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Trump’s Top Six Strategies for Investors in Singapore
Reality TV star, billionaire, and possible future President of the United States, Donald Trump knows how to get what he wants. And his methods are no secret. In 1987 Donald Trump wrote a book called “The Art of the Deal”, in which he outlined his top 11 negotiation strategies. These aren’t investment tips, but they do focus on making better investments. Here we have picked the six best Trump tactics most relevant to investors. (On the subject of Trump… he could be Asia’s worst nightmare – and for Singapore in particular. Download our free report about how Donald Trump could affect Asia, whether or not he becomes the American president – and how you can protect your portfolio, by clicking here.) 1) Think big “I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing to get what I’m after. Sometimes I settle for less than I sought, but in most cases I still end up with what I want.” You can be ambitious when it comes to your investment goals – as long as you don’t expose yourself to too much risk. The lesson is to have investment goals; whether they’re short, medium or long-term. This will help you avoid being distracted by the latest investment fads or the daily deluge of financial information. 2) Protect yourself from the negative and the positive will take care of itself. “I always go into the deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst – if you can live with the worst – the good will always take care of itself.” Balanced pessimism is a valuable asset for any investors: you should always have one eye on the next worst-case scenario. The next financial disaster will be something no one sees coming. However, you can minimise your losses from whatever is around the corner by:
Diversification: Make sure that your wealth is held in various different asset classes.
Don’t borrow too much to invest: Avoid using too much leverage. It just makes investment losses that much worse.
Hedging: Use cash, gold, other non-correlated assets or a combination of all three to insulate yourself from market volatility.
3) Maximize your options “I never get too attached to one deal or one approach…I keep a lot of balls in the air, because most deals fall out, no matter how promising they seem at first.” Don’t get too attached to one stock or asset class. If an investment doesn’t work out, sell it and buy something else. If you like owning gold or property, investigate other options, like bonds and stocks. Then, when property bubbles burst or the gold market dips you’ll feel more comfortable investing in other assets. 4) Enhance your location “Perhaps the most misunderstood concept in all of real estate is that the key to success is location, location, location… First of all, you don’t necessarily need the best location. What you need is the best deal.” This may make most sense to real estate investors, but it also holds true for stock market investors. Take a look at markets or stocks that are being overlooked, or ignored, by other investors. That’s where you’ll often find the best deals and investment opportunities. “Enhancing your location” can also mean looking at investments outside your home market. Not only will it increase your portfolio’s diversification but it can also lead to bigger gains. 5) Fight back “In most cases I’m very easy to get along with. I’m very good to people who are good to me. But when people treat me badly or unfairly or try to take advantage of me, my general attitude, all my life, has been to fight back very hard.” The financial world has more than a few less than scrupulous investment advisors and financial planners. If one of them does something illegal or unethical to cheat you out of money, fight back. One way to do this is to bring your case to the local financial services regulator. In Singapore, that’s The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS); for Hong Kong, it’s The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC); and in the U.S. it’s the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 6) Contain the costs “I believe in spending what you have to. But I also believe in not spending more than you should.” It’s impossible to completely eradicate investment risk, but you can take measures to limit it. But we can all control investment costs. Opening a discount brokerage account is one way to cut costs by saving you a bundle on commission charges. Investing in low-cost index products is another way to avoid spending more than you should on investments. These products, including index funds and exchange-traded funds, track a stock index like the Straits Times Index (STI) or the S&P 500. Not only do they have very low fees, but they often perform better than most professional money managers. Reducing investment fees is one of the easiest ways to increase your investment returns. These common sense strategies have Trump become a billionaire. And they can help you become a better investor. To find out how to protect your portfolio from Trump’s impact on Asian and global markets, download your free copy of our special report here.
Kim Iskyan
