Posted by Author: Mohamed Hamza Ghaouri, Intern at FINTERRA
People’s goals and preferences may vary. But striving to improve one’s financial well-being and enhance one’s own wealth is a fact that no one can deny. Although the instruments probably vary for each individual, the ultimate goal is common. Accordingly, investing money is one of the best ways to build wealth and save for future financial goals. In fact, creating an investment strategy usually relies on the same basic principles and requires building good financial habits. In this blog, we will discuss on how to invest money wisely to achieve financial goals.
Set investment goals and get started
The most important first step of anything in life is to set the desired goal. Set your financial goals together with plans to achieve them. Investing is a road trip while the goals are the final destination. knowing the destination is essential, but knowing the route is crucial. Investments can be motivated by various goals, many people invest to save for retirement, others invest to save for other big goals like children’s future education expenses, unforeseen future medical expenses, etc. As the goals are different, the means to achieve them also vary. As a novice learner, the simpler the investment, the better. You certainly don’t want to have a shocking experience when you first start in the market. Let’s discuss some of the assets and strategies that could be part of your investment strategy.
Self-managed investment, Professional Management and Robo-Advisors
Before we start our discussion of the different types of assets you can invest in, let’s explain how to implement your investment strategy. Many people rely more on their personal skills to manage their own investments. Others choose to hire a financial advisor to help them manage their portfolio. These advisors charge fees or commissions on the products they recommend.
However, recently new technology has been made available to both novice and advanced investors. This technology is known as Robo-advisor. A Robo-advisor, or automated digital investment advisory program, is a financial service that automatically chooses your investments on your behalf based on your answers to questions about your investment goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, etc. Robo-advisors generally charge lower fees than financial professionals without you having to choose your own investments.
Some Assets and Investment Opportunities
Stocks:
It is a piece of ownership (equity) in a publicly listed company. Companies sell stock to raise capital for operating and capital expenditures. Those who buy stock in a company can make money in two main ways getting dividends and benefit from a capital appreciation.
Bonds:
It is a type of debt instrument that allows businesses and government agencies to borrow money from investors. Bonds usually have a predetermined interest rate, which the issuer pays over the life of the bond. At the maturity, the issuer repays the principal back to the bondholders. Investors can make money from getting the regular interest and selling a bond at a higher price
Sukuk:
For investors who wish to comply with shariah law, Sukuk are one of the best opportunities. Sukuk or Islamic obligation are an Islamic financial certificates that complies with Sharia (Islamic religious law). Since the traditional Western bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of a sukuk essentially sells an investor group a certificate, and then uses the proceeds to purchase an asset that the investor group has direct partial ownership interest in. At maturity, the issuer redeems the bond at a future date at par value.
Crowdfunding:
This investment method is suitable for investors aiming to mobilise small amounts. Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to fund a new business. It uses the ease of access of vast networks of people through technology to bring investors and entrepreneurs together. Many crowdfunding projects are rewards-based. However, Equity-based crowdfunding is growing in popularity.
Low risk/high return projects:
Besides the capital market, there are different project with a strong business model that require funding. As an investor you can choose a project operating in one of your fields of interest, offering a good return with a low level of risk. Finterra Global plantation is one of these projects. This project presents an exceptional opportunity for sustainable investors as it is achieving a sustainable environmental development while offering high returns.
An important tip : Diversification
Diversification involves dividing the money between different investments. They say, never put all your eggs in one basket. The more diversified your portfolio, the less impact the bad performance of a single investment has overall. Diversification can be done in two ways. The first is diversification within asset classes. This technique consists of investing in different assets from the same family (stocks, bonds, etc). The second concerns asset classes. Investors can diversify their portfolio across different asset classes.
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