The Process is the Point

OP Ed - Gregory R Lai, CFA

For me, investing has never been about the outcome. It’s always been about the process.

Okay, not totally true—but it sounded good. Truth is, I’ve been gambling my whole life. It started with poker and mahjong home games, and evolved into BFF road trips to Vegas.

But investing isn’t gambling—and it’s a shame more people don’t understand that. Gambling, by design, is a losing game. Investing, when done right, delivers long-term returns. (And yes, for the record, I only play craps these days, only game that pays true odds...) That might sound strange in an industry obsessed with returns and rankings. But the longer I’ve done this, the more I’ve come to believe that investing—real investing—isn’t just a numbers game. It’s a behavior game. A discipline game. A self-awareness game.

Many people can earn money. Some can even save it. But most don’t invest. Candidly, that’s why the wealth advisory business still has so much runway. The opportunity isn’t in beating the market—it’s in helping people stick with it.

Back to the point: markets go up, markets go down. Strategies outperform and underperform. But process—if it’s grounded in principle, not prediction—is the only thing you can carry through the cycle.

And let’s be honest—humans love the prediction game. We’ve got egos. But how many of us predicted this cycle? COVID, war, Trump, tariffs, the Fed... no one saw it all coming. And yet here we are: all-time highs, tame inflation, high employment, and AI even higher.

It’s hard to stick with process in a world that rewards reaction. Hard to be rational when the market is emotional. Hard to stay steady when everyone else is sprinting toward the latest trade.

Mag 7, sound familiar?

The truth is, investing is simple. But it’s not easy. The hardest part isn’t finding the right model—it’s staying with it when it feels like it’s failing you.

What I’ve learned is that process is a kind of promise. A contract you make—with yourself, with your clients, with your future—that you won’t get swept away by the noise. That you’ll show up with intention. That you’ll stay honest, especially when it’s hard.

That’s the real work.

Because in the end, wealth isn’t the reward. The reward is the clarity that comes from doing things the right way, for the right reasons. And the security isn’t just financial—it’s knowing that even in a world you can’t control, your process is something you can.

Now, as we head into the second half of 2025: respect the process. Stay true to your long-term models. And here’s the only forecast I trust:

1) I bet it won’t be anything we will have predicted

2) The market will surprise us

3) Behavior will define us

4) Process will save us