《金融时报》：2016年如果你用钱做一件事
买入一只可以让你放心的投资
Buy an investment you can forget about
俗话说“鞋匠的孩子没鞋穿”，这句话形象地刻画了专业人士的一种倾向：他们专注于自己的工作，却忽略了自己的需求——哪怕是本行领域的需求。
The saying “Cobbler’s children have no shoes” exemplifies the tendency for professionals to concentrate on their work and neglect their own needs — even in their own area of speciality.
投资专业人士也逃不过这种倾向。但如果你没有时间或意愿去每天、甚至每周或每月打理自己的投资，那么最好的选择显然就是采用一种能够因这种“疏忽”而受益的投资策略。
Investment professionals are not exempt from this tendency. But if you don’t have the time or inclination to manage your investments every day or even every week or month, then surely the best option is to adopt an investment strategy which can prosper as a result of this apparent neglect.
我之所以说“表面上的疏忽”，是因为如果搭配正确的投资策略，这种不作为反而是种美德，它能省去交易成本，而交易成本对投资表现是个不小的拖累。
I say apparent neglect because combined with the right investment strategy such inactivity is a virtue as it cuts dealing costs, which are a significant drag on investment performance.
在我看来，有两条明显的路能让你无需时刻盯盘或频繁操作，也能获得卓越的投资回报。
In my view there are two obvious routes to achieve superior investment performance without the need for constant vigilance or activity.
一条是买入指数基金。既然普通主动型经理的平均表现跑输相应指数基准，收费还比指数基金高，交易也更频繁，那么这种结果就不可避免。我指的是指数基金，不是交易所交易基金（ETF）。既然这套策略的出发点就是你懒得关注，那你何必去买一只允许盘中交易的基金呢？ETF 名字里的“交易所交易”不正是告诉你它提供这种功能吗？
One is to buy an index fund. Given that the average active manager underperforms the relevant index benchmark, charges more than an index fund and deals more, this outcome is inevitable. I mean an index fund, not an exchange traded fund (ETF). Given that the rationale for this strategy is your lack of attention, why would you want a fund which allows intraday dealing, which is what the exchange traded part of ETF is telling you it provides?
另一条路是投资一篮子优质公司的股票，这些公司可以信赖，价值会随时间不断复利增长。这类公司往往已经存在几十年甚至更久，即便在经济周期的低谷，也能交出不俗的财务成绩（高资本回报率、高利润率、利润转化为现金的能力强、债务水平适中）。
The other route is to invest in a portfolio of equities in good companies which can be relied upon to compound in value over time. Such companies have been around for decades or longer, have good financial results (high returns on capital, high margins, good cash conversion of profits and moderate debt levels) even at the bottom of the economic cycle.
它们还拥有明显的竞争优势，尽管这些优势对竞争对手极具吸引力，却仍能确保回报持续。
They also have identifiable competitive advantages which should enable those returns to persist despite their obvious attraction to competitors.
无论你选哪条路，买下它们，忘掉它们，然后享受结果。
Whichever of these routes you choose, buy them, forget them and enjoy the results.
Terry Smith
Terry Smith
Financial Times
Financial Times