Behavioural Investing

Understanding the Psychology of Investing

What drives investor behaviour? We would all like to think we always behave rationally but in reality we are often swayed by emotions. Most financial theories are based on the idea that everyone takes careful account of all available information before making investment decisions. However, researchers have uncovered a surprisingly large amount of evidence that this is not the case. Dozens of examples of irrational behaviour and repeated errors in judgement have been documented in academic studies. This book gives plenty of examples of investment mistakes, and analyses them from a Behavioural Finance perspective. Behavioural Finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behaviour of investors and their subsequent effect on the markets. It combines the discipline of psychology and economics to explain why and how people make irrational or illogical decisions when they make investment decisions.