1 Introduction:
We, as individual investors, face the challenge of navigating a sea of available information, if we want to participate in the wealth building opportunity investing can give us. To me trading and investing enables independence and freedom – but that is very difficult to actually achieve.
My writing at systematic individual investor is all about empowering you to take responsibility and to be able find the right information and tools, that you need to become a successful, independent investor.
My experiences, being active in the financial markets for 20 years, were often frustrating. Inconsistent strategy jumping and many behavioral mistakes led to consistent underperformance and frequent losses in patterns that form the typical experience of so many investors. I still felt that I was the pawn in this game, unable to avoid bad decisions, that always seemed plain stupid in hindsight – and yet I kept repeating many mistakes.
Anything that was even temporarily successful always had systematic components and incorporated a mechanism forcing me to break these patterns. But the constant barrage of news, overwhelming amounts of information – both good andcompletely useless – and the urge to implement any new idea, kept me from sticking with these simple, good systematic strategies for very long. The pattern kept repeating itself.
As an individual investor managing my own money, I am convinced that it is necessary to have a portfolio framework that one can consistently follow and that is written down in an individually tailored investment plan to be a successful investor over the long term.
I compiled a guide, that I use to structure my own investment approach – it comes from an individual investor´s perspective, hands-on market experience and research. It has finally enabled me to develop my investing and trading in the financial markets into a consistently profitable, professional business.
This rulebook for systematic investing can serve as a guideline to create and evolve a detailed investment plan to manage your own money – be it retirement savings or speculative funds – with success.
It shows ways to use the incredibly valuable information available to us, to combine historically successful investing and trading strategies into a diversified portfolio and how to avoid behavioral biases and other mistakes in execution. And it includes realistic investment goals and ways to measure results.
That having a plan is a good idea, is pretty obvious, but the first overwhelming question we all face is: what do I actually put into my personal investment plan?
How do I boil down everything that is available to me, all those books, research papers, blog posts, articles, newsletters, webinars, podcasts, videos, “magic“ trading strategies and on and on, into a portfolio that fits me personally? My individual financial conditions, goals, preferences and risk tolerance? One that I am confident to hold and adapt to calm or turbulent markets?
This is my blueprint to create and refine such a plan.