An investment policy must be formulated and based upon the specific circumstances and characteristics of each investor. These situation specific characteristics include:
- age,
- investment risk tolerance,
- capital currently available to invest,
- current income,
- the future need for investment capital and income, and
- the amount that is required to be saved on an ongoing basis.
The investment policy must take into account inflation, economic growth, and the investor's investment time horizon.
Additionally, an investment policy must consider the investor's consumption or desired consumption profile, which is influenced by five factors:
- Initial savings or wealth.
- Periodic income.
- Periodic savings.
- Real return generated on the portfolio.
- Consumption preferences i.e. the importance to the individual of trading off current consumption for the ability to consume in the future.
Establishing investment objectives
Typical investment objectives that must be considered and formulated into an investor's investment policy and asset allocation decisions include:
- Preservation of capital.
- Requirement for current investment income.
- Capital growth.
- Minimization of income taxes.
- Liquidity of the investment.
Introduction to portfolio management
In order to formulate a portfolio management strategy, it is important to understand some basic information such as what an investment is.
An investment is defined as any asset into which funds can be placed with the expectation that the invested capital will generate additional positive income; and many investors, will insist that, as a minimum requirement, the investment will preserve its value.
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