In response to the above observation, you may be misunderstanding what REITs are; they are funds that exclusively focus on owning a portfolio of properties - as opposed to shares - and they are listed on a stock market (they are listed funds)......that's explained later in the booklet, but not in great detail as the booklet is aimed at being an introductory overview to what constitutes sound investing. In Ireland, our knowledge of investing is well behind that of the US and UK. In both those regions, there's a long history of wealth so it's not unsurprising that the average person in the US and UK is more clued in regarding investment matters than perhaps we are in Ireland.
REITs - Real Estate Investment Trusts - have been around in the US since the 1960s and the UK since the 1990s (I think). In my view, REITs are superior to the life company open-ended property fund structures, which are unsuitable for holding/owning illiquid assets such as property. REITs, which are closed-ended funds are more suitable for holding illiquid assets, such as property. This is outlined in more detail in an article I have written for this week's Sunday Times.
There'll be a Featured Article on the same issue on our website next Monday. For anyone on AAM who has downloaded the 64-page booklet, you are now on the GillenMarkets database and will automatically be notified when we publish new Featured Articles. They can be accessed by members and non-members alike. It's all part of our marketing for (potential) new subscribers to our weekly newsletter, the only one in Ireland. Like any database, you can unsubscribe at any stage.
I'll send Brendan the link to the upcoming Featured Article and he can post it if he wishes. If you have an open mind, there's always something new to learn about investing. For myself, it's a bit of a hobby, too. I'll read an investment book just for one good line, one good observation. Apart from improving one's knowledge, it can also improve how to communicate key messages better. There's many times when I have come away from reading a new investment book with no new knowledge, but an example of how to communicate a complex issue simply. The Coca-Cola chart on page 36 in the booklet is a case in point. In that case, the chart does paint a 1,000 words!
To understand what risk is took me years; not sure why, maybe there's so much noise in markets that it's more difficult than one envisages at the outset to see the wood from the trees, or maybe I could have benefitted from a mentor earlier in life. Thankfully there's plenty of good investors who have written their knowledge down and for a few pounds or dollars one can benefit from another's life experiences. Thank God for that, as I certainly have benefited from others' writings. Action, of course, is also a learning tool and there's little substitute for practical investing. Some on this website have previously said that there's nothing to learn in books. I beg to differ, but each to their own.
The 64-page ebooklet should be particularly useful in the providing an understanding of risk and how an investment plan can mitigate those risks. My aim was to articulate that in a way readers can understand.
The 64-page booklet is available for download for Free only until next Friday. Someone on AAM observed that it's available on Amazon for Free. That was an error, and it'll be taken down from Amazon shortly. It will be on Amazon again at some stage in the future, but at a fair price.
