@peejay2. I'm going to do this in two posts. One for Managed...

@peejay2. I'm going to do this in two posts. One for Managed Funds and another for Stock Picks. Rather than just provide outright tips, I'm going to provide some insight into the thought process that I employ to make investment decisions. Maybe others can take something from this too. 25-30 years is a long time to experience lessons from painful losses and rewarding profits.
Assumptions:
I'm the dumb money: By this I mean I'm not a full-time fund manager, stock analysist, portfolio manager, forensic accountant, managing director, etc.
Follow the smart money : Acknowledge that other industry professionals (see above) and company insiders are very probably better informed than me.

Philosophy: Its' simple. Pick many more winners than losers. My experience is that most of my winners are 30%-50% gainers over 12 months, but it only takes one or two losers to wipe out all those profits to a large degree. Thus it comes back to avoiding bad investment decisions in the first place.

Managed Funds >> Research is the key. DYOR. Follow the big money.

• A great starting point is to see what the industry professionals consider a "good" fund manager. Take a look at the monthly reports for HM1, FGG and FGX. These LICs are not recommendations, but it is very interesting to see what Fund Managers these professionals consider as "top grade" to include them in their LIC. Great starting point for research and portfolio construction. Also note they provide a breakdown of different investment styles (Long Only, Absolute and Market Neutral). BTW. I'm a big fan of Long / Short strategies if employed by a competent Fund Manager (e.g. Regal).
• Also check out the Industry Super Funds. (e.g. Hesta) for their pick of Fund Managers (https://www.hesta.com.au/members/investments/investment-managers).
• To research further > Watch every available webinar. Access all monthly reports. Log into (https://www.livewiremarkets.com) to watch everything on the fund manager.
• Forget Active Large Cap Managed Funds >> Invest in ETFs or Index Funds instead. Heaps of research to conclude they don't add value.
• Forget Specialist Managed Funds >> By this I mean pick a fund manager with a broad investment mandate in their sector. I avoid industrial only, resource only, etc. Every asset class has it's moment in the sun during the economic cycle and therefore it will out-perform within that period. The skill of a great fund manager is to recognise that turn in the cycle and adjust the portfolio accordingly. Any fund mandate that prevents that re-positioning should be avoided.