When deciding whether to invest, it is important that any investment vehicle matches your feelings and preferences in relation to investment risk and return. Hence your asset allocation needs to be commensurate with your attitude to risk. Another key question to ask yourself is: \u2018How comfortable would I be facing a short-term loss in order to have the opportunity to make long-term gains?\u2019 If your answer is that you are not prepared to take any risk whatsoever, then investing in the stock market is not for you.<\/p>\n
However, if you are going to invest, you need to be prepared to take some calculated risk in the hope of greater reward. Risk is an implicit aspect to investing: shares can fall, economic conditions can change and companies can experience varying trading fortunes.<\/p>\n
The process of deciding what proportion of your investment portfolio should be invested in the four main different types of investment is called \u2018asset allocation\u2019.<\/p>\n
Equities<\/strong> It also means that you don\u2019t have to choose the right companies to invest in yourself, but can rely on the knowledge and experience of the fund manager to choose companies which they feel will perform the best.<\/p>\n Most equity funds come into one of the following categories:<\/strong><\/p>\n Growth funds – these aim to achieve long-term capital growth. The fund manager selects companies which show the best potential for increasing their share price. Bonds<\/strong> On the whole, investing in bonds is seen as lower-risk than investing in equities. Gilts are very low-risk. It is considered unlikely that the UK government will fail to\u00a0pay back money owed to investors. But with corporate bonds there is a risk that the company may not be able to repay its loan or that it may default on its interest payments.<\/p>\n Cash<\/strong> Additionally, your money could be eroded by the effects of inflation and tax. For example, if your account pays 5 per cent but inflation is running at 2 per cent, you are only making 3 per cent in real terms. If your savings are taxed, that return will be reduced even further.<\/p>\n Cash funds use the pooled savings of many investors in order to benefit from higher interest rates that are not usually available to individual investors.<\/p>\n Under current legislation, you can invest in a cash fund as part of your annual Individual Savings Account (ISA) entitlement – up to a maximum of \u00a35,340 each tax year.<\/p>\n Please note that unlike a deposit account, the value of the fund can go down as well as up. The value of tax savings and eligibility to invest in an ISA will depend on individual circumstances, and all tax rules may change in the future.<\/p>\n Property<\/strong> Different characteristics for risk<\/strong> There is a wide variety of different asset classes available to invest in and commensurate risks attached to each one. While these implicit risks cannot be avoided, they can be mitigated as part of the overall investment portfolio by diversifying.<\/p>\n If you put all of your eggs in one basket, you are more vulnerable to risk.\u00a0Different investments behave in different ways and are subject to different risks. Saving your money in a range of assets helps reduce the loss, should one of your investments suffer a downturn.<\/p>\n A need to diversify<\/strong> It is important to remember that all investments have a degree of risk. Even choosing not to invest is risky. The key is to get the right balance. Most people need a mix of assets in order to achieve their goals. The mix required depends upon individual needs.<\/p>\n By spreading your investments over a wide range of asset classes and different sectors, it is possible to avoid the risk that your portfolio becomes overly reliant on the performance of one particular asset. Key to diversification is selecting assets that behave in different ways.<\/p>\n Different \u2018styles\u2019 of investing<\/strong> Growth stocks are held as investors believe their value is likely to grow significantly over the long term, whereas value shares are held because they are regarded as being cheaper than the intrinsic worth of the companies in which they represent a stake. By mixing styles that could out- or under-perform under different economic conditions, the overall risk rating of the investment portfolio is reduced. Picking the right combination of these depends on your risk profile, so it essential to seek professional advice to ensure that your investment portfolio is commensurate with your attitude to investment risk.<\/p>\n A \u2018paper loss\u2019<\/strong> Currency risk<\/strong> Another consideration is the risk of inflation. Inflation means that you will need more money in the future to buy the same things as now. When investing, therefore, beating inflation is an important aim. Investing in cash may not beat inflation over the long term.<\/p>\n We can help you make informed decisions about the investment choices that are right for you by assessing your life priorities, goals and attitude towards risk. Any number of changing circumstances could cause your wealth to diminish, some inevitable and some unpredictable \u2013 new taxes and legislation, volatile markets, inflation and changes in your personal life. Structuring your wealth in a way that minimises the impact of these changes is essential. To discuss your requirements, please contact us.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Don\u2019t put all your eggs in one basket When deciding whether to invest, it is important that any investment vehicle matches your feelings and preferences in relation to investment risk and return. Hence your asset allocation needs to be commensurate with your attitude to risk. Another key question to ask yourself is: \u2018How comfortable would… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe risks related to investing in equities can be reduced if you invest through an equity fund. A fund manager selects a range of equities so you are less reliant on the performance of any one company.<\/p>\n
\nIncome funds – these aim to generate an attractive income for investors. The fund manager will try to select companies that pay regular dividends. Their share prices tend to be less volatile than those of other companies.<\/p>\n
\nBonds are loans issued by companies (corporate bonds) or by governments (gilts in the UK and treasury bonds in the US) in order to raise money. In effect they are IOUs that promise to pay your money back on a specified date and pay a fixed rate of interest along the way.<\/p>\n
\nCash accounts are considered the safest form of investment. Bank and building society accounts pay regular interest and give fairly easy access to your money. They\u2019re a good place for money you may need in the short term, but over the longer term they offer lower potential for growth than equities, bonds or property.<\/p>\n
\nMost people who have bought their own home will realise that property can be a good investment – house prices rose significantly in recent years, although this growth has stalled recently. Some people also chose to invest in other properties, such as buy-to-let flats and holiday homes.<\/p>\n
\nThese four asset classes have different characteristics for risk. When you are young you may want to invest in assets with a higher potential for growth but greater risk, because you have the time to benefit from their long-term growth. As you get closer to retirement you may want to choose more conservative investments that are steadier in both risk and return.<\/p>\n
\nThere is also a need to diversify within each type of investment. This is especially important in the case of share and bond investing, but can even be true of cash, where the risks are generally lowest. Putting all your money in one deposit account runs the risk that the interest paid on that account will change relative to other accounts. This could mean that the interest you receive is no longer as good as when you originally invested.<\/p>\n
\nSome assets are said to be \u2018negatively correlated\u2019, for instance, bonds and property often behave in a contrarian way to equities by offering lower, but less volatile returns. This provides a \u2018safety net\u2019 by diversifying many of the risks associated with reliance upon one particular asset. It is also important to diversify across different \u2018styles\u2019 of investing, such as growth or value investing, as well as across different sizes of companies, different sectors and different geographic regions.<\/p>\n
\nThe important thing to remember with investments is that even if your investment goes down, you will only actually make a loss if you cash it in at that time. When you see your investment value fall, this is known as a \u2018paper loss\u2019 as it is not a real loss until you sell.
\nIf you are going to invest, you need to be prepared to take some risk and to see at least some fall in the value of your investment. While all investments carry an element of risk, the amount of risk you take directly affects any potential returns and losses. Generally speaking, if there is less risk to your investment, your money will grow more slowly and\u00a0with more risk your investment may fluctuate more.<\/p>\n
\nYou should also be aware of currency risk. Currencies, for example, sterling, euros, dollars and yen, move in relation to one another. If you are putting your money into investments in another country, then their value will move up and down in line with currency changes as well as the normal share-price movements.<\/p>\n