Mainstream Types of Portfolio

July 26, 2020

One constantly hears about the wisdom of diversification – “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

As you swim through the universe of investments, it may appear to be a new domain from the outset and as a newbie you wish to mitigate risk and look for more significant yields. You could begin by looking up how to diversify your investment portfolio.

An investment portfolio is an assortment of an individual’s investment in numerous products. The performance of these products needs to be followed and examined to ensure that the investor gets maximum benefits.

Types of Portfolios –

Aggressive Portfolio: As the name suggests, an aggressive portfolio has an equal high risk – high reward proposition and stocks in this portfolio have a high level of beta or sensitivity to the market. They face higher fluctuations in terms of risk and reward as far as the market is booming or when it’s low. High beta stocks experience more prominent changes in price than the general market. In the event that a stock has a beta of 2.0, it will commonly move twice as much as the general market in either direction. These investors prefer “one and done investing” and they look for companies that have accelerating earnings growth but have not yet been discovered by the average investors. Usually these industries are found in technology sector.

Defensive Portfolio: The other type is a defensive portfolio which, unlike its counterpart, aggressive portfolio, does not carry a high beta or sensitivity to the overall market. It mainly emphasizes on attaining returns with minimum risks. The stocks in this category are largely unaffected and isolated from rigorous market fluctuations. Defensive investor conventionally look for companies which produce consumer staple (essential products) because no matter how well or not the economy is performing, demand for consumer staple remains at relatively constant level.

Income Portfolio: Those who prefer opting for the income portfolio mainly choose it because this portfolio type promises to provide a reliable and steady dividend income with a reduced level of risk or bankruptcy. These portfolio are safe, defensive stocks that provide higher returns, which in turn generate a positive cash flow. Master Limited Partnership (MLP) and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) are example for such kind of portfolio because these companies provide returns to shareholders out of their profits to maintain a favorable tax status.

Speculative Portfolio: Speculative portfolio is equivalent to sheer luck and gamble. They possess higher risks than other portfolio types discussed here. The investors who contemplate on investing in these stocks should have a greater tolerance level to risks and should be prepared to face the consequences of losing all they have invested if the stock prices take a dip. Initial Public Offers (IPOs) or stocks that are rumored to be takeover targets are the primary focused products for speculative investor.

Hybrid Portfolio: A hybrid portfolio consists of an amalgamation of several other investment avenues such as bonds, commodities, real estate and even arts. There is a great deal of flexibility in this portfolio. It helps to protect investors against any risks during transactions and in a way, guarantee investors that their investment with returns will come back to them after a certain period of time. Blue chips stocks and some high-grade government or corporate bonds are good to include in hybrid portfolio.

How to Choose Your Portfolio

Leading an appropriate portfolio investigation is basic before picking the correct portfolio type for you. Before you dive into putting together a portfolio, ensure that you think about these various factors before analysis.

Determine The Ideal Asset Allocation: Having a clear picture of your financial situation as well as investment goals are the first stepping stones towards building your own portfolio. Basic things you may need to consider in order to pick the right portfolio are –

Time you have in order to build your investment

Capital the funds you have available to invest in future capital needs.

Risk Another important aspect to contemplate is risk tolerance of the investor. It tells you how much risk you can tolerate for greater returns.

Dividing Capital Into Appropriate Asset Classes: Once you’ve shortlisted the asset allocation, you need to quickly jump onto dividing your investment among the correct asset classes. On a basic level, it doesn’t seem to be a tedious task, equities are equities and bonds are bonds. But, these broader classes can further be divided into sub-classes. These sub-classes hold a diverse risk and return potential. While making an asset diversification strategy, it is best to analyze the quality and potential of each investment product you buy.

Reassess Portfolio Weightage: Your work doesn’t end once you’ve set up a portfolio. In fact, that’s when it begins. Once you have a set portfolio, you need to, as a ritual, reshuffle and analyze your portfolio because market keeps fluctuating on a how much[2] , decide which underweighted securities you will buy with the proceeds from selling the over weighed securities. To choose your securities, use the approaches discussed in Step 2 daily basis and it may cause your initial weightings to alter.[3] Factors like risk appetite, financial standing, future needs may change over the course of time and due to that it is better to keep reframing and assessing your portfolio to analyze it in every aspect.

Time to Rebalance In a Strategic Manner: Securities have a great impact on taxation. Perhaps your investment in growth stocks has appreciated strongly but if you decide to sell your equity positions to rebalance your portfolio, it is advisable to consider the tax implications and adjust your portfolio. And when we are discussing about reshuffling and rebalancing, it is important to consider the position of your securities. If any over-weighted stock isn’t bringing you any return, then it is more beneficial to simply let go of that stock irrespective of the tax implications because this will reduce your growth stock’s weighting in your portfolio.

Portfolio Diversification: Throughout the entire portfolio building process, it is vital to maintain the diversification because diversified portfolio carries lower risk than a portfolio biased towards particular security, stock asset etc. Stocks, bonds or mutual funds are supposed to provide investors with some kind of diversification, which later give them the flexibility of switching from an allocated portfolio to a different one. Ensure that your holdings within a given asset class are spread across an array of subclasses and industry sectors.