For sports nuts last week’s Grand Final weekend was footy heaven. When you looked at the teams involved across both AFL and NRL, there were traditional finals regulars the Sydney Swans and Melbourne Storm being challenged by the young gun disruptors the Western Bulldogs and Cronulla Sharks.

Despite the results, all four teams absolutely deserved to be challenging for the ultimate prize. Their success has been built around some key principles and strategies which you soon realise can be easily adopted by all of us in building a winning financial plan.

So we thought we’d move away from everyday finance this week to look at the four investing lessons to learn from successful football coaches.

 

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1. Stars can provide a foundation for consistent success


Just as the Buddy Franklins, Marcus Bontempelli’s, Cameron Smith’s and Paul Gallen’s turn up week after week and deliver consistently high quality performances, investors need to put quality investments at the core of their portfolio and build the rest of their portfolio around them.

That’s not to say you can throw darts at the board after that in the hope of landing the next Isaac Heeney, because speculating is a dangerous game in investing. However, if you do have quality investments at the foundation, the other potentially rising stars can complement them rather than be relied on to carry the portfolio’s performance.

2. Focus on the game in front of you


The old coaches’ cliché is to “take it one week at a time”. And while this sounds like a bit of a cop-out to avoid looking too far ahead, it’s a rock solid approach that carries weight in investing too.

As Doggies coach Luke Beveridge or Sharks coach Shane Flanagan will tell you, there’s not a lot of value in dwelling on the past or looking too far into the future, because to deliver your best performance you need to be completely focussed on the game in front of you.

The same goes for smart investing. Don’t anchor your investment decisions in the past… whether that’s the price you paid for something or the past performance of a company… because that information rarely matters. Instead, put your energy into making the best decision for the future based on the situation you’re in today.

3. Recruit coaches that complement your skill set


Just as every successful coach surrounds themselves with specialist assistant coaches in each facet of the game, every investor should leverage the expertise of people who know parts of the investing world better than them.

This is particularly important for casual investors, who often shy away from seeking professional advice, even when they’re unsure about an investment decision.

It might be paying for property inspections or getting the guidance of a sharp equities adviser, whatever the case, it’s crucial to recognise your strengths and weaknesses and use experts that complement your skill set.

And, if you can’t afford the very best financial coach, look for those who have worked for, and learnt from, the best. Luke Beveridge was an assistant coach to Hawthorn’s legendary Alistair Clarkson, as were current senior coaches Leon Cameron and Brendon Bolton.

4. Developing a style of play to suit your team


Similar to how Western Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm pursue a high tempo game to leverage their youth and the Swans kick a lot to take advantage of their great foot skills, you’ve got to find an investing style that suits you.

This means building a portfolio according to your risk profile, age and goals. Recognise how comfortable you are taking on risk, plan your investments to deliver the financial support you need at different stages of your life, and set firm goals to work toward and guide the way you invest.

Only once you’ve bedded down this profile and worked out an investing style that suits, should you pick up the financial footy.
We reckon we’ve become a better businessperson and investor for our short time being involved in the AFL, and hopefully taking on board a few of these lessons, you can become a better investor from football too.

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