Jason Butler, partner at Bloomsbury Financial Planning, said that these were the key to successful investing.

He added that trying to make money with a focus on the short-term was like trying to “measure from your house to your office with a six inch ruler”.

A recent article on ezinearticles.com suggested that diversification of stocks was a vital part of shrewd investment.

A diversified portfolio could be spread across bonds, stocks or indexes and in several different sectors and industries instead of just one, it said.

Mr Butler added: “Diversification and time are your two friends.

“There is never a time when the market is certain. If the market was certain, it would not exist. There are periods of instability and lack of confidence.”

He went on to add that a market that was imploding or exploding do not matter when long-term investments are concerned.

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