Key insights
- An individual investor reflects on the lack of a structured investment system despite managing a substantial portfolio. The post highlights the importance of defined rules for allocation, risk management, entry/exit strategies, and performance tracking. This suggests a potential shift away from discretionary stock picking towards more systematic approaches, which could lead to reduced trading volume in individual equities.
I’ve been managing a mid 7-figure personal portfolio for the past couple of years, across equities, ETFs, and some exposure to alternative assets.
Recently, I’ve realised something uncomfortable:
having money in the market doesn’t automatically mean you have a structured investing system.
It’s easy to explain what you own.
Much harder to clearly define:
– why you own it
– how much to allocate
– when to book profits
– when to cut losses
– how to evaluate what actually worked vs what didn’t
And at a certain level, that lack of structure stops being a small issue.
It becomes a real problem.
So instead of trying to pick better stocks, I’m taking a step back and rebuilding my approach from first principles.
The goal is to build a system with clear rules around:
– allocation
– risk
– entry & exit
– tracking decisions and outcomes
I’m curious
for those of you who have been investing seriously for a while:
what does your system actually look like?
Do you have defined rules, or is it more intuitive?