Keeping up to date with the best investment prospects is how you cultivate a portfolio brimming with potential. It’s how you can get ahead of the pack and make the best gains as possible by leveraging investment areas to your advantage.
We’ve detailed a few of the areas worth looking into at the moment, just before the summer as everything starts to reopen after lockdown restrictions look to be lifted. These will mainly be targeted at those looking to get into investments, giving them insights into what investment products are available to them.
Corporate bonds
These function as a form of loan to a company via a bond, similar to how government bonds can work and can carry slightly higher risk. You can purchase these through an investment broker, and could be especially useful as businesses look to make the most of lockdown coming to an end to restore some normality.
Index funds
An index fund is a form of mutual fund comprised of stocks within a particular market index. This includes the S&P 500 – a collection of the 500 largest U.S. companies – which has always been a favourite among investors.
But a Technical Analysist for Tickmill suggests an imminent drop in this index, meaning that purchasing stocks within the S&P 500 after this drop is a smart move as it will almost certainly recover.
Individual stocks
Stocks essentially represent a portion of ownership within a company via a ‘share’. These can carry one of the higher elements of volatility within investments, but with a diverse portfolio you can gather a collection of stocks through mutual funds.
This extra risk also carries a much higher potential for reward – just limit your individual stock holdings to 10% or less within your portfolio.
Real estate
House prices have surged within the last 18 months as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, with people re-evaluating the importance of housing.
It also makes sense as many savings account no longer offer the same interest rates, while bricks and mortar have seen record levels of increase. It’s unlikely that this value will drop for a while, so investing in property or shares within real estate investment trusts (REITs) could be the way to go.
Alternative investments
The alternative assets class covers a wide range of different investments, including cryptocurrencies, precious metals, private equity, and even rare items such as coins and art.
These have proved to be popular as their value as assigned in a different way to other assets, buoyed up by interest and their perceived value. Some investors may want to move away from traditional investments within their portfolio, but it’s worth considering the additional factors which can lead to volatility within alternative investments.
Looking into these five products and other similar investment products can give you an idea of potential investments. Make sure to research any investments before proceeding to purchase a product, as this will give you the best chance to spot opportunities to add positive growth to your portfolio.