Markus (@Markokbro) from Germany is a young stock investor with a mature attitude. When he’s not busy winning music competitions as a pianist, he invests in stocks on eToro, putting a fair amount of research into his decisions. We asked him a few questions about his investment style and strategy.
75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for a living? For fun? Family?
Hello, my name is Markus Nick. I’m 20 years old and I live in Germany. Currently, I am studying music journalism and will finish this summer. As you can imagine, since I am studying music, I play music a lot. I play in a band, perform in concerts, and play
in competitions. I have even received prizes in national and international piano competitions. Music is also my current job. I teach piano to a range of ages, from 5 to 70 years old. When I am not
studying or teaching, I research companies and try to invest as much as I can. That’s my other passion: Economics. I plan on studying economics in the summer, once I have my bachelor’s degree in music.
Where do you do your research on the instruments in which you invest?
I do my research mostly online. I always visit the Investor Relations page of the companies I research. I read the last few quarterly results, the 10k, listen to the web calls, watch their presentations. After that, I search for their brand on YouTube and try to find reviews. After that, I listen to CEO interviews. It is always interesting to hear the CEO actually answering questions and not only reading a script. Overall, I always walk around with my eyes open. Many investment ideas come in the real world. You see companies when driving around, you google them, you find their stock, and maybe it‘s an opportunity.
Did you have previous experience with financial investments before joining eToro?
I had previous experience before I joined eToro. In Germany, you are only allowed to trade when you are 18 or older. So, on my 18th birthday, I opened a brokerage account and started investing. One year later, I came to eToro.
Do you have any specific profit goals for each year? How do you achieve/plan to achieve them?
My main goal is not to lose money. That is easy in the current market, but can be hard in different times. In the current market, I aim for 25-30% a year, but as you can see, we are well above that. I try to improve my performance every day. I actually don‘t look too much at performance. I think your performance depends on the stocks you buy. I always try to find stocks that give great returns, be it 30% or over 50%, like it has been over the past 12 months.
How has eToro changed the way you trade?
eToro has changed the way I trade significantly. Before, I had to pay €15 per trade in commission and I had to buy full shares. Not anymore. I had to struggle with banks that don’t even show your performance or where it takes three days to deposit money. eToro succeeds in motivating you. I see my past performance, the green positions and those I want to improve. It’s as simple as that.
What type of trading strategy do you have and on what is it focused?
My type of strategy is called growth value investing. It means finding companies that are growing revenue at 10% each year, but are not too expensive, so the risk ratio is not too high. In addition, I add dividend companies for safety, that grow net income year-over-year and raised their dividend over the last few years. It has worked out so far as you can see.
What are the benefits of being a Popular Investor?
The greatest benefit of being a Popular Investor for me is that I can be part of this incredible community. I do what I would do anyway and I get messages every day from people who copied me and are happy with the returns. That’s the highest praise. Furthermore, eToro pays me monthly, so I can spend more time researching and improving my stock picks. That is also really nice, because I get money to live on and I don‘t need to work the whole day and invest in the night. That is very hard to do in the long term.
Do you have anything to say to your copiers?
No matter what your life looks like, it can change. But it takes time. You don’t become a millionaire overnight. It doesn‘t work like that. It is all about risk and reward. I feel confident in what I do, but I only trade what I understand. I don’t touch Forex, and will most likely not touch crypto. I don’t use leverage. Just a simple combination of stocks and time. Don’t expect me to triple your money every year, but expect me to invest your money as well as I can with my conscience. Hopefully that is good enough. My statistics are the best evidence. See you in the chat.
75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.