David vs. Goliath. The individual investors flexibility advantage.

I was talking to my Dad relatively recently about the returns that I expect to get when trading.  The number I told him shocked him and he asked me how I figured a number anywhere close to that was possible.  He said, "Hedge fund managers and mutual funds do not get those types of returns.  How can a lone investor?!?!"
That is a good question.  Individuals have huge advantages over large institutional investors with their army of researchers and billions upon billions of dollars.
Individual investors have much more flexibility then large institutional investment firms.  It is much easier to grab 20 shares of AAPL then it is to grab 10,000.  It is also much easier to get out of that position once you are ready to exit.  Think of it this way, it is much easier to turn a fishing boat around then it is to turn an aircraft carrier around.  Some large institutions even have to worry about moving a stocks price when they buy up the amount of shares that their clients require.  As a lone investor we do not have that problem.
Because lone investors don't have clients they can follow their own strategy.  This is another advantage that we have over the institutions.  The only people we are answerable to is ourselves.  This gives the individual another distinct advantage.  There is no pressure to produce results for clients.  Hedge funds and Mutual funds are pressured in to making moves that will please their clients sometimes.  These can be moves that end up losing them money just so they can show that they are making gains to keep their clientele happy.  Fortunately this is a problem that the individual does not face.