Financial well-being

The investment basics

Consider your financial needs. Do you need an income now? Can you wait for capital growth? Or would you benefit from a mixture of both? Older people may have a greater need for investment income rather than capital growth.

Ask yourself over what timescale are you prepared to invest - five, 10, 15, 20 or more years?

Depending on your attitude towards risk for reward, first-time equity investors may wish to consider a collective fund, such as a unit trust with a medium to low-risk profile, rather than immediate exposure to higher risk funds such as smaller companies or specialist trusts.

Spread your money between several fund management groups.

Treat performance rankings with care. If a fund has gone up considerably in one year, ask yourself whether it is likely to achieve anything like that in the next.

Take professional advice to select what is appropriate for your aims and objectives. There are approximately over 2,000 funds, all of which have different aims and objectives. Some will be aggressively managed, investing in a smaller concentration of stocks. Others will aim for more of a spread. The more specialist funds may be prone to big performance swings, a winner one year, a loser the next.

If you require any further information about the services that we provide or would like to review your financial planning position, please contact us

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