How an everyday investor competes with the pros

The Rules of Investing

Livewire Markets

Angie Ellis might not be a 'household name' among investors, but she's racked up quite a track record since she started 8020 Investments about five years ago. See, Angie is a regular entrant to the Fairfax share tipping competition, published in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald each week. And of the seven times she's entered the competition this year, she's won it five times, and came second twice. This is no fluke either, she's consistently been the top performer over several years.

So for my last podcast for 2019 (this was recorded in December), I decided to change up the pace, skip the fund managers, and talk to one of Australia's most successful private investors.

We discuss how she transitioned from a part-time to a full-time investor, and how it's affected her portfolio; her strategy for the tipping competition, and how it compares to her personal portfolio; and she discusses some of the companies that have been key to her success.

Recommended reading:

Time stamps

  • 2:10 – Angie’s journey to become a full-time investor and the challenges involved
  • 6:55 – Her first trade: buying The Reject Shop (ASX:TRS) at $16.75 and selling it two weeks later at $10.80, and the impact that had on her confidence
  • 8:48 – An overview of her research process and current holdings; what she looks for in companies and, interestingly, how she uses social media and networking to find critical information
  • 16:03 – Lessons for private investors from the professionals including the importance of calculating returns, accountability, meeting company management, trying the products of the companies you’re investing in and monitoring directors’ trades
  • 24:00 – Putting theory into practice: Angie discusses Lovisa (ASX:LOV), A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) and BWX (ASX:BWX)
  • 28:20 – Some of the damaging habits retail investors have
  • 33:08 – Her portfolio versus her picks for The Age/SMH shares race
  • 36:05 – Can retail investors be successful at day trading?
  • 38:25 Angie answers our three favourite questions

If you prefer to read...

My colleague Vishal has written an excellent summary of some of the key points in this podcast, which you can read here.

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The Rules of Investing
Livewire Markets

The Rules of Investing is one of Australia's top investing podcasts. We interview the leading investment minds from Australia and overseas to better understand their processes and philosophy. After launching in October 2017, there have been over...

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