Tidying Up Your Investments

24 August 2023

When it comes to tidying up your investments, think about your kitchen drawers. Seriously.

Nobody wakes up and thinks ‘Yes, today’s the day I finally get round to sorting all those loose ends I stuffed away, in the hope that one day I’d get round to it. Let the fun begin!’

But once the job is done, there’s a great sense of wellbeing. By clearing away what you don’t need and doing some organising, you’re also clearing your mind.

That’s what tidying your investments is like, albeit at a much larger scale.

We’re potentially oversimplifying but tidying up loose ends in your investment portfolio will have a far greater beneficial effect than sorting your knives and forks.

Let’s see how it’s done.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THINGS YOU CAN’T CONTROL

A lot of excitement (and worry) is caused by the unknown elements of finance markets and investments. But if you’re looking to tidy your investments, you’re better off concentrating on the factors you can control. That’s why, whether it’s SIPPS, investment bonds, ISAs, whatever the product, we recommend a low-cost, diversified approach. Think global, act local.

At Fortus Wealth Management, we do this with independently researched advice and through globally diverse, low-cost, index-tracking portfolios. We’re an independent financial advisors in York and Scarborough. We can help you spread your money further through cheaper products in a range of places are things you can control, whatever the financial outlook is.

CHECK YOUR OBJECTIVES

You can’t tidy up your investments without understanding and identifying what those investments were set up for in the first place. Did you have a target amount you wanted to achieve? Was your portfolio set up for a specific reason that may no longer apply, e.g., paying off a mortgage? We can help you review your investments with a full understanding that objectives can change over the years.

CONSIDER THE LEVEL OF RISK

Keeping money in savings may feel safer, and very appealing when the markets are volatile. But don’t forget that over the years that money will lose its value against the rising cost of living and might not fund the lifestyle you were hoping for. And the collapse of Northern Rock proved that even saving isn’t without risk. If you’ve checked your objectives and had the opportunity to talk your investment dreams through with a professional adviser, you’ll know better how much risk you want to take.

For example, if you want your portfolio to achieve a specific amount within a certain time, you may want to put your money into higher-risk, higher-reward areas. You can do this with the knowledge that you have enough time within your objectives to recoup from other areas, if your riskier investments don’t make the returns you’d hoped for.

We can help you think about the appropriate time to be in investment markets to get the desired results.

AVOID FOLLOWING THE HERD

Don’t be tempted to invest in the latest trends, just for the sake of it. For example, cryptocurrency is currently a popular investment option – but it’s highly speculative. This means it might not be suitable if you’re approaching retirement. Avoiding the herd mentality can reveal bargains on the buy side.

RETHINK YOUR LOSERS

You may want to hang on to losers in your portfolio for emotional reasons, for example, those you inherited. Or, you may have made money in the past from an investment and think it’s only a matter of time before it happens again. We can sit with you to look at your losers and ask, ‘If you were starting your portfolio from scratch, would it be a good idea to buy those investments?’.

BE TAX EFFICIENT

Is your portfolio tax efficient, saving you unnecessary costs? Can you avoid the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) threshold on stocks that have had a good run? Fortus is uniquely placed to offer expert tax tips as well as wealth management advice, thanks to our strong relationship with our team of accountants.

DON’T PANIC

In today’s fast-moving, volatile digital world, people are often living their best lives on social media, or we’re reading doom and gloom news headlines. it’s easy to worry you’re either being left behind, or the markets are too risky to look at tidying up investments right now.

But looking back through history, Investment markets have always found a way to grow over time, no matter if the current financial outlook might not look so rosy. And although wealth management naturally involves an element of risk, we can keep it to a minimum with low-cost and high levels of diversification. So, step back, take a deep breath, and get in touch with us.

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