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Is it time to sort out your investments?

While paying your hard-earned money into your ISA or pension and buying your first investments can often feel like the difficult part, when it comes to successful investing this is only half the job. It is also important to review your portfolio regularly. In this article we cover two of the most important areas to look at – asset allocation and the quality of your funds.

Published on 01 Aug 20183 minute read

Keep an eye on your asset allocation

Your asset allocation is the mix of shares, bonds, property and other types of investments in your portfolio. This will influence the amount of risk you are taking, and your potential returns. A portfolio that is mainly full of equities will be riskier but potentially give a higher return than one that is mostly invested in bonds. Academic studies have suggested that asset allocation can account for up to 90% of the difference in investment returns.*

If you haven’t checked recently, you may find that you are taking much more (or less) risk than you would like.

It is important to keep an eye on your asset allocation, because it is likely to drift over time as certain investments perform better or worse than others. If you haven’t checked it recently, you may find that you are taking much more (or less) risk than you would like. You might not be getting the returns you had hoped for either. When this happens, you should rebalance your portfolio – buying or selling specific investments to bring it back in line.

Make sure your funds are up to scratch

The performance of your funds will change over time, and so too could their investment styles and management teams. You should review your funds regularly to ensure that your money continues to work hard for you, and in line with your expectations. You may find that you need to make some changes.

However, picking new funds isn’t easy. There are 3,000 to choose from in the UK alone, and almost two thirds of fund managers don't perform as well as the wider market regularly.** If you need some ideas, take a look at our top-rated funds. These are the funds from across the globe that our research analysts believe have the most potential to deliver for investors over the long term.

These are the funds from across the globe that our research analysts believe have the most potential to deliver for investors over the long term.

Funds must pass through our strict fund selection process before they are added to this list. We analyse fund performance data to ensure that a manager’s success has come from skill rather than luck, and we also look at the people, process and philosophy behind each fund. We constantly review the funds, and we meet each of the managers at least once a year.

View our top-rated funds

Let our experts do it for you

Reviewing asset allocations and funds can become a full-time job – just ask our experts. So if all of this sounds too much like hard work why not let them do the investing for you? The simplest option is to put your money in a Ready-made Portfolio.

  • Our Ready-made Portfolios are funds that are managed, reviewed and rebalanced by our experts
  • Each portfolio’s asset allocation suits a different type of investor and different attitudes to risk, and they’re all based on macroeconomic research from the Tilney Group’s Central Investment Team
  • Only the highest quality funds that meet our strict criteria make it into the portfolios – so you know your money is in good hands

 

Find out more

For more information on our top-rated funds or Ready-made Portfolios, please call us on 020 7189 9999 or email best@bestinvest.co.uk and we would be happy to help.

 

Important information

*Brinson, Hood & Beebower (1986); Ibbotson & Kaplan (2000)

**Quote from Financial Planning Matters 2018 by Matt Dickens, Director, Investment Management at Tilney

This article does not constitute personal advice.  If you are in doubt as to the suitability of an investment please contact an adviser.

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