Investing and knowing what you are doing

One of the interesting things I have become aware of since I started working in the world of finance is that industry expertise, while undoubtedly necessary and important for anyone working in a single given sector, is not too difficult to acquire. I have only worked in telecom, media and technology ("TMT" in industry lingo) for a year and a half now, but in many respects I am reaching the saturation point in terms of what is necessary for an investor in that industry to invest well. While setting up a mobile network is difficult, technical and complex work, the investor only has to be able to identify who can do that job well and how the fundamental drivers in a business model must perform for the network to yield a sufficient return.

This is interesting to me because it means that investors, to a certain extent, can be very mobile across industries, acquiring expertise in the new sectors they move to in the space of a year or so. The more relevant skill set (understanding business models, market analysis etc.) is something that is continuously developed even as you move across different industries. In fact, it is arguable that it is better to stimulate the development of this skill set by contextualizing it differently in the exploration of various types of businesses. Moreover, exactly what makes someone a good investor seems to become increasingly unidentifiable as one's abilities grow - some would call it investor intuition.