Category: Investing

Jul 16 2010

Capital Growth Investment Strategy



Capital growth investment strategy is a widely accepted and followed portfolio management strategy. As the name suggest, the strategy aims at capital growth, maximizing portfolio value, over time. Before we start, here is the danger signal – capital growth strategy is a high risk investment strategy which requires great investment discipline and money management.

A portfolio which follows capital growth strategy is mainly comprises of equities. Often more than 60 to 70 percent capital is invested in stocks, preferably growth stocks. Remaining portfolio can be constituted of low profit low risk investments such as fixed income securities, money market funds, cash, and/or precious metals like gold to limit overall portfolio risk. The exact portfolio capital allocation depends on many things like individual profit goals, risk tolerance, risk capital involved, portfolio size and investing experience.

Many times one can see capital growth portfolios which allocate more than 90 percent capital to equities. Capital growth investors often prefer small and mid cap stocks over large cap stocks, because these show greater growth and are expected to offer increased return over time. Diversification of portfolio is important in capital growth strategy and is achieved by investing in different products like stocks, options, futures, ETFs, funds, bonds, etc. Portfolios which allocate most (all) of the capital to equities achieve diversification by investing in different industry stocks, different markets, using derivatives to hedge risks, and by investing in both high growth high risk stocks and low profit low risk stocks.

Capital growth investment strategy is a long-term strategy, which may or may not require periodical reassessments and rearrangements of portfolio allocations. Investable stocks are found using various growth investing tools and strategies. Active portfolio management is recommended for experience investors, to replace low performing investments with high performing ones. But remember, active management often requires greater costs.

The advantages of capital growth investment strategy involve faster increase in asset value and better chance of profit than most other investment strategies. The disadvantages include higher risk, unpredictable returns and high volatile portfolio. With capital growth strategy, market entry and exit timings are very important; and there are too many market, risk and economical factors to be considered. The silver lining is ‘irrespective of frequent ups and downs, the equity market shows almost steady growth in long-term; which is higher than most other financial markets’.

Jul 12 2010

Investing In Shares Basics



This article is about the basics of investing in shares. It is a well known fact that the markets have outperformed other asset classes such as property over time. Investing in shares offer tax benefits, diversification, flexibility and control over your own financial future. Buying a share (or in other words the stock) means that you are buying a share of the company. You own a share of the profits, which are handed down to shareholders through dividends and you can also see capital growth as share price increases. The company benefits from listing on the stockmarket as they can finance their business or an expansion plan without needing to borrow money.

But before you jump into investing into any company shares, here are a few important questions to ponder and answer to help assess your own financial situation and your financial goals for the future: What is the outcome that you want to achieve from investing in shares? What kind of return would you like? Income from company dividends or capital growth? Are you aware of the risks? And are you prepared to take the risk of investing your capital in the sharemarket for the opportunity for a return?

Starting capital for investing in shares can vary greatly: but if you are looking to start with the minimal amount, you can start investing from $500 plus brokerage costs. However, most people start with $2000.

Another part of a sound comprehensive investment plan (of which investing in shares is one component) is considering your time frame as well as your age. For example, someone who is young have the time to risk a little more (since they have time to recover any major losses) but may have limited capital to invest with. Older people have less time to correct any major loss, hence have to choose more secure investments but are more likely to have more capital to play with.

Holding shares and investing in stocks may have tax implications and you may be eligible for some tax benefits. When companies have paid tax on their profits, as the dividends are distributed to the shareholders, tax credits which are called franking credits are included per share. The franking credits can then be used to offset the tax payable on your other income. Another tax benefit that may be available to you is a 50 percent discount on capital gains payable if you hold your shares for longer than 12 months. Please obtain professional advice from your accountant which suits your particular circumstances.

Investing in shares allows you the investor to diversify. This will spread your risk and you may choose to distribute your risk over different industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare or the risky exploration sector.

Another benefit in investing in shares is that you basically have flexibility of choice: you can buy or sell shares quickly as you please. For highly liquid shares, once you execute a sell order, you have access to your cash within two days. Compared to other investment classes (such as real estate) it may take much longer to exchange or liquidate your investment into cash.

Finally, choosing to invest in shares you’ve basically put yourself into the driving seat of your financial future. You’ve got the steering wheel and you are in charge of controlling your financial future – you have the responsibility of choosing where your investment capital will be placed and for how long. You may also choose to use a full service broker to give you further advice.

Jul 08 2010

Using E-gold as Gold Investment



E-gold may be a good way to give you an easy way to be involved in the gold investment market.

The reason we can use e-gold as the way is because the price of e-gold currency is the same as the real gold price.

