by Charles Cheng, CFA & MBA

 

 

There are so many different types of investment strategies and many times conflicting advice, that non-professional investors can sometimes feel overwhelmed. Even professionals have an extremely difficult time outperforming the market across a variety of market environments. Thankfully some most effective strategies for the average person have less to do with outsmarting the market and more with implementing practical solutions for their investment activities.

投資策略的種類繁多，且建議往往互相矛盾，這常讓非專業投資者感到不知所措。　即使是專業人士，要在各種市場環境下持續超越大盤也極其困難。　慶幸的是，對一般人而言，一些最有效的策略與其說是為了「戰勝市場」，不如說是為投資活動執行務實的解決方案。　

 

The intuition behind this approach is rooted in the reality that most of us are not very good at keeping our feelings out of our finances. When prices are soaring, we feel a rush of excitement and want to buy more. When prices tumble, we feel a sting of regret and want to run for the exits. This is where mechanical strategies like dollar cost averaging can help. Dollar cost averaging acts as a mechanical guardrail against these impulses. By investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals—say, every two weeks when your paycheck arrives—you effectively remove the “when” from the equation.

這種方法背後的直覺源於一個現實：我們大多數人都不擅長將情緒排除在財務決策之外。　當價格飆升時，我們會感到興奮並想買更多；當價格重挫時，我們會感到後悔並想逃離市場。　這就是定期定額法 (Dollar Cost Averaging) 等機械化策略能發揮作用的地方。　定期定額法就像是一道防止衝動的機械護欄。　透過每隔固定時間投資固定金額（例如每兩週領薪水時），你實際上將「何時進場」這個變數從公式中移除了。　

 

From an academic perspective, this strategy works because it forces you to buy more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high. You are essentially turning market volatility into your friend. While it might feel counterintuitive to keep buying while the headlines are scary, history shows that the cost of waiting for the perfect moment is usually much higher than the cost of simply being consistent. The math tends to favor time in the market over timing the market.

從學術角度來看，這項策略之所以奏效，是因為它強迫你在價格低迷時購買更多股份，而在價格高昂時減少購買。　你基本上是在將市場波動轉化為你的朋友。　雖然在新聞標題令人恐慌時繼續買入可能違背直覺，但歷史證明，等待「完美時機」的成本通常遠高於單純保持一致性的成本。　數學邏輯往往支持「待在市場裡的時間」勝過「預測市場時機」。　

 

Another practical solution that complements this approach is portfolio rebalancing. Over time, some of your investments will naturally grow faster than others. If you started with a balanced mix of stocks and bonds, a good year in the stock market might leave you with much more risk than you originally intended. This practice helps you to “buy low and sell high” on a schedule over time, ensuring your portfolio doesn’t become a runaway train of risk.

另一個互補的務實方案是投資組合再平衡 (Portfolio Rebalancing)。　隨著時間推移，某些投資的增長速度自然會高於其他資產。　如果你一開始配置了均衡的股票和債券比例，股市大好的一年可能會讓你承擔比原先預期更高的風險。　這種做法能幫助你在預定的時間表上實現「低買高賣」，確保你的投資組合不會變成一列失控的風險列車。　

 

For countries that tax investments on capital gains, another concept that works behind the scenes is tax loss harvesting. In a taxable account, when an investment drops in value, it’s not just a disappointment—it can be an opportunity. By selling that investment at a loss, you can use that “loss” to cancel out the taxes you might owe on other investments that made a profit. This is essentially finding a silver lining in a market dip. You can then immediately take the money from that sale and put it into a similar (but not identical) investment, so you stay in the market. It is a way to lower your tax bill today while keeping your long-term plan exactly where it needs to be.

對於徵收資本利得稅的國家，另一個在幕後發揮作用的概念是稅務虧損收割 (Tax Loss Harvesting)。　在應稅帳戶中，當一項投資價值下跌時，這不僅是令人失望的事，更是一個機會。　透過虧本出售該投資，你可以利用這筆「虧損」來抵銷其他獲利投資可能產生的稅款。　這本質上是在市場低迷中尋找一線希望。　接著，你可以立即將出售所得投入類似（但非完全相同）的投資中，以維持市場參與度。　這是一種在保持長期計劃不變的同時，降低當前稅負的方法。　

 

Finally, one of the most impactful and less discussed topics is in controlling costs. One final hurdle that often quietly erodes an investor’s wealth is the impact of transaction costs and hidden fees. While we often focus on how much our investments are gaining, we sometimes forget to look at how much it costs to own them. Every time you buy or sell a stock, there are costs involved. These might look small—perhaps just a fraction of a percent—but over twenty or thirty years, those tiny leaks can drain a significant portion of your final portfolio value.

最後，一個影響巨大卻較少被討論的主題是成本控制。　最後一個經常悄悄侵蝕投資者財富的障礙是交易成本和隱藏費用的影響。　當我們專注於投資獲利多少時，有時會忘記觀察持有這些資產的成本。　每次買賣股票都會產生費用，這些費用看起來可能很小（或許只是百分之零點幾），但經過二十或三十年，這些細小的滲漏可能會耗盡你最終投資組合價值的很大一部分。　

 

Aside from commissions, bid ask spreads can be a significant cost, especially for larger sized investment accounts. And the largest accounts incur significant opportunity costs from not being able to buy and sell into positions quickly, letting other market participants front run their trades. The solution is to implement a hurdle for every transaction by comparing what you expect to gain by making the change vs what it costs to implement.

除了佣金之外，買賣價差 (Bid-Ask Spreads) 也是一項重大成本，特別是對於較大規模的投資帳戶而言。　此外，大型帳戶還會因為無法快速進出倉位而產生重大的機會成本，甚至讓其他市場參與者有機可乘（搶先交易）。　解決方案是為每一筆交易設定一個門檻：將你預期調整配置後所能獲得的收益，與執行該交易所產生的成本進行對比。　

 

Of course, forecasting the expected gains for implementing these strategies is more an art than a science. But at least this can be something that you can try to track over time as reviewing your assumptions after the fact is also a healthy investment practice.

當然，預測執行這些策略的預期收益與其說是科學，不如說是一門藝術。　但至少這是你可以嘗試長期追蹤的事情，因為事後檢視你的假設也是一種健康的投資習慣。　

 

 

This article reflects the personal views of the author and not any firm’s and should not be viewed as an investment recommendation.

 

 

 

 

---