How to choose what to invest in

Before youre able to choose what to invest in, it is best to get clued up on what is out there that you can invest in. On TBanque for example there are many different asset classes that people can choose from: stocks, crypto, indices, ETFs, commodities and currencies. Lets review these asset classes and learn a bit more about each of them.

Assets to invest in

Stocks are shares of ownership in a company. Each share has a value based on the companys total worth. The price of the stock is influenced by supply and demand factors in the market and other variables such as economic or political events. This could be news impacting the company specifically or occurring in the broader industry. Some examples of company stocks that you can buy are big brands like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Rolls Royce and BMW.

Cryptoassets are cryptographically secured digital representations of value or contractual rights that use some type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and can be transferred, stored or traded electronically. Two cryptoassets I am sure you all are familiar with are Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Indices are stock indexes that measure the performance of a particular group of stocks over time. An index is basically a number which reflects the accumulated changes of each stock within a certain group of stocks, which are selected to represent a portion of the overall market. Some common examples are the S&P 500 (which we have already talked about loads during these lessons), the FTSE 100 and the Nikkei 225. The S&P 500 is the top 500 companies in the US, the FTSE 100 is the top 100 in the UK and the Nikkei is the top 225 in Japan.

An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a type of investment fund that aims to track the performance of a specific stock market index or asset. ETFs are traded on stock exchanges. This means that they can be bought and sold just like individual stocks. ETFs are available for virtually every asset class, including stocks, bonds, real estate, and commodities.

A commodity is a basic good or raw material that is used to produce more complex goods. You can think of commodities as the building blocks of the global economy theyre used to create products that we rely on every day. Examples of commodities include oil, gold, copper, and sugar. Commodities have been traded for thousands of years. In the past, they were traded physically. Today, however, commodity trading takes place on exchanges around the world such as the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Currency trading is the process of buying and selling currencies such as the US Dollar, the Euro, and the British Pound. Often called foreign exchange (forex) trading, it involves purchasing one currency while simultaneously selling another, with the aim of generating profits from currency movements.In the past, currency trading was mainly carried out by banks, institutional investors, and hedge funds. However, thanks to advances in technology, literally anyone can trade currencies today.

So now we have the definitions of the various asset classes covered, lets quickly discuss some of the reasons why someone might invest in each one.

For stocks, someone may think that a certain company is going to perform well and continue to grow, and therefore believes that buying that companys stock could prove fruitful.

For crypto, someone might think a particular cryptoasset is going to become more institutionally adopted and have more and more use cases and invest in it with the anticipation that its value will rise.

For commodities, it might be that someone thinks oil prices will continue to rise due to supply and demand and therefore invests in it accordingly.

For indices, someone might believe a certain area of the world will do well in the future and therefore buys an index composed of companies from that country.

For ETFs, someone might want exposure to a certain area in the market like bonds or real estate.

For currencies, someone might want to invest in the dollar for example as they believe with rising interest rates it will continue to strengthen.

These are just a few examples of motivations behind someone picking a certain asset to invest in. Of course, there are still many more and we will continue to discuss these throughout the various lessons.

Choosing assets based on risk

Next up for us is to answer the question, what assets are risky and how risky do I want to be? As we have said before, the riskier assets include emerging market currencies, cryptoassets, stocks and equity markets. The more volatile nature of these assets will attract investors who want to make a bigger return but of course remember that it can work both ways. With more risk comes more reward and vice versa.

Less risky assets include government bonds from developed countries like the US, or currencies like the US Dollar which is widely considered to be the reserve currency of the world. Gold is also considered a safe-haven asset sometimes as well as the Yen and Swiss Franc for example.

In the last two lessons, we talked about the different types of portfolios and the returns that more and less risky portfolios can potentially generate. Now that we have a bit more understanding of what assets are more and less risky, hopefully, you can now see what assets you would like to focus on.

If someone was looking for larger returns, their focus might be on stocks and crypto for example. If someone wanted less risk, their focus might be on government bonds or other safe haven investments.

Remember to find your Why and answer the questions: How risky do you want to be at this stage? What are your goals? What would a similar portfolio look like?

Diversification

One thing that can be so useful in any investment portfolio is having diversification. Spreading your risk across different assets, sectors, geographies, industries and so on. You may have heard of the saying dont put all your eggs in one basket? Well with investing that can be very useful to understand. Dont put all your money into one investment. This is because by investing in multiple assets, you reduce your portfolios risk. By investing in different asset classes, you can reduce your portfolios volatility, and this way avoid making rash decisions based on market swings. Each asset usually performs differently in the short, medium, and long term, so investing in multiple assets can encourage you to make long-term investments. This may also reduce the number of times that the portfolio needs to be monitored. It also reduces the overall impact of market volatility, which can provide stability in times of uncertainty and bring peace of mind for the investor.

Choosing investments based on time periods

We just mentioned there that some assets can perform differently in the short, medium or long term and that can certainly be said for stocks in particular too. Stocks can be categorised by sectors so lets review those.

The Global Industry Classification Standard categories stocks into 11 sectors: energy, materials, industrials, utilities, healthcare, financials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, information technology, communication services and real estate.

Each of these sectors can typically perform better or worse during the economic cycle. For example, if we are heading into a recession where people are generally not spending as much, then investing in consumer discretionary items like luxury fashion brands could be quite unwise but if the economy is in a growth phase and people are spending money and the economy is booming, investing in more discretionary item companies could make more sense.

In general, the economic cycle can be split into these 4 areas. The Peak phase of the cycle is where the economy generates growth. The Recession phase is where stock prices are likely to fall which then leads to the Recovery phase where stocks start to gain momentum which then leads into the Expansion phase where economic growth expectations rise. Trying to understand what phase of the cycle we are in can be beneficial for an investor who is looking to time the market. For example, if we are in the recovery phase, investors may look to start investing again ahead of the expansion and peak cycle phases.

Investors can also consider seasonality when investing. Have you heard of the saying Sell in May and go away? or Buy when it snows, sell when it goes?. Fundamental analysis can tell us what to buy and sell, technical analysis can tell us when to buy and sell but seasonality tells us what and when to buy and sell.

A number of yearly recurrent events produce seasonality. An analyst who studies seasonality must determine whether annual events are likely to occur again before a period of seasonal strength. The seasonality analyst will not advise a seasonal trade if annual recurrent events are less likely to occur.

Historically, the end of October to the beginning of May has been a time of seasonal strength for the S&P 500 Composite Index. The Buy when it snows, sell when it goes tactic is the name given to it. When the first snow falls often occurs around the end of October, equity markets historically begin to go higher. Around April, when the rest of the snow has melted, equity markets often hit their seasonal peak. Equities markets follow a similar seasonal pattern in industrialised countries.

If you are someone who wants to better time the market, this information can be quite useful but remember what we always say, past performance is not always indicative of future results.

So weve reviewed the different types of assets, discussed which are more or less risky and why diversification is important. We talked about seasonality and the economic cycle and how that could influence an investors decision.

Ultimately, what you invest in is up to you and can depend on a variety of variables: how much risk you want to take, your time horizon, where you are in your investing journey and so on.

Our next lesson is going to cover how to pick a stock.

Login to your TBanque account and use the demo portfolio with $100,000 in virtual funds to practise your investing.

TBanque is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down.  Your capital is at risk.

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 recipients 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. TBanque makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication.