investment advice from the Torah (?)

[Daniel Coleman]

There's a lot of commerce in these parshiyos, from avraham's real estate purchase, to the bechora, to mechiras yosef etc.

In our parsha we find the importance of diversifying your portfolio:

Rav Chiya Rabba said, the Torah teaches right conduct, that a person shouldn’t place all his money in a single position. From whom do we learn? From Yaakov, as it is said, “And he divided the people with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two camps, and he said, If Esau falls upon one camp and smites it, the camp will remain will escape”. (Bereshit Rabba, Genesis 32:8-9)

Can you share other investment advice/principles derived (explicitly or otherwise) from the Torah?

Thanks for your suggestions,

Daniel

[Daniel Levy]

From an article I remember reading a while ago, it seems the main Torah/Biblical source for investment advice is Koheles 11:1-6 (see below). This is often quoted as the original source for the now-established investment principle to diversify your portfolio. Internet is full of it. See for example this article from the Sound Strategies Finance Group talking about what Shlomo Hamelech actually invested in and how he diversified (supposedly) – http://soundfsg.com/diversify

 

Although now that I’m a trainee solicitor in a private client off-shore jurisdiction, I’m now noticing how many trusts there are in these parshios (people holding property for beneficial owners). See for example Rashi to Beriashis 24:10:

. וַיִּקַּח הָעֶבֶד עֲשָׂרָה גְמַלִּים מִגְּמַלֵּי אֲדֹנָיו וַיֵּלֶךְ וְכָל טוּב אֲדֹנָיו בְּיָדוֹ...:

וכל טוב אדוניו בידו: שטר מתנה כתב ליצחק על כל אשר לו, כדי שיקפצו לשלוח לו בתם:

 

קוהלת פרק יא

א שַׁלַּח לַחְמְךָ, עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם:  כִּי-בְרֹב הַיָּמִים, תִּמְצָאֶנּוּ.  ב תֶּן-חֵלֶק לְשִׁבְעָה, וְגַם לִשְׁמוֹנָה:  כִּי לֹא תֵדַע, מַה-יִּהְיֶה רָעָה עַל-הָאָרֶץ.  ג אִם-יִמָּלְאוּ הֶעָבִים גֶּשֶׁם עַל-הָאָרֶץ יָרִיקוּ, וְאִם-יִפּוֹל עֵץ בַּדָּרוֹם וְאִם בַּצָּפוֹן--מְקוֹם שֶׁיִּפּוֹל הָעֵץ, שָׁם יְהוּא.  ד שֹׁמֵר רוּחַ, לֹא יִזְרָע; וְרֹאֶה בֶעָבִים, לֹא יִקְצוֹר.  ה כַּאֲשֶׁר אֵינְךָ יוֹדֵעַ מַה-דֶּרֶךְ הָרוּחַ, כַּעֲצָמִים בְּבֶטֶן הַמְּלֵאָה:  כָּכָה, לֹא תֵדַע אֶת-מַעֲשֵׂה הָאֱלֹהִים, אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה, אֶת-הַכֹּל.  ו בַּבֹּקֶר זְרַע אֶת-זַרְעֶךָ, וְלָעֶרֶב אַל-תַּנַּח יָדֶךָ:  כִּי אֵינְךָ יוֹדֵעַ אֵי זֶה יִכְשָׁר, הֲזֶה אוֹ-זֶה, וְאִם-שְׁנֵיהֶם כְּאֶחָד, טוֹבִים. 

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