So buying e-gold is 100% the same as buying real gold but they give e-gold holder an easy way to move th value of the gold your own in the internet even much easier than your real money.

You can either use e-gold to invest another investing program you can easily find from the internet or just hold the e-gold in your e-gold account as the gold investment only.

In the future ,e-gold may become the worldwide money you can spend anywhere in the internet .Just like the Europe they use their own currency in most of the country there. E-gold may have that potential to act the same role in the coming future.

At this moment ,e-gold is used in the internet investment such as the HYIP,but we beleve in the ocming future ,we will have more way to use e-gold to invest in the formal investing program such as REits funds. Even we can use e-gold to buy the stock world wide.

Jun 24 2010

Asset Allocation as an Investment Strategy



“In a perfect world we don’t want to be overly dependent on any single asset or be so dependent on the cycle or where one asset is the bulk of this company.” -James Packer

Asset allocation is an investment strategy which helps investors create balance and variety in their investment portfolios. Asset allocation and diversification are often used interchangeable however, they are two separate techniques. Diversification refers to dividing investments up into different industries and sectors. Asset allocation refers to the process of dividing assets up into major categories like stocks, bonds, cash, and real estate. This is important because each type of investment has its own rate of return and its own risk. Each will behave differently and be influenced by different economic factors. A solid investment plan will use both diversification and asset allocation to create a productive and fruitful investing environment. Determining and customizing your investment plan with the right mix of stock vehicles is the most important decision you will make as an investor.

Where to Begin? The first step is to figure out in what proportion will each of the investments types exist in your financial plan. Most financial advisors agree that at least 40% of your portfolio should be investments in stocks. While 20% should be in long term investments like mutual funds and bonds. The other 40% should be invested in high yield stocks which have higher risk and therefore the potential for higher profit.

However, risk levels are different for each individual investor and should be researched fully before making a decision. The specific industry of the stocks or bonds you are invested in is actually less important then the way you have your investment types divided up in low to high risks options, long or short term bonds, or the amount of available cash.

Asset allocation is extremely specific to the individual. While asking for advice from family and friends is a good place to begin your research about asset allocation never assume that your friend’s asset allocation plan would work for you. Unfortunately, there is no simple equation which can determine what type of allocation is best for you or your risk level. A financial or investment advisor will be able to lead you through the decision making process.

Asset allocation can be a fun and exciting part of your planning process, so enjoy it! Make sure you to take the time to do plenty of research and reflect on what is best for you. Another factor which can influence your asset allocation is your short and long term goals. For example, if you are saving for retirement and can afford to place money into funds, which have less liquidity, then it is probably a good idea to invest more into mutual funds and bonds. However, if you have capital to invest now but in 1 year you will need for a down payment on a house, publicly traded stocks are a better option because they offer more liquidity.

Jun 20 2010

Beginning Investing



If you are beginning investing money then you have lots of doubts and confusions about where to invest your money. It is your hard earned money and when you are beginning investing you would think twice in order to ensure that your money goes to a secured place, will multiply itself, and will take care of you on a future date.

The investment should secure a bright future and should also provide you with a sound foundation.

This is the reason why you think twice or thrice when you are beginning investing your money anywhere. There are lots of ways where you can invest money and get it multiplied. There are many ways of investing money. You can invest your money in stock purchase. With this you can start off with a very little amount and in the future, if you want to, you can increase your investment by buying more stock. You can buy small shares with a very meager amount and wait for the price of the share to increase.This is known as value investing. The moment you get the update that the price of your stocks has increased, sell it and make some money. This will earn a few bucks without much of a risk.

After gaining money in this way don’t spend it unnecessarily elsewhere. If you’re beginning investing your money continue to do so in the stock market itself. Don’t worry that the stock market is completely volatile and unpredictable. I’ve known that it is a speculative field, but still there is a chance of earning big money if you are lucky enough to gain good understanding of how the system works in the stock market. So, beginning investment of the money that you have earned through the stock market again and buying few move shares would be advisable. This will definitely increase the income and you will have one more source of income as time passes by.

If you are wondering about a lack of knowledge about the stock market, there is not any need to worry about that. Once you get into the business of buying and selling shares, you will slowly understand how the system operates in the stock market. You can also go through the information of various magazines, newspapers, and also websites in order to update your knowledge level on the subject. You can also gain the practical side of it through a broker and then play the game with more expertise. If you’re beginning investing your money in the stock market you see more money flowing into your life as time passes by. And mark my words, this is the only place where you can really earn big money if you take the right financial decisions at the right time. The other best thing about the stock market is that you can invest anywhere in anything to start off with.

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