The investor would mainly invest his time, effort and financial resources (including savings and reserves) in this endeavor of investment management.
As individuals, what do we have that we can invest? Well, at the individual level, we only have time which we can invest. The rest, whether it be a job, an expertise, a hobby, money, etc. are only the mediums through which we invest or employ or deploy our time.
Let's consider a person working in a large corporation. He is given a job description and further a job specification. He knows exactly what the job requires and further what is expected of him. While doing his job, he is investing his time in thought, analysis and action to accomplish the job at hand. For doing this, which is also called contribution; the corporation compensates him for his valuable time through the payment of pay and perks to him.
This person has invested his time in doing a job of work in a corporation, and his return on investment is the pay, perks and other facilities the corporation gives him every month.
Similarly, the person wants a higher rate of return on his financial investments (may they be in equity, debt, bonds, deposits, real estate, art objects, rare stamps and coins). Well, for starters he would have to invest his time in thought, analysis and action to accomplish it.
