1. Ignore hype about hot themes, sectors, stocks and funds: This chatter is a way for the investment industry to sell products. Instead of chasing the next hot trend, make sure your portfolio is diversified according to your investment goals and that you're not guessing about what's going to work in the year ahead.
2. Evaluate your investment adviser and fund managers: It's been a great year for the stock markets after a horrendous plunge last winter; has your portfolio got its fair share of the rebound? While gauging your returns, you should also assess the value you're getting for the fees you pay.
|
3. Consider trying for consistent annual returns rather than riding the market up and down every year: This style of investing is about seeking investments that offer a reasonable level of reliability in terms of providing regular gains through dividends, share price gains and bond interest. Part of the aim here is to limit losses as much as possible.
4. Address currency risk in your U.S. and global holdings: The Canadian dollar has been strong this year and there are forecasts that it could rise higher in 2010. This will undermine returns from U.S. and global holdings unless you own hedged or currency-neutral funds or ETFs.
5. Pay down debt: The outlook for stocks is uncertain after the great results of 2009, which gives you an excuse to think about using investment dollars to reduce the amount you owe on credit cards, lines of credit and mortgages. You could easily be paying interest of as much as 5 to nearly 20 per cent on your debts; can you beat that in the markets?
For more Portfolio Stragegy see Some timely suggestions for 2010 .
Rob Carrick