5 Things You Can Do to Bring Variety to Your Financial Portfolio
24-June-2021 |
By bringing variety to your portfolio, you are diversifying your risks. However, equities, debts funds and mutual funds are not the only way to bring diversity to your portfolio. You can also subscribe to a ULIP plan to spread out investment. You should also know that some life insurance policies also offer lucrative returns and maturity benefits along with the usual coverage.
Why is variety in a financial portfolio necessary?
The strategy of blending different investment products under a single portfolio is known as diversification. Having a variety of instruments in your portfolio allows you to earn higher consolidated returns. It also lowers the risk significantly. During the initial stages of diversification, you will have to focus on financial portfolio analysis.
5 tips to bring variety and maximize the returns for your financial portfolio
Include a ULIP in your portfolio
A ULIP plan or Unit Linked Insurance Plan funnels the premium toward the policy into two segments. One part of the premium is used to provide you with general life coverage, while the other part of the premium is invested in the markets. Because of its 2-in-1 offering, the ULIP plans are one of the popular life insurance-cum-investment avenues in India.
You can choose from equity (high-risk funds), debt (low-risk funds), balanced funds (medium risk funds) and so on, based on your specific risk profile. If you choose a managed ULIP policy, the premium is carefully invested in an equity-debt mix portfolio by finance professionals. Therefore, your money is well-diversified and protected against the swings of the market.
The ULIP plan also offers you tax* benefits under Section 80C. The maturity benefits are also *tax-free if the policy was bought before 1st February 2021, and the total premium paid does not exceed Rs 2.5 lakhs.
Pushing the boundaries of investments
The investment opportunities are not only limited to debt, funds, and equities. If you want true diversification, you will have to go beyond and invest in other instruments. Government bonds provide good investment opportunities. Real estate is still one of the leading investment choices in our country. There are some life insurance policies that offer lucrative returns and offer bonus2 on the maturity amounts.
One of the newest investment opportunities comes in the form of cryptocurrency. However, crypto investments are very volatile and can provide massive gains and losses within a span of a few days. The rules for trading and gains from crypto investments have also not been properly outlined by the government. Therefore, if you are not aware of the nature of the crypto investment, it is better that you stay away from this.
Mutual funds and Indices
Investing in mutual funds and indices is one of the easiest ways to bring diversity into your debt and equity mix portfolios. Indices, also known as index funds, are indicators of the strength of the market. An Index fund ensures that your money is well invested across all the sectors. It also makes the financial portfolio management part comparatively easier.
Unlike index funds, mutual funds are actively managed funds. This means that a fund manager constantly tweaks the portfolio to provide you with the best return possible. Therefore, mutual funds charge a small fee to manage your funds. Mutual funds and index funds also allow you to easily withdraw your money.
Going beyond the geographical boundaries
The age of globalisation allows you to even invest in stocks trading in different countries. You achieve this by investing in global mutual funds or directly invest in equities through dedicated apps. There are multiple funds that focus on different geographies. Investing abroad also provides you with a significant variety. If you think that it is too risky to invest in an emerging economy, then you can choose to invest in a developed country. Global investment diversification allows you to invest in the best performing sectors of the respective countries. For example, you can invest in the IT sector of the USA.
Don’t over diversify
Diversification does not mean having over 100 different types of equity stocks in your portfolio. Diversification means bringing variety into your financial portfolio through different asset-classes.
Tata AIA Life Insurance Savings Solutions
If you are afraid of losing your money in the stock markets and want to invest in a simpler investment avenue, then the varied and customizable Savings Solutions by Tata AIA are for you.
These insurance-cum-savings plans offer guaranteed1 income after the end of the premium payment term. The plans also provide bonuses2 on the maturity of the policy. One can even enhance the protection and coverage by opting for add-on riders #.
To secure the future of your close one, the policy offers life insurance as well. You can find more about the various life insurance policies of Tata AIA on their official website.
Summing Up
There are only a few things that you have to remember, and you will be ready to start investing. You should never invest all your money in a single stock, regardless of the upside potential of the stock. Maintaining the debt and equity mix of the portfolio is also important. Lastly, you should regularly do a financial portfolio analysis to make minor tweaks to your investing style. By following the earlier mentioned steps religiously, you will be able to make a decent earning from your portfolio.
L&C/Advt/2021/Jun/1008