“Regrets – I have had a few, but then again too few to mention . . . ” Happy the fund manager, policymaker, or retail investor who could, hand on heart, echo the sentiments of Frank Sinatra’s signature tune. They may do it their way, but it is rare indeed for that way to be free of regrets. More often, the regrets are too many, not too few, to mention.

It took me many years to realise the force of Charlie Munger’s observation that the aim of investment is to minimise regret, or to minimise the opportunity cost of the decisions that you make. Acting in good faith is a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving successful long-term results. Quality of thinking, provided that includes retrospective analysis, and temperamental maturity matter much more.