Expert Advice with Cam McLellan 19/1/2016
I’m very curious to hear if anyone followed the Shares Race in The Age last year. With the recent revelations in the share market, the memory of this article came back to me. The article was very similar to a maths exercise we did at school in year 10. The teacher said, “Kids, you’ve got $10,000 - invest your ‘money’ in the stock market and let’s see who comes out with the most in a month.”

So each week we would track whether our stocks went up or down and at the end we would figure out whether we had made or lost any money.

The Age article featured a broad range of “investors” including a school student, a Financial Review representative, a research group, a Money representative, a uni student, The Investors Club, a Chartist and a Dartboard (where someone would literally throw a dart, at a dartboard with share options on it). At the end of the experiment guess who came out on top? The school student! The Dartboard even managed to beat the experts. It is pretty scary that a teenager, a uni student and a strategy of investing by throwing darts at a board could beat some major financial advisors or investment clubs.

Back in the day I made, what was a mistake for me, of investing in shares. I don’t begrudge anyone for taking any road to try and build wealth, so if it is shares for you, that’s fantastic. However, as an investor, I think if you are putting your money with a money manager or financial planner to invest in a spread of shares, you need to understand the research that is going into selecting those companies.

The majority of listed companies have annual reports, so check for updates. Understand the management team, balance sheet, cash flow statement, the profit and loss statement and the industry that they’re in. What sort of upside is there? Have there been any improvements in the business? Understanding these fundamentals before investing in a company is the key.

Always make sure you do thorough research before investing your hard earned money, no matter what strategy you decide to follow.

.

Director of OpenCorp, Cam McLellan is committed to sharing his passion and property investment knowledge with everyday Australians.

After thriving in the telecommunications, technology and recruitment sectors and making six BRW Lists in 8 years, alongside accomplished OpenCorp. entrepreneurs Matthew Lewison and Allister Lewison, founded OpenCorp eight years ago.

 

Cam started investing in real estate at a young age and quickly mastered the art of building sustainable wealth. He has used the same wealth building strategy to develop a multi-million dollar business, sharing his knowledge and skill with ordinary Australians. Cam has personally bought, sold and developed numerous properties and has an extensive residential and commercial investment portfolio.

Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.