Investment Philosophy

Definition of 'Investment Philosophy'

A set of guiding principles that inform and shape an individual's investment decision-making process. Examples of investment philosophies, or styles, include:

Value Investing: Seeking relatively undervalued stocks and believing they will eventually produce strong returns.

Fundamentals Investing: Identifying companies with strong earnings prospects.

Growth Investing: Buying into companies that have promising emerging products or services that hold promising growth potential.

Socially-Responsible Investing: Looking for companies that adhere to certain set of moral and/or ethical business standards.

Technical Investing: Examining past market data to look for hallmark visual patterns in trading activity to make buy and sell decisions.

Contrarian Investing: Making investment decisions in direct opposition to the market majority (selling when others are buying).

Investopedia explains 'Investment Philosophy'

The most well-known professional investor holding a value investment philosophy is the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. He arrived at his investment philosophy in large part due to the influence of his college professor (and fellow value investor) Benjamin Graham. Marc Faber (founder of Marc Faber Limited) is a well-known contrarian investor, betting against the market and making enormous profits (and some marked losses).