What Troilus and Cressida teaches us about managing risk

Matthew Partridge picks out the investment lessons from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, a tragedy set against the backdrop of the Trojan War.

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Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, set against the backdrop of the Trojan War. Having besieged Troy for seven years, the Greeks try and persuade their hero Achilles to return to battle to engage the Trojan champion Hector in one-on-one combat. Meanwhile, the Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with Cressida, after her uncle Pandarus arranges for them to spend a night together. But Pandarus then sells her to the Greeks in exchange for a Greek prisoner of war, leaving Troilus angry and heartbroken.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri