WEALTH PATH

Friday, September 17

8 tips for choosing an investment fund

Choosing an investment fund sounds easier than it is. There are so many things to look out for when you are investing money. You should never invest your money into anything without doing basic research.

 

Here are 8 factors to consider when choosing an investment fund.

  1. Risk of investmentWhen you are looking for an investment fund, the first thing you need to do is review your needs, decide what you want from your investment, and the type of risks you can take. Are you the type of person that will invest in high risk or low risk? Once you decide what type of investor you are, only then can you decide what type of investment fund you want to go for.
  1. Length of investment: It’s important to know the exact time length you want to invest your money for. The time length of your investment could impact your investment risk and returns on investment. Make sure that you do research on the time of liquidating your funds. Money market fund, for instance, will allow you to pull out your money any time, but others like, equity income fund, that have different terms and conditions.
  1. Fund Manager Rating: Looking into the rating of the fund manager can help you understand how their funds will perform. When you are investing money, the fund manager is essentially where you put all your trust. So, it’s important to get an idea of how the fund manager works and the risks they take.
  1. Fund Manager Skills: Looking into the fund manager’s performance over a longer period like 5 years’ performance, rather than a single year metric that may not tell the full story of their investment skills. Having a fund manager is all about putting your trust in someone that knows what they are doing and makes the right moves with your money. You do not want someone that has made the right moves in previous year out of pure luck.
  1. PerformanceLooking at the past performance of a fund is probably one of the most important things you should do before investing into any funds. The truth is you cannot ignore the performance of a fund from the previous years. People that make the best investments are thorough with their research. Look into at least the past 5 years of a fund’s performance, so you can make a good decision. 
  1. ExpensesThe fees and expenses from an investment fund can have an impact on the return from the funds. You do not need to know how to invest money to know that if the fees from a fund are high and the returns are not as high, you will not be making as much money as you want. Another thing to know is that a fund that charges more than another, does not necessarily mean the returns will be greater.

 

  1. RiskWhen it comes to investing money, there is always a form of risk. You can never know exactly what could happen to an investment. The most you can do is make a prediction. With information on the past performance and some information on the fund manager, you can make a prediction based on probability. The truth is, there is always risk involved and past performance cannot guarantee future performance.
  1. Diversification: Possibly one of the easiest ways to ensure you improve your chances of making a better return is to diversify. This means that you will end up taking on more risk and spreading your investment across different sectors. We all know that some investments will outperform others depending on the time and market forces. Spreading out your investment will also spread your risk and give you better returns. 

To make investment decision, you should consider all the above points so you can invest your money in well-performing investment tools, like axamansard investments. To know more, read about the benefits of investing in money market fund here