Making good return in share market requires good education background?

Most of my colleagues are PhD holders.

I am not exaggerating. Indeed, they are PhD holders from reputable universities in Australia, UK, Japan and Singapore. I am a PhD holder too. But, due to certain reasons, I do not have the luxury to graduate from overseas. We share a common interest though, i.e. share market.

We often talk about the companies that we invested in during lunch hour. Due to the illiquid market condition in Bursa Malaysia, most of my colleagues chose to invest in the US market, which is rather common during the time of writing (hopefully it would change in the near future). Well, I am not saying that US market is not worth for investment at all; however, as soon as I know the counters my colleagues have invested, I am puzzled, and wordless.

For them, the primary reason to invest in the US market is liquidity. Fast in fast out, that's the key. As long as the counter is liquid and if it fits the hot investment themes to date (i.e., AI, data center, clean energy, etc.), they would go for it, regardless of valuation. For example, they would invest their money in those companies at a high double-digit PE ratio (or even triple digit) just because of the company has painted a beautiful picture that fits the current hot investment themes. Reading the financial statements of the company & find out the intrinsic value of the company?? Well, no need, according to them.

So far, they have made quite a good money though, by following their strategy. Some of them could make a handsome profit of almost 20%-30% within just a few months time. 

In 2025, I start to wonder whether my existing investment strategy, i.e. buy a good company below its intrinsic value and hold until the share price exceeds its intrinsic value, is working. The value of my portfolio shrinks by around 10%, partly due to the fact that a blue-chip company that I've invested heavily has been experiencing a sharp drop in share price (with no fundamental reason). Another reason is another company of mine, a F&B company, where one of the key management team members had been remanded by MACC, causing its share price to plunge. I have lost 5 digits on that counter alone as I have decided to sell the shares at a lost (lost faith to the company). 

So, at the first glance, my colleagues who'd graduated from those renowned universities, have indeed outperformed me in terms of investment return in 2025. Getting a profit of 20% - 30% is just a piece of cake, according to them. 

I started to reflect on the counters that I've invested in. Fundamentally, they are intact. Their core profits are growing, and there are no reasons for me to sell them, according to my investment standard. I talked to an investment guru in Bursa, who has made a 8-digit wealth from the share market after 20 years. I am quite relief that even an experienced investor like him is making a loss in 2025. We share a common investment philosophy though, i.e. never chase hot thematic counters at unreasonable price. Therefore, I guess my underperformance in 2025 is mainly due to the nature of my counters, where none of them are related to those hot themes such as construction, data center, solar energy, and AI.

 

Some stories:

Sir Isaac Newton, a renowned scientist, had lost money in the stock market by getting caught in the 1720 South Sea Bubble, giving in to greed and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) after making early profits; he sold, then bought back in at the peak, only to see the speculative stock collapse, losing significant wealth due to emotional trading rather than sound analysis.

Warren Buffet, a legendary investor from the US, once said during his interview at Georgetown University: "Share investment does not need high IQ. If you have IQ of 160, sell 30 to others, you do not need it. Temperament is more important than intellect for investors".

 

I decided to stick to my existing investment strategy. It is painful to see the plunging value of my portfolio. Who loves it, right? But, I know my strategy would work, in long term....... Investment is a long journey and patience is the key to survive in the market. At the time of writing on Dec 2025, my portfolio turns green finally at around 1%. It is not up to my expectation yet, however, I believe it will.

So, does making good return in share market require good education background? Well, the investment story of Sir Isaac Newton has told us the answer, isn't it?