Behavioural Finance

Overview

The importance of understanding investors is an important part of regulation. However, advisers often recognise that investors exhibit irrational behaviour. Behavioural Finance uses insights from finance theory, economics, and psychology to understand how people make their financial decisions. This event will explore the mistakes that investors commonly make, how costly those decisions are, and how advisers can use this knowledge to manage investor behaviour.

Learning objectives

At the end of this event, the delegate will be able to identify:

• what behavioural finance is and why it is important to advisers?

• how the two systems of thinking (fast and slow brain) can potentially lead to poor financial decisions

• how a client’s emotional state can bias their financial decision making

• the costs of emotional financial decisions (e.g. buying high and selling low, reducing portfolio efficiency through the familiarity bias)

• how advisers can use behavioural finance insights with their clients.

A buffet lunch will be served at 12, with the session starting at 12.30 for an hour.

Speaker biography

Peter Brooks leads the practical applications of behavioural finance for both advised and self-directed investors. He focuses on how individuals can be helped to make better financial decisions through technology or processes. Peter has conducted much research on how investor attitudes are affected by prevailing market conditions. He frequently shares these insights with the leading industry publications.

He holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Econometrics, and a Ph.D. in Behavioural and Experimental Economics, from the University of Manchester.