What caught my eye this week.
I wrote a big comment under Fire V London’s fascinating post [1] about how a tech billionaire of his acquaintance goes about investing. But then the Blogger comment system thing caused problems, as it often seems to, and it ate my second attempt.
(Perhaps the billionaire could fix that technology?)
The gist was I found myself hugely jealous. Not of the billion quid – bizarrely enough to most of the world, but perhaps not to some of you – but of the billionaire’s lifestyle.
His gadding around the world investing in start-ups and staying engaged with the latest big trends sounds like my dream day job:
David specialises ‘value-added’ angel investing, mostly (or possibly exclusively) in the tech sector. His investments vary in size from $500k to €10m+.
He has 30+ such investments and is reasonably hands-on with several.
My impression is he is looking for visionary, ambitious businesses based in Europe, where he can put some serious money to work – and he is not afraid of being the biggest shareholder.
The only way I can really justify my dabbling in unlisted equities is because I want to try to develop some similar skills to do this. But I know I’m just a baby version of this bloke.
Of course I also need to develop the spare capital to put to work to fund such ultra-risky investing… but that’s where the rest of my portfolio comes in!
Fellow investing junkies can read the whole post here [1].
From Monevator
A friend asks: Should I put all my money into this can’t lose cryptocurrency venture? – Monevator [2]
From the archive-ator: Coping with the guilt of losing money – Monevator [3]
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber.1 [4]
Visa apologises after system crash causes card payments chaos – Guardian [5]
Traders with pockets full of crypto quit Wall Street and The City – Bloomberg [6]
Why does it take so long to sell a property? [Search result] – FT [7]
UK house prices slip as market loses momentum – Telegraph [8]
Landlords are selling down a net 3,800 properties a month – ThisIsMoney [9]
‘David’ takes aim at ‘Goliath’ Invesco in row over fund fees [Search result] – FT [10]
Get lucky: meet the competition addicts raking in thousands – Guardian [11]
A judge sides with parents and rules their 30-year old son must rule out – CNN [12]
‘I have lost £50,000 I didn’t have to lose’: cold-called investors stung by wind farm bond scheme – CityWire [13]
[14]The myth of the 20-year old entrepreneur – MIT Management [15] [via Abnormal Returns [16]]
Products and services
RBS/Natwest credit card holders warned spending could be ‘frozen’ under new rules – Guardian [17]
Don’t get thrown off by sustainable fund labels [US but relevant] – Morningstar [18]
The FCA has published an FAQ for customers of bust broker Beaufort securities… – FCA [19]
…UK investor society Sharesoc says write to your MP about the issues raised – Sharesoc [20]
What medical treatment costs in various holiday destinations, and the cost of insurance – Telegraph [21]
“How did Amazon know my new Visa card information before me?” – Guardian [22]
Do you know you can now make peer-to-peer investments in an innovative finance ISA and earn interest tax-free? RateSetter will pay you £100 (and me a bonus) if you invest £1,000 for a year via my affiliate link – RateSetter [23]
Comment and opinion
How about now? – The Irrelevant Investor [24]
Investing is overrated, and other lessons learned over 25 years – Morningstar [25]
Holding through a crash: Easy in theory, difficult in practice – Of Dollars and Data [26]
Humphreys, Rwanda, and why you should invest in frontier markets [Search result] – FT [27]
The Lifetime Allowance for pensions explained – Young FI Guy [28]
Looking behind the obituaries of those frugal and secret millionaires – Humble Dollar [29]
Tim Harford: I can make one confident forecast. My forecasts will fail [Search result] – FT [30]
Playing in traffic – A Wealth of Common Sense [31]
The real reasons people take financial advice – Money Marketing [32]
Investing is no place for ‘Once upon a time’ – The Value Perspective [33]
Robert Shiller thinks Bitcoin will probably go extinct – Dealbreaker [34]
Kindle book bargains
How To Be F*cking Awesome by Dan Meredith – £0.99 on Kindle [35]
Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches by Carlo Ancelotti – £1.99 on Kindle [36]
Successful Self-Publishing: How to self-publish and market your book in ebook and print by Joanna Penn – £0.00 on Kindle [37]
Brexit
Here are 11 Brexit promises the government quietly dropped – The Guardian [38]
The first Swiss lesson for Brexit Britain: Negotiations never end – Prospect [39]
It was a mistake for the Government to equate Brexit with leaving a European customs union and the single market – Evening Standard [40]
Off our beat
Why no-one answers their phone anymore – The Atlantic [41]
Newly created molecule could prevent the common cold – Imperial College London [42]
Obituary: Musician Glenn Branca, 1948-2018 – Wire [43]
Ethiopia already is the China of Africa – Bloomberg [44]
Benedict Come-and-get-some – Telegraph [45]
And finally…
“Churchill sent Keynes a cable reading, ‘Am coming around to your point of view.’ His Lordship replied, ‘Sorry to hear it. Have started to change my mind.’ ”
– Philip E. Tetlock, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction [46]
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- Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”. [↩ [51]]