After you and your financial planner have decided on the most appropriate asset classes to include in your investment portfolio, and also have decided on the allocation of assets within the asset classes, the next step is to select the actual investments that are most likely to help your portfolio achieve the desired results.
Here are some excellent criteria you and your financial manager should consider when making investment selections:
- Past performance compared to other investments having the same investment objective. Consideration shall be given to both performance rankings over various time frames and consistency of performance.
- Costs relative to other funds with similar objectives and investment styles
- Size of the fund
- Length of time the fund has been in existence, and length of time it has been under the direction of the current manager(s). Also, consider whether or not there have been meaningful changes in the manager’s organization and personnel.
- The historical volatility and downside risk of each proposed investment
- How well each proposed investment complements other assets in the portfolio
- The current economic environment
- The likelihood of future investment success, relative to other opportunities
Excerpt from “Exit Insight: Getting to ‘Sold!’” by author Joseph M. Maas, pp. 251-252. For more info. like this, buy the book online now.
