Thinking differently to most people about investments is essentially trying to understand the big picture, the dominant trends and the drivers behind those trends. Most people don’t do this, because it is simply too much work. An easier option is simply to fall in line with what most people are saying, and in this category we put the majority of investment advice, what we call mainstream advice.

In our view the most successful investors are those who are prepared to think independently and have courage in their convictions. These people are more likely to seek out the most profitable opportunities and focus on those, rather than feeling they have to spread their investments widely across a whole range of different types of assets.

Warren Buffet, the most famous investor in the world, has said that “wide diversification is only required by those who don’t know what they are doing”.

This is one reason that the standard fayre of mainstream advice is ‘managed funds’ and ‘with-profits funds’ and why for example Warren Buffet prefers to invest in silver.

Not following the crowd but following the world’s most successful investor is how we are likely to make much more money from our investments.