Robin Wigglesworth – You Can’t Outsmart the Markets

<p><strong>BIO: </strong>Robin Wigglesworth is the editor of Alphaville, the FT’s financial blog. From Oslo, Norway, he leads a team of writers who dig into anything deeply nerdy or plain delightful that they spot in markets, business, or the global economy.</p><p><strong>STORY:</strong> Robin invested in an ETF in Norway, a consumer durables company, and a fertilizer company after the 2008 financial crisis. These companies did incredibly well. Unfortunately, Robin reacted to short-term headlines when the European crisis started erupting and sold out.</p><p><strong>LEARNING:</strong> You can’t outsmart the markets. Always let your winners ride.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="ql-align-center"><strong>“Always let your winners ride.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote class="ql-align-center">Robin Wigglesworth</blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Guest profile</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-wigglesworth-17101722/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Robin Wigglesworth</strong></a> is the editor of <a href="https://www.ft.com/alphaville" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alphaville</a>, the FT’s financial blog. From Oslo, Norway, he leads a team of writers who dig into anything deeply nerdy or plain delightful that they spot in markets, business, or the global economy. He is also the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/45Ta7fM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Trillions</em></a>, a book on the past, present, and future of passive investing and how it is reshaping financial markets.</p><h2>Worst investment ever</h2><p>Robin was a Middle East correspondent for The Financial Times after the financial crisis. The crisis hit later in the Middle East because of the oil price boom. Until the collapse of Lehman, the Gulf was partying. Robin was impressed with how quickly central banks reacted in the last quarter of 2008 after the Lehman collapse.</p><p>As a journalist, Robin couldn’t invest in any company he covered, even if it was a broad index fund. But because Robin was in th