Global Investing

What are you best at? Running a sprint?  Jumping a few hurdles? Or would you rather gear up for the long-haul with a marathon?

With the London 2012 Olympics in full speed UK investors are going for the long-distance rather than try to follow in Usain Bolt’s speed-lightning sprints, a poll by Barclays Stockbrokers showed.

Thirty-one percent of surveyed clients liken their investment strategy to a marathon ( “investing for the long term” ) and 34 percent to an heptathlon (“long term investment strategy which requires several different approaches.”)

Only 9 percent go for the 100 meter sprint (“spot investments opportunities and react with speed”) and 10 percent choose pole vault’s high-risk investment approach, while 16 percent are simply focused on clearing hurdles one at a time, the survey of 719 clients showed.

In a separate poll, answered by 468 of its clients, Barclays Stockbrokers asked: Thinking about the Olympics, which countries / regions have offered you the best investment returns?

Greece's creditors have essentially let it off the hook by overwhelmingly agreeing to take a 74 percent loss.  So what better time to  remember  one of the first times Athens got in trouble with paying its debts.

In 490 BC, the bucolic plains before the town of Marathon were the site of a bloodbath. Invading Persians  lost a key battle against Greeks, who were led by the great Athenian warrior Kallimachos, aka Callimachus.

The trouble is, Kallimachos shares some of the difficulty with numbers that  modern Greek leaders appear to have.  Before launching himself upon the  Persians,  he  pledged to sacrifice a young goat to the Gods for every enemy that was killed.