Son, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
Scared to death, scared to look, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
Scared to death, scared to look
Living the life that of diamonds and guns
There's numerous ways you can choose to earn funds
Some get shot, locked down and turn nuns
Cowardly hearts and straight up shook ones, shook ones
He ain't a crook son, he's just a shook one
-Mobb Deep, Shook Ones Part II
In the above quote, philosopher and musical duo Mobb Deep explain the importance of sticking with your investment philosophy through thick and thin. While there are numerous ways to make money investing, one can not constantly be switching strategies in order to chase the next “hot” idea. According to Ben Carlson, “an investment strategy ‘works’ if you’re to follow it over many different cycles. It never ‘works’ if you bail out at the first sign of trouble or relative underperformance.” Similarly, Mobb Deep explains while “there’s numerous ways you can choose to earn funds,” there “ain’t no such thing as halfway crooks.” In order to earn long-term outperformance, one must be willing to go through short-term underperformance. There is no one-size-fits-all, unlimited upside with zero downside, all-market portfolio. Nothing works all the time. This is where an investment policy statement can be useful. It can function as a road-map of sorts, and while it will never provide all the answers, it can help ensure an investor sticks with their plan no matter which of the “numerous ways they choose to earn funds.” Point being, despite there being many strategies for successful investing, none of them permit “halfway” execution.