Trader back in town

Published in the Geelong Independent, June 2006 by Hamish Heard

Best-selling author and expert share trader Dale Gillham has returned to his home town to give local investors a few insights into how he rose to become one of Australia’s most recognised investment advisors.

Mr Gillham was in Geelong on Tuesday, telling local members of Australian Shareholders Association how astute management of investment portfolios could achieve annual returns up to 50 per cent.

The 43-year-old self-made success story began his career working for Westpac in Geeong before moving into investment banking. 

Later stints included various roles with major investment and stock market education companies.

His 2004 book, How to Beat the Managed Funds by 20 per cent, struck a chord with investors and quickly moved onto best-seller lists.

“People weren’t happy with their returns from managed funds and they were asking me where to get a book to teach them how to build better returns and there wasn’t one I could recommend, so that’s what led to the book” he said.

“Quite regularly we get people coming up to us and saying that 12 months after reading the book they’d increased their portfolios by 40 to 50 percent.”

In his address to shareholders at Geelong Football Club on Tuesday, Mr Gillham said managed funds or ad hoc trading were not keys to boosting share returns.

“Buy and hold strategies might return an average of 10 to 12 per cent annually over 10 years but if you want to get better returns you need to be a bit more active and buy and sell a few shares”, he said.

He believed mum and dad investors should instead aim for 20 to 30 per cent returns.

“The key to learning how to trade successfully is to learn how to think and behave like a professional trader”, he said.

Mr Gillham’s company this year launched Australia’s “first and only” internationally recognised, nationally accredited Diploma of Share Trading and Investment course.