Michael Murray: Trading Places

Investment funds’ fees can seriously erode the value of your pension – but if you’re thinking about managing your own portfolio, get ready to learn on the job

Punters now have almost as much information at their fingertips as professional traders Picture: Bloomberg

Very few equity investors who have started out on the investment road have avoided mistakes in their initial years, however strong the overall market is and however well financially educated they are. Things which can be obvious to seasoned operators are rarely so to the beginner.

The mistakes which people make range from mis-assessment of a business model, the inadequacy of financial analysis, the misreading of the market position and/or the market dynamics ...