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"Our all-too-human preferences often slip unnoticed into decision making that is supposed to be purely economic or coldly rational. Behavioural finance is the study of how and why this happens." - Herman Brodie
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The Renowned Investment Course Goes Online
Didasko, the education company, has teamed up with Heriot-Watt University to provide its unique A Practical History of Financial Markets...

Herman Brodie
Nov 12, 20211 min read
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How to persuade 8.6 million cash savers to invest in the capital markets
Earlier this month I was presented with the question of how to persuade the 8.6 million consumers in the UK who currently sit on over...

Herman Brodie
Nov 12, 20212 min read
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I'll See It When I Believe It
The Investments & Wealth Institute presents the “unplugged” version of the Annual Conference Experience: The Exceptional Advisor...

Herman Brodie
May 4, 20201 min read
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WFH. YR. Srsly. LMAO.
His perception of the team endlessly streaming Netflix while 'working from home' was a just reflection of what he was prone to do.

Herman Brodie
Apr 23, 20203 min read
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In Sales, it Helps to Look the Part
How does one choose between thirty producers of Saint-Emilion when time is a constraint?

Herman Brodie
Jan 30, 20202 min read
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Ouch! Regret Hurts
This is why it hurts more to miss a train by 30 seconds than by 30 minutes even though the outcome is the same.

Herman Brodie
Sep 18, 20193 min read
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Who Cares Wins
If I don’t consider myself to be vulnerable to your actions, just show me that you know what you’re doing, or some cheap prices, and I'm in

ProspectaBriefings
Jul 1, 20192 min read
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A Pill for Investment Success
If a drug existed that promised to help you achieve higher investment returns, would you take it?

Herman Brodie
Jun 27, 20193 min read
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WannaCryDiversity
Although a group with a single heterogeneous member is technically ‘diverse’, evidence does suggest that advantages might only be secured

Herman Brodie
Jun 13, 20195 min read
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Old-Age Benefits: Are Older Investors Better?
The wisdom of the years, one might argue, ought to make you a better investor.

Herman Brodie
May 28, 20195 min read
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Passive or Active, Mr Brodie?
We'd provided the tools to eliminate human bias in active management, but users with their fingers on the ON/OFF switch reintroduced it.

Herman Brodie
May 23, 20192 min read
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The Punishment Swap
This kind of inconsistent time discounting, commonly known as hyperbolic time discounting, is common in children. As we get older, though,..

Herman Brodie
May 6, 20192 min read
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The Importance of Paying Attention III: Charitable Giving
When we buy things in order to make us happy, the question we should ask ourselves first is not how much we like it or how much it...

Herman Brodie
Apr 19, 20192 min read
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The Importance of Paying Attention II: The Car Buyer
Consider a driving enthusiast who ploughs all his savings into the shiny new sports car of his dreams. Walking towards the vehicle in the...

Herman Brodie
Apr 18, 20192 min read
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The Importance of Paying Attention I: Public Policy
Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. The author also pondered on the ...

Herman Brodie
Apr 17, 20192 min read
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Reputations Lost
Hardly a week goes by without some sorry tale of a lost reputation. If it isn’t a politician accused of ruthless betrayal, or a bank’s...

Herman Brodie
Mar 5, 20194 min read
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Going Up? Governance in Crony Companies
One indication of a firm’s good governance is hiring and promotion decisions free of nepotism[i], cronyism or any other form of...

Herman Brodie
Dec 17, 20184 min read
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Underselling, Knowingly - John Lewis is a master of persuasion
A half-hour delay in my flight from Heathrow recently offered me some unexpected time to browse the stores at Terminal 2. I had hoped...

Herman Brodie
Dec 12, 20182 min read
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The Curse of Knowledge: Price bubbles and airline logos
“Why do they have pictures of knives and forks here, daddy?” My daughter, then six-years old, was gazing out of the window of the airport...

Herman Brodie
Nov 30, 20186 min read
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Explaining behavioural finance to a 14-year-old
“Can you explain behavioural finance to my 14-year-old daughter?” As the girl’s father was a finance professor, I had the impression ...

Herman Brodie
Jul 31, 20182 min read
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