Peter Churchill-Smith

In pursuit of investment success, it is human nature to look backward for guidance. Unfortunately, it’s also a misguided strategy that can be very costly:

A recent article by Andrew Hallam in Canadian Business magazine suggests we are “hard wired to rely on established patterns” when it comes to investing (read Your Own Worst Investing Enemy). Hallam cited the example that “the average U.S. mutual fund from 1980 to 2005 gained 10% per year. But the average investor in those funds made only 7.3% -- giving up more than one third of their potential earnings each year.” That’s because investors were doing the wrong thing at the wrong time (i.e. selling funds that weren’t performing and buying those that had been doing well and prices were higher).

Now more than ever investors need to be thinking about portfolio changes that will position them for the future not the immediate past.

Coming off of a couple of weeks of topsy turvey markets, it’s understandable if investors are feeling a little rattled these days.

Some comfort may be taken in the perspective of someone who has managed through more than a few bear markets:  Dennis Starritt, one of Canada’s investment luminaries and a key manager of the Newport Canadian Equity Fund.

Dennis joined us for a chat at one of our recent Inside the Tent events (where we bring together thought leaders from our network to discuss topics of interest). Judging from the engagement of the audience – there were more questions than we could accommodate in an hour and a half – he certainly captivated everyone’s attention with his views.  We offer a short recap that may be useful for these times.

At Newport Partners, our perspective is always the same - how does an issue affect the personal and business affairs of our entrepreneur clients and their families?

It was very evident last week that investors were looking past Greece's debt woes to the much larger fiscal problems in Europe. Bold measures were needed to calm the waters ...and fast! The authorities sent a forceful message to the market - "we will do what has to be done".

We had our quarterly visit from Maureen Farrow last week. (Maureen is a highly-respected Canadian economist whom we retain to provide us with economic analysis and briefings.)

All things being equal given the tough economy,she's feeling relatively bullish about Canada's prospects these days. There is an unusual amount of global investor interest in our country and with good reason.

After all, it's no secret that Canada has survived the financial crisis better than almost all other major industrialized nations of the world.

Together with 120 other entrepreneurs from CEO Global (a Toronto-based CEO coaching organization), I spent a morning two weeks ago listening to Christophe Morin, marketing guru and author of Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customer's Brain

The premise of the book - and the talk - was that we can use the latest brain research toredefine our sales messages and deliver them with more impact by better understanding how people make buying decisions.

You are to be forgiven if you are having a hard time trying to sort out all the conflicting news about interest rates and inflation. You're not alone. Even the experts frequently disagree.

This is an important issue for entrepreneurs and investors as many of us borrow money - either personally or corporately (likely both!).

If you've been reading the headlines coming out of the U.S. recently, you know the bottom's falling out of the commercial property market. Defaults, delinquencies and foreclosures on office buildings, retail centres, industrial warehouses, etc. have swept the country. Pretty bearish conditions for mortgage holders on these properties.

In Canada, however, despite a difficult recession, the situation is quite a bit different.  And this is creating opportunities for investors north of the border.

So say Don and Ben Rodney-- two experts who ought to know.