You can’t live life without taking some risks. From starting a business to driving a car, nothing worthwhile is guaranteed to go exactly as planned. And therein lies the solution – planning. If we do this right, we can maximise the expected benefits and reduce the associated risks. As with life, this is at the heart of good investing.
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Property owners know the stresses and strains of buying a home. Hunting for a house, securing funding and navigating the legalities of transfer take time and energy. However, investing in an exchange traded fund (ETF) avoids these challenges, with many more benefits to boot.
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Ownership is usually perfectly obvious. That is, when it comes to physical items we can see and touch. We know exactly what it means to own a home, a car or the device you are reading this on. Things can be less clear with intangible items, like investment products.
So, what do you own when you invest in one of our 1nvest exchange traded funds (ETFs) or unit trusts?
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You might recall it as “Pt”, with atomic number 78, from your high school science classes. If you speak Spanish, you may know that its name derives from “platina”, the diminutive of “plata”, which is “silver” in English. Of course, if you’re an investor, you’re interested in platinum’s prospects as a winning part of your portfolio.
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You might recall it as “Pt”, with atomic number 78, from your high school science classes. If you speak Spanish, you may know that its name derives from “platina”, the diminutive of “plata”, which is “silver” in English. Of course, if you’re an investor, you’re interested in platinum’s prospects as a winning part of your portfolio.
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The benefits of balance are all around us. In nature, a whole ecosystem suffers when one species gains dominance. In sports, it’s rarely the player with a single killer shot that wins consistently in the long run. Champions tend to have multiple skills. Adding patience to balance makes for a powerful combination in many spheres of life.
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Imagine you received an unexpected lump sum of money. Maybe a bonus at work or a special dividend. It’s a problem we’d all like to have. But not an easy one. If we decide to invest it rather than splurge, we’ve already won half the battle. Nonetheless, we’ll face all sorts of temptations that can draw us into investing it suboptimally. That can be costly.
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“Stick to your knitting”, goes the old saying. Like many nuggets of wisdom that have stood the test of time, this captures a simple but powerful truth. There are benefits to focusing on the things you’re good at.
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You know your strategy is doing something right when economists give you a celebratory nickname. For example, if you’re among the “Asian Tigers”, you have been a part of one of the most impressive industrialisations in history. Similarly, earning the nickname “the world’s factory” rightly suggests dominance as a manufacturer and exporter.
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Throughout history, gold has been a fascinating asset. Bring it up at a braai, and you’re sure to spark a heated debate. The “gold bugs” will hail it as a safe haven, and there is sure to be at least one critic who reminds you that it pays no dividends. You’re also likely to hear that gold has historically been difficult and expensive to hold – even dangerous!
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