Keeping it real

"If you are going to panic, do it quickly," joked Hywel George from Integral Asset Management last week, as we pondered what was going on in markets. It was a different kind of discussion because we were joined by a real investor, that is, someone who worries about his modest wealth.

The investor runs a website, which he realises is not going to be the next Google, but which he hopes to make a few quid from. It is very interesting to try and explain to real people what is going on in markets, and it gives me a real insight into the challenges those advising are faced with. “Is a French bank going bust?” “What should I do with gold?” “Why was August so bad for the markets, was it the riots?” Not much to cover there then. Hywel gave a very patient and informed explanation, drawing on his 25 years of experience. I gave more of a shoot-from-the-hip response. “Possi...