Picking winning shares can be a daunting but important task. As veteran investor Warren Buffett says: “The weeds wither away in significance as the flowers bloom. Over time, it takes just a few winners to work wonders.” In Melbourne Cup week, it’s timely for self-managed super investors to ponder how to tilt the winning share odds in their favour.

Occasionally industries emerge that disrupt the established order and offer lucrative investment opportunities. History is littered with examples. The oil industry obliterated the whaling industry, one of the first energy transitions. The internet sent shockwaves through the retail, postal, music, DVD, Yellow Pages industries. Today, the rise of artificial intelligence and electric vehicles could have a similar transformative effect.