sentix Philosophy

21 June 2011

Emotions determine courses

Successful investors of all walks of life knew and know of the significance of psychology in investment. In the meantime, this understanding has also taken root in science and is know there as Behavioral Finance or Behavioral Economics. This discipline places humans in the focus of their considerations. Human thinking and decision-making procedures are linked to a broad range of factors. Not only rational and economically sound reasons determine this behaviour. Emotions, preconceptions and other distortions in perception are influential, sometimes decisively influential.

Until a few years ago it was, however, not possible to quantify emotions, perceptions and investment measures and to therefore be able to utilize these for capital market analyses and investment decisions. The convincing theory of Behavioral Finance could hardly be used in real life.

An innovation for the financial markets

With the start of sentix in 2001, things have changed! Since then, a high-quality data base that meets scientific standards is available which gives us profound insights into the decision making processes of investors on the financial markets.

In contrast to conventional sentiment surveys, sentix offers the following advantages:

• With over 3.500 participants, we have the largest participant base
• High esteem of institutional investors (more than 750 participants)
• High transparency (participants, survey methods, access to results)
• Not only emotions (sentiment), but also measures (positioning) as well as rational considerations (value perceptions, convictions) become clear
• All data is available optionally via Bloomberg or our website for commercial use
• Supplementing of data through first-class research of experienced market experts

And the best thing is: everyone, including you, can take part and profit free of charge from the unique sentix expertise.

How sentix works

• Registrer free of charge
• Invitation and Survey
• sentix Plus – taking part is worth it!
• Results and Analyses - your value added

Added value for your investment decisions

The monitoring of actors on the markets and the measurement of emotions or perceptions is a lucrative exercise. From the data obtained, a broad range of important insights can be deduced.

• Quantitative and qualitative head start in information, as, through effective surveying (internet) a timely analysis and the representative, well-informed participant base make economic processes and changes in value perception visible sooner and in a more exact way (Wisdom of the crowds)
• Emotions and polarisations in investor opinion become visible and divergences of one's own opinion from the market consensus complete the analytical picture. The susceptibility of an investor to act emotionally on the markets sinks the more an unbiased view on the emotions of the market is offered to him. This is an important prerequisite for the development and implementation of successful contrarian-strategies. Sentix data gives you the highest possible objectivity, as it is available in an unbiased and systematic form. (Madness of the crowd)
• Bubbles, Manias and Crashes – the markets often behave in a way in which investors least expect it to. This is especially dangerous when investors act one-sidedly on the markets and market prices don't take on the expected direction. Many analysts describe the following market slips as "exogenous shocks", as non-predictable events. But many of these events can only unleash their destructive force because investors have massively speculated in the wrong direction. With the help of sentix, these investment measures and the positionings of investors on the market are made visible and allow us to reduce the danger of "black swans" (Black Swans)

Join in!

sentix is the first choice if you wish to know more about the psychology of the stock market and wish to qualitatively improve your investment decisions.