Investment Strategy

Every investment should have a strategy. Be it a large portfolio of diversified assets or a stand-alone security it should have a defined investment strategy with pre-determined parameters and goals.

Risk

• Interpreting your appetite for, and attitude to, risk is of paramount importance to us if your expectations are to be met. If you take high risk and it succeeds, all is well and good; but if significant falls in value occur always make sure you have sufficient reserves to avoid the need to liquidate at an inopportune time.
• One investor’s cautious risk profile may be another’s aggressive. High risk does not automatically translate in to high returns so a careful assessment is vital.

Amount

• The size of your investment is irrelevant to us. What is relevant is the percentage the investment represents of your total net worth and what it means to you.
• The higher the percentage, the greater the exposure. A solid rule of thumb is to invest enough to make a meaningful impact on the future value, but not enough to hinder you today. Over-investing is a common pitfall.

Time

• Simply put, the longer your investment time horizon the better, particularly in equity markets, in order to be able to sit out the inevitable troughs that will occur as time passes.
• Risk is reduced if the time to sell is dictated by you rather than circumstance so if you plan to save for a property, a child’s education or retirement start as soon as you can. The ‘cost of delay’ can be significant.