6 tips to keep your growth portfolio compounding for the long term

Long-term growth investing isn't about chasing the latest market trend or reacting to daily headlines. It's about patience, discipline, and a well-thought-out strategy. 

Over the past two weeks, we heard some incredible insights from experts on growth investing. The depth and detail were impressive, but let’s be honest, so much information can feel a little overwhelming for the everyday investor.

What stood out, though, was the consistency. Across the board, there were clear common themes that emerged.

The truth is, investing does not need to be complicated. Often it is about cutting through the noise and focusing on a few practical ideas you can actually use.

So I have pulled together some of the key tips that really stood out. These are simple, actionable takeaways anyone can apply to their own growth portfolio at home.

Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, these insights aim to provide a solid foundation for long-term wealth creation.

Tip #1 - Follow the earnings

Qiao Ma, Munro Partners

Growth investing is really exciting and is very easy to get very enamoured with the trend. I constantly have investors come to me and say, what about electric vehicles? What about quantum computing? The standard answer from the Munro team will be, well, show me the earnings growth and I'll show you what I think about it.

Ma says discipline is key: if you have conviction in a long-term trend and you can back it with a spreadsheet that shows earnings could double in five years, then it's worth investing. Otherwise, “it's just an interesting story”.

Tip #2 - Time is a growth investors friend

Matthew Cho, Vanguard

“Investors that can see through the noise, take a long-term perspective, are typically rewarded with strong risk adjusted returns.”

Cho reinforces the accepted wisdom - that time in the markets beats timing the market. It's worth reiterating, and is a lesson drawn from Vanguard’s long experience in watching real growth stories unfold. 

He also stresses the importance of diversification across geographies, sectors, and investment styles to build resilience and improve the potential for strong, risk-adjusted returns.

Tip #3 - Build a plan (and stick to it!)

Sebastian Mullins, Schroders

“Obviously it's very hard to time markets. So if you're investing for the long-term, think about where to allocate. Pick your growth managers, pick your equity allocation...average investors should focus on their overall asset allocation and leave the dynamism to the experts."

The recent market volatility has reinforced the value of professional fund management, according to Mullins. As he puts it, navigating uncertainty is what professional fund managers are trained to do; it’s a career built on discipline, process, and experience. 

His message to investors is that in order to sleep well at night, to focus on overall strategy, and let the professionals handle the asset allocation.

Tip #4 - Let the compounders do the heavy lifting

Dushko Bajic, First Sentier Investors

“Focus on the long-term compounders…the stocks where you don't have to put as much work into working out whether this business can continue to grow for a long period of time. Sometimes your best stocks are really obvious. They're sitting there in front of you.”

With three decades of experience under his belt, Bajic knows that not every winner comes wrapped in hype. 

He points to HUB24 (ASX: HUB) as a classic example of a quiet achiever gaining market share and compounding steadily in the background. It may not be flavour of the month, but that's exactly the point.

Tip #5 - Good management is a key ingredient for success

Hashan De Silva, KP Rx

In biotech investing, it's easy to think the IP, whether it's a drug or a device, is what matters most. For De Silva,

"I learned very quickly, that's just not the case. A good management team will find a place in the market for a bad drug and a bad management team will run a good drug into the ground."

De Silva stresses the importance of management and the team, and how understanding their skills, track record, and their way of thinking, is critical. For biotech and the direct implication on the health of patients, it is particularly high stakes. Rationality and discipline is what sets great investors apart.

Tip #6 - Volatility isn't risk - look through the noise

Joshua Cummings, Janus Henderson Investors

"You should be a skeptic in the short term, but a raging optimist over the long term. That's the right sort of default setting for a successful long-term growth investor."

Unlike speculative assets, like bitcoin, or gold that doesn’t generate cash flow, stocks go up, not down, over time. Quality businesses generate cashflow, and that’s what drives long-term returns.

Cummings points to Amazon as an example - even if you'd waited a full decade after its IPO and bought in just before the GFC, you’d still be up 68x today. The power of investing in disruptive companies with strong leadership is their ability to adapt, scale, and surprise.

Of course, every long-term thesis will face bumps. But, Cummings notes, volatility isn’t the same as risk. If you’re investing for the long term, short-term swings are just noise.

For more insights or to watch the interviews in full, head to the Livewire Growth Series page.