As global markets continue to be choppy, investing in Lloyds Bank (LSE: LLOY) shares offer me a healthy dividend yield, access to a company with significant tailwinds and, perhaps crucially, the chance to benefit from a new growth-focused strategy.

Britain’s biggest mortgage lender ushered in a new chief executive officer less than a year ago, and he is pushing growth as “a core focus”.

I know, I know, banks are boring and aren’t creative enough to grow at pace. But a desire to be more innovative and re-shape Lloyds does seem apparent.

The bank wants to buy 50,000 homes of its own over the next decade to become a gigantic landlord. This will offer a new income stream and – more importantly in my view – points to substance in the company’s vow to do things differently.

There are already good things happening, anyway.

Last year, Lloyds grew its mortgage lending by £16bn – its biggest jump in over a decade. In Q1 of this year, the bank posted net income of £4.1bn – a 12% year-on-year rise.

It offers investors a 4.5% dividend return – higher than that delivered by shares in Barclays or HSBC.

It also leaves the same two companies trailing in its wake with a return on equity of over 10%. That means that for every £1 hopeful investors like us place in Lloyds Bank shares, recent results point to us earning 10% on our money. Lloyds wants this at 12% by 2024.

And why might things get better?

Banks like to see their net interest margins grow. That figure is the difference between the interest they receive on things like loans or mortgages and the interest they pay to savers.

So in times of inflation – like now – the Bank of England’s move to raise interest rates should help Lloyds in theory.

In the last year or so Lloyds has seen its net interest margin grow from 2.54% to 2.68%, and it has now said it expects it to reach 2.7%.

This is a key vehicle to added profitability. In addition, Lloyds Bank is cutting costs, with a desire to reduce office space and bank locations by 30%. It wants to cut operating costs by £700m in less than a decade.

And with all of this, Lloyds Bank shares are down around 10% in 12 months, offering a value opportunity.

I also like the benefit of Lloyds possessing a degree of customer captivity. Yes, we can all switch mortgage lenders or switch banks, but it’s a hassle. This makes customers somewhat sticky, which is good for business.

As always, there are risks. There is disruption from a growing number of financially innovative online banking providers like Monzo or Starling. In many ways, they are helping drive change at Lloyds.

In addition, if the UK enters the recession that some are predicting, there is a chance individuals become fearful. Suddenly a big mortgage is a big risk, loans are avoided and banks may lose out.

But most companies suffer during recessions. Is a reputable bank with experience of navigating previous downturns not a sensible proposition in tough times?

I am adopting a long time horizon and adding to my position in Lloyds Bank shares.

Rarely do I feel I can buy an industry stalwart with growthy intentions, tailwinds and an eye on cutting costs.

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Luke Reddy owns shares in Lloyds Banking Group. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Barclays, HSBC Holdings, and Lloyds Banking Group. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

So you are new in the investing business and a Warren Buffett quote has just cropped up on your Twitter or Instagram feed – those platforms seem to know what you like better than you do after all.

Buffett – for many, the greatest value investor of all time – offers valuable investment lessons. But might he teach you about life as well as finance?

Who are you really?

Are you an optimist? A pessimist? Do you follow the crowd?

Warren Buffett’s mentor – Benjamin Graham – once said an “intelligent investor is a realist, who buys from pessimists and sells to optimists”.

Your desire to jump into the latest hot stock may not be beneficial. Through your urge you become the hopeful optimist. Is this where you want to be?

“Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is,” Buffett said. “The time to get interested is when no one else is.”

Buffett consistently champions controlling one’s temperament. Can you control your greed, fears and ego?

“The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging,” Buffett said.

Easier said than done.

Know your own voice

One day you will – almost certainly – buy a stock off a tip or because of the words of others. It will – almost certainly – cost you money.

Warren Buffett demands an investor understands the business they are investing in. At 91, he still refuses to invest in areas he does not understand.

“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway,” Buffett once said.

Ignore the tips and the noise. In investing, as in life, you can form an opinion of your own. Market forecasts are just forecasts after all.

Buffett said: “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.”

Do you have patience in an instant world?

If there is one magic ingredient in an investment journey, it is time.

Warren Buffett preaches the need to buy stocks that you would be comfortable holding forever. He monetised time and patience.

 “You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant,” he once said.

Our social media feeds show us the overnight investing sensations of our generation. Buffett has long said beware of investment activity that produces applause, pointing to great moves being made in silence.

So become aware of the merits of patience in life.

Learn the forces around you

Investing will likely turn you on to the invisible forces around you, like another pillar of Warren Buffett’s approach: compounding.

Let us imagine you receive a dividend on an investment and you re-invest the proceeds. This money did not exist for you beforehand. Now it has bought you more shares that can in turn return a bigger dividend.

Or let’s say you buy a stock for £1 and it increases by 10% to a value of £1.10. A further increase in value means you are now earning a return on that initial 10p rise too.

Compounding filters through into life and your daily habits – look no further than Dan Hardy’s best selling self-help book, The Compound Effect.

An investing journey will teach you plenty about yourself and life. Buffett’s words may help smooth the way and keep your pocket fuller.

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Luke Reddy has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Twitter. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

The £100m Manchester City man – who previously launched a collection with boohoo.com – has now been signed up to work with Italian fashion powerhouse Gucci.

It appears another progressive transfer for the 26-year-old, but what does it say for boohoo? This beaten-down stock was – not for the first time – sharp in identifying a prospect that a legacy brand ultimately chased.

There are other examples of boohoo’s front-foot thinking. Note its history of pouncing on ‘influencers’ from hit ITV show Love Island. Note its heavy emphasis on its growing social media channels. Note its recent step into the Metaverse with ‘Boohooverse’ – where it gave away a raft of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to drum up engagement.

It remains quick and bold in its thinking.

And yet it trades at 89p at the time of writing, down from a pandemic-fuelled high of 433p in June 2020.

At around this time, senior management were offered significant bonuses if the company’s value hit £7.55bn by 2023. It has, however, plummeted to £1.1bn. Either leadership or the market has lost a grip of price. If the truth is anywhere in the middle then I believe boohoo has significant upside.

There are signs the stock is finding a base, with a series of recent one-day price rises of 5% or more pointing to there being demand at around this level.

Retail – with a cost-of-living crisis upon us – may feel like the investment equivalent of socks with sandals right now (I actually think that’s back on trend but you get where I’m coming from). This, though, is a profitable company free of heavy high-street rents given its online nature, and it has no debt.

Furthermore, its low-price products are exactly what the financially squeezed may gravitate to during testing times.

There is growth too. November’s nine-month earnings release saw sales of £1.48bn – offering year-on-year growth of 16%.

Some may wonder if a company that made its name targeting 16-30 year-olds has longevity given the fickle nature of changing trends.

But consider its acquisitions – Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Karen Millen to name just a few. Grealish’s grandmother was not even born when Dorothy Perkins came into existence.

The point is boohoo has diversified. That broadens its markets and lowers risk.

Recent years have seen the company face criticisms for working conditions in its supply chain, an issue it has sought to rectify by stiffening up its corporate governance.

The scandal began the demise of its share price. More recently, a pandemic-related increase in costs and a lift in the number of items returned also saw the share price hit by 23% in a day. Are such falls an over-reaction?

Grealish has arguably failed to deliver value since his expensive move.

boohoo – debt free, lean, growing and packing a sharp eye for an opportunity – could be a bargain signing by comparison, and I will soon add more of it into my portfolio.

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Luke Reddy owns shares in boohoo group. The Motley Fool UK has recommended ITV and boohoo group. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.