it, do influence us all. But, of course, this is nothing new; I have written about it many times.

Assisted thinking

What do I mean by assisted thinking? I mean that too many investors are adopting the ideas and arguments of people (who are perhaps even long dead) without questioning how these people arrived at their ideas (economic and political environment, time period, level of education, personal beliefs, religious background, spirituality, etc.). For example, a former Swiss tennis superstar was promoting Credit Suisse as an Asset Manager for years. I suppose the main reason was that Credit Suisse offered him a frivolous amount of money for doing it, not because he was known to be a skilled selector of asset managers and chose Credit Suisse because of their excellency. What do you think the people feel that invested due to that ads campaign in all the Credit Suisse products that went bust over the last years? Alternatively, an actor that crosses my mind, a very cool actor indeed, promoted cryptos just before the previous crypto crash. I imagine he did this promotion (which was very well done, by the way) because he was paid well and not because of his expertise in blockchain and digital assets.

Fair enough

If corporates are happy to pay big heaps of money to well-known people to help them promote their products, this is all fine and if the famous people cash in handsomely, fair enough. But why on earth would investors conclude that a tennis player or an actor, a priest, guru, neighbour, taxi driver, hairdresser or a long-dead economist, if you want, i.e. people with limited academic records or limited knowledge of today’s rather complex financial environment, would be suitable in giving them any advice on choosing a bank or an investment?

Context

Ladies and Gentlemen, this beats me! I do not understand, yet I am confronted with it regularly. Please always try understanding the context of statements, advice, news, information, and research. Always ask yourself why they said, concluded, wrote, or recommended what they did. Because even the greatest of all times have their very personal views, thoughts, ideas and agendas. It would be a coincidence if they matched perfectly with yours. Come to your own conclusions, limiting assisted thinking to the max.

Next week

We are getting close to the beginning of March. Time to start another year-end competition. Let me know what you would like to include. I am aiming at three different asset classes.

Please feel free to share your ideas and thoughts with me, but please do not forget (instead of hitting the reply button) to send your messages to smk@incrementum.li

Many thanks, indeed!

I wish you an excellent start to the day, a wonderful weekend, and above all, joy!

Yours truly,

Stefan M. Kremeth
CEO & Head of Wealth Management
Incrementum AG – we love managing assets

Tel.: +423 237 26 60
Cell: +41 79 303 48 39
Im alten Riet 102
9494 Schaan/Liechtenstein
Mail: smk@incrementum.li