Do you know what bears are known for? They are strong, thoughtful animals that think ahead, act only when they have to, stock up, and slow down when they need to. With this in mind, analysts think there have been around 26 global bear markets since 1929.
The longest bull market planet Earth has faced started flapping its butterfly wings at the end of the 2008 recession and grew in strength up until the 2020 pandemic.
We reached out to the DEV.BG community of tech professionals in Bulgaria to find out how its members are riding the waves of the current investment market.
Over 100 IT professionals shared in a survey what verticals they invest in, and what is the best piece of advice they have received before they embarked on the role of investors.
Hot verticals for IT professionals
In this survey, 46% of people interviewed are developers, 19% team leaders, 8% DevOps, 6% PM/BA (Project Manager/Business Analyst), 4% QA (Quality assurance), and other IT professionals. Although participants gave more than one answer, results show that real estate (36%), cryptocurrency (28%), and technology stocks (29%) can be found in many IT professionals’ portfolios.
The real estate sector has been booming in Southeast Europe, so this is not a surprise. While people with experience or know-how go for the company shares, real estate is still a hot card up the sleeve, and crypto is the cool cousin with a foreign accent that all the family wants to meet, but only a few will shake its hand.
What was an interesting discovery was, on one hand, investments in exchange-traded funds or ETFs (3%); Index funds (2%); and P2P platforms (2%); on the other hand gold, agricultural land, and safer bets in saving funds, insurances, or semiconductors; and, on a funnier note, bagels with sausages.
The variety of platforms used to make these investments is more diverse than the answers. From the Israeli eToro to American Interactive Brokers and Asian Binance, to UK-based Revolut, and local Bulgarian Bulbrokers, to name only a few. Investors are quite the digital globe trotters. So, how do they do it?
Here is what IT professionals shared when it comes to the best advice they received when embarking on their investment journey:
- Invest in yourself first. “Educate and consult before making big investments,” a team lead shared with The Recursive.
- “The money you have for investment should not be pressing. If they are, you risk being left without critical funds. Investments are a risk, not a guaranteed income,” a developer said. While others have been encouraged to build a diverse portfolio; “20% of my monthly income goes to investments”; and “To save 1/3 of my income”.
- When you do not have an investment plan, but want to begin this journey, look at how others are investing on different platforms and adopt their strategy. “I copy investors on the eToro platform,” a developer admits as his main investment strategy.
- “Do not look at the market activity all the time,” reveals a developer as the best advice he received. So, “Invest only in things whose demand is sure to increase,” an IT manager adds.
- “Look for companies to sell below their intrinsic value. Often, such companies have unjustifiably low multiples. They are far from bankrupt and their share price is exaggeratedly influenced by macroeconomic news and trends,” shares a developer as his investment strategy. Or, like “Buy the dip,” as a team lead concludes.
- When in doubt, “save and don’t spend on impulsive purchases,” reveals a developer as one of the best investment pieces of advice he received. While another IT professional said he aims at middle risk and is aware of short-term fluctuations to limit such investments.
- The idea of practicing dollar cost averaging, when you invest a fixed amount regularly, no matter the price of the shares, was shared a few times in the survey as an investment thesis or advice.
- While one developer shared “be patient” as a piece of personal advice he received, another one added “Long-term investments balance the fluctuations of the market. Do not try to enter at a certain price but invest for the long term”; and another one summarized it as “No day trading”.
- “Purchase from projects whose price is getting sustainably higher,” a team lead tells The Recursive.
- And last, but not least, “We were once taught at university that when everyone starts buying something, that’s the time to think about selling it. I think that is still true in most cases,” a developer shares.
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffet
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This article is part of a joint project between DEV.BG (The Bulgarian Tech Job Board) and The Recursive. These are opinions of the community members and DEV.BG and The Recursive are not responsible if people reading take these ideas as advice.
