contrarian investing

Going against human instinct and taking a contrarian approach to investing is not for everyone. It takes practice, and commitment in your convictions as well as restraint and patience. For a contrarian investor, getting 60% of your investments right is a good result. But by definition, that means getting it... Show More

Contrarian investing is like an extreme form of value investing; contrarians will make investments that even a bold value manager would baulk at. It’s a fact of investing in unloved (and, in some cases, distressed) companies that some of the companies you invest in will fail. Simon Mawhinney, Chief Investment... Show More

When you invest in a business like AMP, nobody stops you in the street to tell you what a great investment it is. While the businesses that AMP run may not look very appealing, Simon Mawhinney, Chief Investment Officer at Allan Gray Australia, says it’s the price that you pay... Show More

We are so busy in our lives today. Decisions are made instantaneously, but knee-jerk reactions are often the wrong course of action. Taking the time to evaluate a situation can lead to a more informed decision and a better result in the long term. We are human beings not human... Show More

Contrarians can be a lot like teenagers: they think they’re all different but end up looking the same. This however, is not true of this week’s guest, Tim Hillier from Allan Gray. Case in point: when asked what stock he’d own if the market were to close for five years,... Show More

It is not unusual for us to invest in companies that go on to significantly underperform the broader sharemarket. In fact, this happens to us 40% of the time. It is the other 60% of the time and what we do on the back of a significant fall in the... Show More

In an age of social media and smartphones, the challenges faced by investors today are decidedly different to just a few decades ago. With algorithms serving us a consistent diet of content that’s similar to what we’ve ‘liked’, it’s easy to get caught in an echo chamber. Show More

One of the most fundamental principles of capitalism tells us that large am ounts of competition drives down returns. Investing is no different. Justin Koonin, Investment Analyst at Allan Gray, explains why they prefer a contrarian approach. "You're in a segment of the market which is not as competitive as others.... Show More

The list of problems facing Telstra is well known: falling revenues as the NBN rolls out, and declining market share in mobile. As the payments from the NBN begin to roll-off, some have questioned whether Telstra can even maintain its reduced dividend. But it’s precisely this negativity that caught the... Show More

Very few activities in life are both worthwhile and easy, and investing is no exception. While jumping on the latest high-flying momentum stock might win you the support of your friends and colleagues, such a strategy is unlikely to be profitable long-term. “The ultimately most profitable investment actions are by definition... Show More