Posted 01.07.2022
We all want peace of mind. When we’re thinking of our financial security, it helps to know that our investments are serving us well. But how do you go about reviewing your investment portfolio to make sure it’s meeting your needs?
Our lives are never static, so regularly reviewing your investment portfolio is an important step to ensure it’s serving you. A good investment plan will always include a diverse portfolio, to better withstand the ups and downs of the stock market. If your appetite for risk changes, your portfolio can change with it.
Your investment ambitions may change over time too. Are you investing for a stream of income now, or the future?
Personal circumstances also change. Perhaps you’re approaching retirement and want to ensure your portfolio is in a position to support you — or you could need access to some of the money now.
In any case, your financial adviser will be able to walk you through the process and provide insight to make sure your portfolio is working for you.
An important factor is your asset allocation: the ratio of stocks, bonds and other assets within your portfolio. Broadly speaking, conservative approaches favour investment in bonds, while more aggressive approaches tend towards a mix of stocks.
It’s essential to consider what you want to achieve. How long are you looking to invest for? Are you looking for a fixed income from your portfolio?
Your Rhodes financial planner can help you review your asset allocation, talk you through the options and make adjustments where necessary.
Just as an annual service ensures smooth running of your car, a regular review of your money will help make sure you’re making the most efficient use of your tax allowances within the financial year.
This allowance is the amount you’re able to invest each year in order to maximise the available tax relief. This includes pension allowance — the amount of tax relief available on pension contributions — as well as Cash ISA or Stocks & Shares ISA allowances. Your Personal Savings Allowance is the amount of tax-free interest you can earn in a year.
A financial adviser will be able to help you keep abreast of all of these allowances and make the most of your money each year.
It’s natural that many want to check in on the health of their portfolio. But checking in daily, or even weekly, is rarely beneficial. Natural fluctuations occur in even the healthiest portfolio, and it’s much easier to get the big picture from a less frequent review.
We recommend a review every six months to assess your portfolio and its performance, although these can of course be more frequent if circumstances demand.
Time to review your portfolio? Or time to discuss making investment work for you? Book a call with one of our financial advisers.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
An investment in a Stocks and Shares ISA will not provide the same security of capital associated with a Cash ISA.
The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time. The value of any tax relief is generally dependent on individual circumstances.