By Tom Bradley

Better Investors will experience higher returns, and be more comfortable and confident in the process.

This is our underlying belief and driving force behind a new report we’ve published on what makes a better investor. It focuses on the structural and behavioural elements of investing rather than the nitty gritty of picking stocks and determining an asset mix. As we’ve said many times, this isn’t rocket science. Yet, we’ve seen too many people who don’t have a plan or process, which has led to poor returns and a frustrating investing experience. We wanted to create a simple doctrine to assist investors. Call it a Jerry Maguire moment.

We identify five essential, yet simple, elements to being a better investor. In short, they are: (1) being realistic, (2) having a long-term plan, (3) committing to a routine, (4) being prepared for extremes, and (5) being a good CEO of your portfolio.

Our report expands on these elements in plain-English and is accompanied by sketches from Carl Richards, a contributor to The New York Times, author of The Behavior Gap, and expert at making complex financial concepts easy to understand.