Discipline Based Investing is what we hope will become a new standard bearer for how the asset management business operates. At Orcam we believe that good portfolio managers are lot like personal trainers. Portfolio management is similar in many ways to getting healthy – it’s easy in theory and difficult in reality because we are constantly bombarded with biases and temptations. It is difficult to put together an appropriate plan and just stick with it through thick and thin.
Unfortunately, the asset management business sells an almost entirely different story. They sell the idea that they can “beat the market” by picking the best stocks or by identifying the “factors” that lead to better performance. This is misleading at best and a conflict at worst because most investors have no need to beat the market and most managers cannot beat the market consistently. Most investors would be better off investing in an appropriate low cost and tax efficient plan that they will stick with rather than constantly trying to identify the optimal strategy.
Discipline Based Investing is all about creating a systematic, low fee, tax efficient and diversified strategy that is appropriate rather than optimal. And in establishing a disciplined strategy our customers end up generating better performance than the average investor who is undisciplined. We can’t and won’t turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we will implement a disciplined and behaviorally consistent approach that keeps you invested in a plan that will get you in excellent financial shape.