The Psychology of Money - An Investment Manager\'s Guide to Beating the Market

The Typical Investment Personality 51

51

CHAPTER

7

The Typical Investment Personality

Nothing is more suicidal than a rational investment policy in an

irrational world.

—John Maynard Keynes

Within this framework, then, is one type of investor more common

than another? Does the profession attract a certain breed of ani-

mal? (And is it housebroken?) If there is a stereotypical investor,

does that have certain implications for the industry?

Yes, yes, sometimes, and yes.

The most common personality type for professional investors

is Sensing, Thinking, and Judging (STJ), in MBTI jargon. (There is

no clear majority on the Extravert/Introvert scale, with each pref-

erence being about equally represented.) My own experience in

working with investment groups (more than 500 individuals) sup-

ports this “STJ” assertion. Experts in the field of psychology also

support this view:

“If you had to brand fund managers with psycho jargon, they’d

be STJ on the widely used Myers-Briggs personality test.” (Ted

Bililies, psychologist)

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