Here is Olli Viitiko’s advice to beginner investors in the Master Investors series – “I would welcome the course bill with my arms around”

Olli Viitikko became known as the portfolio manager of the Mikro Markka and Arvo Markka funds at a time when they were still around A taler funds. In 2021 Aktia bought Taaleri’s financial management, and soon after that, Viitikko resigned like many of his colleagues.

At the time of the interview in Kauppalehti’s Master Investors series last fall, Viitikko was still a private investor in Helsinki. Now at the beginning of the year, Viitikko founded with his old colleagues Special Partners asset management company.

In the Master Investors series, Viitikko talked a lot about his successes and failures and, above all, what he has learned from them. He also had a lot of wise words for budding investors.

“For a net buyer of a share, which is basically a novice investor, it’s a great situation that those prices are falling and you can buy cheaper all the time”, Viitikko reminded in the Mestarisijoitjat interview.

“If you buy with the same amount of euros, you get more money in that portfolio and the average price will be quite good in the end. Sometimes, when the upswing comes – whenever it is – the situation is already very different.”

That’s why Viitikko emphasized long-term investing at a time when investing seems difficult. That’s why you just have to be able to invest evenly and according to your own plan.

“I would welcome that course invoice with my arms. It is a good thing.”

On the other hand, the person who became known as a stock picker finally brought up one more thing, which is not heard very often from a believer in stock picking.

“Personally, I would think very carefully, if you are a beginner investor, whether you want to go down the path of stock picking or whether index investing would be an easier option after all,” Viitikko said.

“If stock picking is not a passion, it can become tedious. Also, the results are often weaker.”

Olli Viitiko’s interviews in the Master Investors series were filmed in October 2022. They were originally published in Kauppalehti on November 23, 2022 and November 30, 2022. In the first part, Viitikko talks about the investment principles he followed and which investments he had learned the hardest from. In the second part, Viitikko talks about his role models as an investor, among other things.