The stock market allows you to own a small piece of some of the biggest companies in the world and share in their profits, and losses. Their values go up and down all the time, which is called volatility, and you might get back less than you invested. However, investing has the potential to significantly increase your wealth and in order to increase the likelihood of success, here are the principles I follow:

• Focus on what you can control and do not listen to the media noise. The media do not have your best interests in mind. 
• Lifetime investing success has a lot to do with behaviour, not what you know.
• Choose your asset allocation carefully as this will in large part determine your journey. 
• Understand what risk means to you and what it means to your plan. Volatility is only a risk if it leads to a permanent loss of capital. 
• If you are withdrawing capital regularly, invest wisely and withdraw prudently to help avoid this permanent loss of capital. 
• Diversify where possible (e.g. geography, sector, management style & company) to help reduce risk. 
• Money is future purchasing power, and one of your biggest financial threats is inflation. Another is outliving your money. 
• Make sure your investments are aligned to your goals. All lasting successful investing is essentially goal-focused and planning-driven. 
• Inflation compounds over time. Let your money compound too by investing for the long-term. 
• Studies have found your IQ is actually reduced during times of financial stress* - find ways, or someone, who can help you avoid mistakes. 
• Allow your money to have a positive impact on the world, and your returns, by investing responsibly. 
• Make investing a habit. Do it regularly, where possible. 
• Don’t try to time the market. The markets can’t be consistently forecast, much less timed, and historically the only way of capturing superior long-term returns is to sit through their occasionally steep but temporary declines. ‘Time in the market not timing the market.’ 
• Understand all the assets that are available and the most appropriate way to access them, shares being one, and then invest in a process that maximises the potential of success. See Our Approach to Investment Management. 
• Risk should really be measured as the probability that you won’t achieve your goals and investing should have the exclusive objective of minimising that risk. The only benchmark we should care about is the one that indicates whether we are on track to accomplish our goals. 

You can explore some of these themes on SJPTV, in short video format.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested. An investment in equities does not provide the security of capital associated with a bank deposit account or building society.

*The psychology of scarcity: Poverty impedes cognitive function - Science, 341, 976–980. Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013).