Investing
Chapter 13 – Monitoring Your Investments
Once you have constructed your portfolio you will need to monitor it to make sure it is performing as you had hoped and that you are on track to achieve your investment goals. A financial adviser will, or can, review your investments at your annual meeting. For those that have taken the self-managed route, these…
Read MoreChapter 12 – Past Performance VS. Future Potential
While you will no doubt have seen many notices about past performance being no guide to the future, you should certainly consider how an investment you are thinking of making has performed historically, and you should review their approach to managing risk too. Investment returns tend to be cyclical. One style or market segment…
Read MoreChapter 11 – What are Emerging Markets?
In investment terms, emerging markets are those countries whose financial markets are less developed, and where investor protection and the overall market infrastructure is often weaker than in developed markets. For example, Eastern Europe includes Turkey and Russia, and further afield; Asian countries includes Malaysia and India. Some of these markets have been top performers…
Read MoreChapter 10 – Build Your Own “Synthetic ETF”
First of all, a “synthetic ETF (exchange-traded fund)” allows portfolio managers and investors to select managed account structures from within the same asset class but with different risk and trading strategies. Prior to allocating funds to a synthetic ETF or managed account, it’s important to consider the investment’s past performance, past draw downs, the length…
Read MoreChapter 9 – Exchange-Traded Funds / Indices
Another “passive” option is exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which may be listed on a stock exchange and traded in the same way as you trade shares. Buyers purchase shares in the fund which trades on an exchange. Like index-tracking funds, ETFs aim to replicate the performance of a chosen index – for example, the Standard &…
Read MoreChapter 8 – Understanding Risk
Risk is one of the most important components of all kinds of investing – but risk can also be a complicated issue. There are many measures and definitions of risk: volatility – the up and down movement of the market – is just one measure. Traditional investors only worry about volatility when shares are falling.…
Read MoreChapter 7 – Self-Managed vs. Managed Portfolio Solutions
Confident and experienced investors may be content to do their own research and to choose their own placements and allocations. Others prefer someone to do it for them or require help in choosing investments and guiding for them. Some investors claim to enjoy looking after their investments and are happy to spend time going into…
Read MoreChapter 6 – Why is diversification important?
The philosophy behind portfolio diversification is that if one investment performs poorly, you will always have others that will, ideally, not be performing badly at the same time. This allows your varied investments to act as counterbalance to one another. The “asset allocation” or in other words, how you divide your money between shares, cash,…
Read MoreChapter 5 – How to Choose a Platform?
Executing your investment goals should not be difficult which is why we recommend selecting a platform or company to work with according to how easy it is to use their website and investment portal. You should also consider the costs and quality of guidance and customer service you receive, as well as the range of…
Read MoreChapter 4 – Why use a financial advisor or an investment guide?
An experienced financial adviser can help you plan your investment portfolio for future profits making sense of the jungle of investment options, risk profiles and markets. A serious financial advisor will tell you all about the risks entailed and will spend more time on that subject than talking about profits. Great financial advisors can match…
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