While there are tons of investment strategies and philosophies that investors adopt (see Investment Strategies), here at Fundsupermart, we are advocates of value investing. Value Investing is an investment strategy where an investor buys an asset when the asset is undervalued (asset's market price is below its intrinsic or fair value) and sells the asset when the asset is overvalued (asset's market price is above its intrinsic value). Value investing allows the investor to profit as the market value of the asset is bound to move towards its intrinsic value when the market recognises previously unnoticed traits about the asset, thus leading the value investor who has bought his asset previously to see price appreciation and the value investor who has sold his asset previously to see its price decline. This satisfies one of the basic, yet ever-important, rules of investing, the 'Buy Low, Sell High' rule. Notice that the asset's price, in isolation, is not a deciding factor of when to buy and sell, but rather the difference between the asset's intrinsic value and its price is. Below are some of the common beliefs that we at Fundsupermart and many value investors strongly advocate:

"Know what you own, and know why you own it."

One of our major beliefs is that an investor should do his homework and much needed due diligence on an asset before deciding whether to invest in it. This would enable him to be more disciplined in his investment decisions and stick to them rather than be easily swayed by the opinions of the masses or financial media, thus enabling him to apply the value investing strategy more successfully. 'Knowing what one owns' also encompasses understanding how the business operates and what the make-or-break factors of the business are, which would enable the value investor to be more vigilant to important factors in relation to his asset, and thus enable him to make more appropriate decisions; be it to sell, underweight, hold, overweight, or buy the asset; when the time arises.

"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator."

Markets are dynamic and ever-changing, thus leading the task of timing the market an almost impossible one to carry out with precision. Data have shown that even the most professional or sophisticated of investors do not manage to consistently manage to time markets with precision. In fact, even timing market accurately once is an extremely rare case. As long as one does not have a crystal ball with which to predict the future, this task shall always remain a risky game to play. It is with such a believe that investors should therefore be mindful not to rely on speculations when making investment decisions, but rather, the underlying fundamentals of the asset instead.

Say 'No!' to Rear View Mirror Investing:
"If past history was all that is needed to play the game of money, the richest people would be librarians."

While many lessons may be learnt from history, it should not be the cornerstone of investing decisions. Investors should be mindful that past trends are often not indicative of future trends and, to put simply, poor performance of an asset in the past does not necessarily equate to poor future performance of the same asset. Yet, many investors continue to be guilty of relying heavily on past data or trends, leading them to adopt what is called 'rear view mirror investing'. It remains crucial that an investor bases his investment decisions on forward-looking or upcoming events rather than on past performance data of an asset.

While value investing, no doubt, is a considerable investment strategy to undertake, being a successful value investor, however, is not as easy as it may seem! Apart from having a good understanding of the various asset classes and investment products, one needs to embrace the concept of continual learning and adopt the virtues of patience and discipline! For greater detail on these vital traits, do refer to the section on the Key Traits Of Successful Investors! All hyped up and ready to begin on your investment journey? Do be sure to check out the following section, An Introduction To Various Investment Products, which provides a good introduction to the various investment products out there, as well as the various investment product schools!