The Stoic’s Guide to Financial Management
The ancient practice offers useful insights for advisors to regulate their own emotions and better serve their clients.
The ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism is having somewhat of a moment as markets reel from the volatility and uncertainties of the current pandemic.
Stoicism insists that there is a separation between the way the world happens to be and our emotional response to it. From that flows the main wisdom: to separate the few things that are up to us—our judgments, emotions and character—from the many things that are not up to us—almost everything we call market forces.
WealthManagement.com had no difficulty finding four financial advisors who freely channel Stoic principles in their professional and personal lives to share their perspectives.
Arvind Ven
CEO and Founder
“Market downturns are inevitable,” says Arvind Ven, CEO and founder of Capital V Group, an independent advisory in Cupertino, Calif. “Nobody has a crystal ball. We can’t control what happens. What we can control are our reactions.”
Stoicism requires that financial advisors accept that they cannot control most of what happens and that it’s fruitless to worry about external events. Rather, Stoics focus all their energy and intelligence on things they can control.
The wisdom of Stoicism is to control emotions both when it’s punishing favored positions as well as when the market rewards. Equanimity under both conditions allows advisors to make rational decisions about what to do and when.