My name is Bertan, born in 1981. For all my life numbers and probabilities fascinated me. Maybe that is why I studied mathematics and started a professional career in financial risk and portfolio management.
Periods of market crashes got my very attention . For many years, I analyzed how markets behave during crash periods. Stock markets then easily lose from -50% to over -70%. And such periods occur regularly throughout history. It is almost certain that it will happen again!
As a result of my analyses, I developed risk indicators and strategies to mitigate losses during these times. They worked so well, that I founded a private investment club with friends in 2012 in which we apply these risk management strategies.
My first encounter with a financial advisor has been after my studies in 2008. He tried to sell me a product claiming I would invest in safe German stocks. Since I have neither mentioned that I wanted to invest in stocks nor specifically in German stocks, I quickly realized that I did not encounter an advisor but a salesman.
Instead of following his “advise” and buying his product, I started to develop my own tools to analyse different investment strategies and their risks. Some key factors for long-term success are easy to evaluate like declared costs, whereas others are harder to validate like expected returns, risks and hidden costs.
For many years, I am now following a multi-layer approach which is also known as a behavioral portfolio approach.
First, regular savings plans for basic financial needs in the near and long future. These are supposed to provide wealth accumulation for my pension age and to have emergency funds available for unexpected short term needs.
Second, trading strategies which I deveoped over time to achieve above-average profits. These strategies are supposed to provide above-average growth potential which may allow me to retire much earlier..
Investment strategies are not only my hobby, but also a key element of my professional career. Since 2008 I gained experience in portfolio management, trading and risk management in insurance companies and commodity hedge funds.
I made many very costly mistakes when I started my financial savings and trading!
When I started my savings, I followed common wisdom and decided to go with so-called less risky investment plans. I did not fully understand the different characteristics of asset classes and their return and risk profiles. A mixed approach appeared therefore the best for me. How wrong I was. If I could talk to myself back then, my wealth accumulation could have been much faster. I assessed risk completely wrong and bought products which have been, and still are, ridiculously expensive.
When I started my personal trading, I have been overly active and opened an account at a broker whose fees were too high. If I could go back, I would tell me how to properly start personal trading, teach me techniques to handle my emotions and how to keep track of what I was doing and to become much more effective in a much shorter period of time.