Controlling Urges: The Investment Industry Makes a Stab

We all know investing has a strong emotional component. What is less well known is that recently investment companies are trying to understand and work with it. Jay Mooreland, MS, CFP, is a leader in this field. He counts Schwab, Sammons Retirement Solutions, Windhaven Asset Management, and Inland Securities among his clients. I heard him recently at a seminar sponsored by Schwab in Indianapolis. He covered the usual culprits behind emotional investing, such as cognitive and emotional bias. His paper in the May 2013 edition of The Journal of Financial Planning covers these in detail as have I in previous columns.

To me, what is most important is that Mooreland is taking neuro-economic and neuro-physiologic research and making them palpable to the investment industry. In this way, the information can be implemented in a manner that is useful. Mr. Mooreland also provides instructional material for investment firms related to this subject and has written a book entitled The Emotional Investor: How Biases Influence Your Investment Decisions...And What You Can Do About It that is available to all. It is hot off the press; the date of publication was September 9, 2015.

Jay Mooreland can be likened to Natalie Denburg, PhD, who educates investment firms regarding seniors and faulty investment decision making. Her efforts and Moorelands have the potential to make investment firms better. It is a credit to those companies that hire Mooreland and Denburg to speak. They are among the first breaking ground in these important areas.

For More:

Imaginary Control and Financial Decisions

Financial Decision-Making: A Slap in the Face

Are You a Born Financial Risk-Taker?

Why the Bull Beats the Bear

Scared Stockless: What Investors Need to Consider

I owe thanks to Terry and Margaret Yen of Indianapolis, who were kind enough to invite me to Jay Mooreland’s seminar as their guest.