In this Smart Money with Alishia Seckam interview, Ninety One’s Paul Hutchinson discusses his mistakes and the financial lessons he has learnt. Hutchinson is the sales manager at Ninety One and has worked in the financial services industry for 28 years. His focus at Ninety One is driving domestic and offshore fund sales with large private banks and private wealth managers. He is also directly responsible for many of Ninety One’s sophisticated clients. In this Smart Money interview, Hutchinson discusses his mistakes during his career in financial services and the lessons he learned. Hutchinson begins by unpacking the insufficient contributions he made to his retirement fund and gives viewers advice on how to avoid making the same errors. He then talks about not taking into account the impact of annual fees and chasing the rand—both of which have affected his savings and investing journeys. Hutchinson continues by discussing the problem of focusing too heavily on short-term performance. He explains why South Africans should instead stay committed to their investment strategy in most cases – before revealing the situations where changing your strategy is a good idea. Lastly, Hutchinson talks about the risks of getting enticed by “unique opportunities” in private markets.