I’ll be the first to admit that while I am a mediocre sports fan throughout the year, I am a real bandwagon fan when a Toronto team is winning – and as such, I’ve been on the emotional Raptors rollercoaster for the past several weeks enduring late nights of OT excitement.

The Raptors have currently accomplished something they had not done in 15 years; they won a first round NBA playoff series. Now they are leading the NBC Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat 3-2 and if they win game 6 tonight, it will be the first time they’ve ever played in the NBA Conference finals in the team’s 21-year history. So, the incentive to win tonight is huge. There was also a big push for me to try and finish writing WOTS before 8pm tonight so that I could be cheering the team on like the hardcore bandwagon fan that I’ve become (I’m a little late but that’s ok)…

The emotional rollercoaster that these conferences bring is further ignited by the media, word of mouth and pride. All common ingredients when dissecting the emotional rollercoaster some investors call investing – so with that in mind, perhaps we can draw some parallels and learn some lessons from the Raptors.

Lesson I – Diversification & Asset Allocation
The team this year is arguably the most diversified in franchise history, with specialists on offense and defense. Both are equally important and vital to winning. You’ve heard me preach the same thing about asset allocation & diversification many times; having the appropriate mix of offense (equity) and defense (fixed income) helps to mitigate the volatility of the rollercoaster.

Lesson II – Ignore the Headlines
Based on their performance over the past couple of playoff appearances, the Raptors had developed a reputation for dying under pressure. Even after the success they’ve had, many headlines still take a negative approach because it’s what sells. Focusing on injured players, odds of winning and the “underperformance of Toronto’s biggest stars DeRozan and Lowry”. Read more of what they’re saying here.

Similarly, global equity markets got off to a rocky start in 2016 and the headlines were saturated with words like “plummet”, “recession”, “surge”, “depression”, etc. But then we rallied all the way back and if you acted on the negativity by abandoning your long-term plan, you would have missed an impressive rally and realized an unnecessary loss.

Lesson III – The Value of a Good Coach
Dwane Casey is an American basketball coach and currently the head coach for the Raptors. With a long and impressive track record, Dwane has been leading the Raptors to success and keeping them focused on the long-term goal. Every time the camera panels to him or with every timeout, you can see his guidance around each strategic play and how he reminds the players of their higher goal – because without the coaches (there are 8 of them), it would be easy for the players to lose focus “on” the game while playing “in” the game.

When market volatility increases and the value of your portfolio begins to slide, it can be easy to lose focus and forget your plan. As your coach, it is my job to help you stay on track by calling a timeout, re-visiting your plan and developing a strategy that will help you stay the course. So while my long-term passion is helping you achieve financial success through proper guidance, commitment to a strategic plan and patience overtime, my short-term goal this evening will be to cheer GO RAPS GO!