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The importance of holding a diversified portfolio

Karl Talbot 10th Aug 2023 No Comments

Reading Time: 5 minutes

This is a sponsored post on behalf of eToro

A diversified portfolio can help reduce the risk of your investments suffering large falls. So how can you mix up your investments? And are there any drawbacks related to holding a diversified portfolio?

Keep on reading for all the details or click on a link to head straight to a section…

What is a diversified portfolio?

A diversified portfolio refers to having a mix of investments. For example, an investor who is well-diversified may hold a blend of stocks, bonds, commodities, property, and perhaps even cryptoassets.

Holding different asset classes isn’t the only way to diversify your investments, however. There are other ways that you can mix up your portfolio.

Investing in a mix of industries, rather than focusing on a single sector, is one way to reduce risks. Investing in stocks with different growth prospects is another. Spreading out your interests across multiple countries can also help to diversify your interests.

Let’s take a closer look at these methods to spread out risk:

1. Investing in different sectors

Holding stocks across a number of different sectors can be an effective way to diversify your portfolio. For example, you may wish to own stocks in a mix of industries, such as healthcare, energy, financial services etc, rather than focusing on a single sector.

2. Choosing stocks with mixed growth prospects

You can diversify your portfolio by holding bonds with contrasting prospects for growth. For example, an investor may choose to hold both value and growth stocks.

Value stocks are typically low-risk and have low volatility. Growth stocks, on the other hand, are more likely to be volatile. The flip-side is that they also potentially have a greater chance of delivering higher returns.

3. Investing across multiple countries

Holding investments in multiple countries can be another effective strategy for diversification. If you own international shares you won’t be overly dependent on the performance of a particular country.

This can be useful if you’re worried about a specific country suffering from political or economic uncertainty.

Why is it important to hold a diversified portfolio?

‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ It’s an adage that applies perfectly to investing. Putting your faith in a single asset class, sector, country, or type of stock is a risky strategy. For many investors, it’s probably unnecessary too.

The reason for this is pretty straightforward. If you invest solely in just one asset class, you risk suffering a big loss should that single asset perform poorly. In contrast, if you invest in multiple assets, the performance of your investments will be dependent on several asset classes, not just one.

In other words, a diversified portfolio should give you a good cushion should one, or a handful of your assets, deliver a disappointing return.

A real-world example

If you’re concerned about rising inflation, it’s possible you’re tempted to buy gold. As we know, gold is one of the most precious of metals out there. Supply is finite too. These are two big reasons why many investors believe gold is one of the best inflation hedges.

This theory does makes sense, and gold has performed quite well amid high inflation in the past. However, gold doesn’t always perform as you might expect. For example, despite the obvious signs that inflation was rising last year gold climbed just 0.4%. In contrast, the FTSE 100 rose 1% in 2022.

Therefore, any investor who put all of their faith in gold last year probably ended up disappointed.

How can you diversify your investments?

Whether you’re looking to invest in stocks, bonds, commodities, property, cryptoassets, or a mix of all five, you’ll first need to find a suitable platform.

With eToro – the sponsors of this article – you can invest in all of these asset classes. eToro charges 0% commission on stock purchases, and offers 2,700+ stocks from 17 exchanges.

If you don’t want to buy stocks directly, eToro also offers a number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These allow you to have easy exposure to various alternative asset classes. Buying ETFs can be a decent option if you want some exposure to commodities, considering the real-world hassle that may be involved in holding physical assets.

Two examples of commodity-heavy ETFs include:

  • iShares S&P GSCI Commodity‑Indexed Trust.
  • iShares Bloomberg Roll Select Commodity Strategy ETF.

On a similar note, if you want exposure to property, you don’t have to buy a house. Instead, you may wish to consider investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). eToro has its own RealEstateTrust Smart Portfolio which might be worth exploring.

Understand your appetite for risk

While it is a wise move to hold a number of investments in your portfolio, you don’t have to split asset classes equally.

The way you allocate your portfolio should be heavily dependent on your appetite for risk. For example, if you’re nearing retirement, you may wish to hold more bonds than stocks. This is because a bond-heavy strategy is likely to reduce your overall exposure to volatility.

If you’re more of a gung-ho investor, however, then you may prefer to put more of your faith in the stock market.

For more information on investing within your risk profile, take a look at our article that explains how to create your own investing strategy.

Are there any drawbacks to diversification?

While we’ve discussed the potential benefits of having a diversified portfolio, there is a potential drawback to be aware of. Because diversified investors will have exposure to multiple asset classes, returns will rarely be extraordinary.

This is the price for reducing the risk of suffering large losses.

In contrast, however, an investor who puts everything on ‘red’ and is successful, may enjoy dream returns. Yet this is undoubtedly a risky strategy as there’s a bigger risk of suffering heavy losses.

For most, a diversified portfolio with the goal of steady returns could be a far wiser way to invest, especially over the long-term.

To learn more about investing, sign up for our fortnightly MoneyMagpie Investing Newsletter.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.

MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage; 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

This communication is for information and education purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice, a personal recommendation, or an offer of, or solicitation to buy or sell, any financial instruments. This material has been prepared without taking into account any particular recipient’s investment objectives or financial situation, and has not been prepared in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements to promote independent research. Any references to past or future performance of a financial instrument, index or a packaged investment product are not, and should not be taken as, a reliable indicator of future results. eToro makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication.

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Jasmine Birtles

Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.

Jasmine Birtles

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